Magic Switch

A Flutter app to control my home server cimbalino.net from my phone. It connects to the server through a Raspberry Pi acting as a gateway, using SSH key-based authentication.

What it does

The app gives a simple visual interface with three nodes — Phone, Raspberry Pi, and Server — connected by animated lines that reflect live connection state. From there you can:

• Connect to the Pi over SSH to check reachability and server status in one step
• Wake the server by triggering a script on the Pi
• Shut the server down with a confirmation step
• Disconnect from the Pi and reset all state

How it works

Phone  ──SSH──►  Raspberry Pi  ──LAN──►  Home Server

The app SSHes into the Pi using a stored private key. Once connected, it runs two scripts that must exist on the Pi:

• ~/wake.sh — wakes the server (e.g. via wake-on-LAN)
• ~/shutdown.sh — shuts the server down

Stack

• Flutter (Material 3, light theme)
• dartssh2 — SSH client
• flutter_secure_storage — encrypted credential storage (Android Keystore)
• local_auth — biometric / PIN gate on every launch
• file_picker — SSH private key import

Current state

The app is yet to be tested end-to-end — the implementation is ongoing and nothing has been run against real hardware. What's in place:

• Biometric/PIN authentication on launch
• Encrypted storage for the Pi config (IPv6, port, username) and SSH private key
• Interactive three-node home screen with animated dashed connection lines
• Contextual subtitles and toast messages that guide the user at every step
• Settings screen with input validation, key format checking, and existing-key status indicator
• Help screen explaining the full flow
• Custom app icon
• Color palette: #dad7cd / #a3b18a / #588157 / #344e41 (forest greens) + #c44536 (destructive red)

What's not there yet:

• No persistent SSH connection — each action opens and closes its own session
• No push notifications or background polling for server state
• No Android widget or quick-tile shortcut
• iOS not tested

Setup

1. Make sure ~/wake.sh and ~/shutdown.sh exist and are executable on your Pi
2. Ensure your Pi has a static global IPv6 address reachable from mobile data
3. Add your phone's SSH public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the Pi
4. Open the app, authenticate, tap ⚙, fill in the Pi's IPv6 address, port, username, and select your private key file