"nickname": "lil-linux"
    }
  ]
}
```

If you use the command line to open a connection to a host by doing `zed ssh://192.168.1.10/~/.vimrc`, then extra options are read from your settings file by finding the first connection that matches the host/username/port of the URL on the command line.

Additionally it's worth noting that while you can pass a password on the command line `zed ssh://user:password@host/~`, we do not support writing a password to your settings file. If you're connecting repeatedly to the same host, you should configure key-based authentication.

## Port forwarding

If you'd like to be able to connect to ports on your remote server from your local machine, you can configure port forwarding in your settings file. This is particularly useful for developing websites so you can load the site in your browser while working.

```json
{
  "ssh_connections": [
    {
      "host": "192.168.1.10",
      "port_forwards": [{ "local_port": 8080, "remote_port": 80 }]
    }
  ]
}
```

This will cause requests from your local machine to `localhost:8080` to be forwarded to the remote machine's port 80. Under the hood this uses the `-L` argument to ssh.

By default these ports are bound to localhost, so other computers in the same network as your development machine cannot access them. You can set the local_host to bind to a different interface, for example, 0.0.0.0 will bind to all local interfaces.

```json
{
  "ssh_connections": [
    {
      "host": "192.168.1.10",
      "port_forwards": [
        {
          "local_port": 8080,
          "remote_port": 80,
          "local_host": "0.0.0.0"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

These ports also default to the `localhost` interface on the remote host. If you need to change this, you can also set the remote host:

```json
{
  "ssh_connections": [
    {
      "host": "192.168.1.10",
      "port_forwards": [
        {
          "local_port": 8080,
          "remote_port": 80,
          "remote_host": "docker-host"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

## Zed settings

When opening a remote project there are three relevant settings locations:

- The local Zed settings (in `~/.zed/settings.json` on macOS or `~/.config/zed/settings.json` on Linux) on your local machine.
- The server Zed settings (in the same place) on the remote server.
- The project settings (in `.zed/settings.json` or `.editorconfig` of your project)

Both the local Zed and the server Zed read the project settings, but they are not aware of the other's main `settings.json`.

Depending on the kind of setting you want to make, which settings file you should use:

- Project settings should be used for things that affect the project: indentation settings, which formatter / language server to use, etc.
- Server settings should be used for things that affect the server: paths to language servers, etc.
- Local settings should be used for things that affect the UI: font size, etc.

In addition any extensions you have installed locally will be propagated to the remote server. This means that language servers, etc. will run correctly.

## Initializing the remote server

Once you provide the SSH options, Zed shells out to `ssh` on your local machine to create a ControlMaster connection with the options you provide.

Any prompts that SSH needs will be shown in the UI, so you can verify host keys, type key passwords, etc.

Once the master connection is established, Zed will check to see if the remote server binary is present in `~/.zed_server` on the remote, and that its version matches the current version of Zed that you're using.