diff --git a/tabby-ssh/src/session/ssh.ts b/tabby-ssh/src/session/ssh.ts
index f0da8f13..5174a0d1 100644
--- a/tabby-ssh/src/session/ssh.ts
+++ b/tabby-ssh/src/session/ssh.ts
@@ -306,6 +306,14 @@ export class SSHSession {
                     this.authUsername = 'root'
                 }
             }
+            if (this.authUsername?.startsWith('$')) {
+                try {
+                    const result = process.env[this.authUsername.slice(1)]
+                    this.authUsername = result ?? this.authUsername
+                } catch {
+                    this.authUsername = 'root'
+                }
+            }
 
             ssh.connect({
                 host: this.profile.options.host.trim(),
diff --git a/tabby-ssh/tsconfig.typings.json b/tabby-ssh/tsconfig.typings.json
index 891a0f24..5446e796 100644
--- a/tabby-ssh/tsconfig.typings.json
+++ b/tabby-ssh/tsconfig.typings.json
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
     "paths": {
       "tabby-*": ["../../tabby-*"],
       "*": ["../../app/node_modules/*"]
-    }
+    },
+    "types": ["node"]
   }
 }