GSoC 2026 Proposal Interest – SSH Agent API for libssh

[Adithyads Pawar <adithyadspawar2023@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello libssh developers,

My name is Adithya Pawar, and I am interested in participating in Google
Summer of Code 2026 with libssh.

I have already started contributing to libssh and submitted a merge request
related to the SSH agent work:

   - Implement standalone ssh_agent_session API (issue #347)

Through this work, I explored the current limitation where SSH agent
interaction is only available internally via ssh_userauth_agent(), and I
understand the motivation for exposing a public API to make agent
functionality usable beyond authentication.

I am particularly interested in the project “Design and implement API to
communicate with SSH-Agent,” as it directly aligns with my current
contributions.

From my understanding, the key goals of this project include:

   - Designing a clean and extensible API for agent interaction
   - Supporting operations such as listing, adding, and removing keys
   - Returning opaque ssh_key structures that delegate operations to the
   agent
   - Enabling use cases like signing data (e.g., sshsig) and server-side
   usage
   - Maintaining backward compatibility with existing authentication
   mechanisms

In my current MR, I attempted to:

   - Decouple agent handling from ssh_session
   - Introduce a standalone ssh_agent_session abstraction
   - Implement basic communication with the agent over UNIX domain sockets
   - Provide APIs for identity management (list/add/remove)

I would really appreciate feedback on:

   - Whether my current design direction aligns with the expected
   architecture for this project
   - Improvements needed in API design and abstraction
   - Additional features or use cases that should be considered early
   - How I can evolve this work into a strong GSoC proposal

I am also going through the SSH agent protocol draft (IETF SSH Agent
Protocol Draft) to better understand protocol-level details and ensure
correctness.

I will continue improving my current merge request based on review feedback
and would be happy to take on additional related issues.

Looking forward to your guidance.

Best regards,
Adithya Pawar