@rgm an id_rsa key should work just fine. Are you running under an ssh agent?

I am.

is the key inside your agent?

ssh-add -l

should verify ^

I've edited TDEPS-91 to be problem-oriented rather than leading with a solution

yep, it is.

the same key file works under 10.14 and fails under 10.15, same clj version

under an agent both places.

if you can find out what the difference is, I'd be much obliged

is SSH_AUTH_SOCK set?

hm, good question. It appears yes.