Question

Advantage of 1Password SSH agent on macOS?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
February 15, 2022
6 replies
434 views

Before reading the documentation I was wondering how the 1Password SSH agent would be an improvement to my current setup (the default agent with the keys’ passphrases stored in the macOS keychain).

Is my understanding correct that with 1Password I no longer need to store my private keys as files on my Mac?

(They are protected by passphrases, but still…)

1Password Version: 8
Extension Version: n/a
OS Version: macOS

SSH

ag_andrew

1Password Employee

That's exactly correct. You would store your keys as SSH Key items in your Personal vault, and the 1Password SSH agent will prompt you for authorization and then sign requests with your available keys.

You won't need to store the ssh key files on your disk.

artooro

Another advantage of using 1Password for SSH is you can unlock your keys using Touch ID instead of entering a passphrase

1

1P_Ben

1Password Employee

Great point @artooro.

Ben

XIIIAuthor

The macOS keychain already took care of the passphrase (had to type that only once in its lifetime).

A

Anonymous

Security. Once in the default agent, any process can use the key. In 1Password, you will be asked to unlock in each new context.

XIIIAuthor

Security. Once in the default agent, any process can use the key. In 1Password, you will be asked to unlock in each new context.

Oh, yes, that's nice!

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