Remote Control turns the Claude mobile app into a window onto a Claude Code session running on your own machine. Your files never leave your computer. The phone sends messages and shows results.
Do not have the app yet? Run /mobile inside Claude Code to display a download QR code for iOS or Android.
Connecting your phone
- Start Remote Control on your machine with
claude --remote-control(orclaude remote-controlfor server mode). - Scan the QR code shown in the terminal. In server mode, press the spacebar to toggle the QR display.
- The session opens in the Claude app.
You can also open the Claude app, tap Code in the navigation, and pick the session from the list. Remote Control sessions show a computer icon with a green status dot while online. Or just open the session URL in your phone browser.
What you can do from the phone
- Read and steer the conversation. Messages sync across terminal, browser, and phone, so you can type from any of them interchangeably.
- Watch subagents and dynamic workflows. Their progress stays in sync across every connected device.
- Approve tool calls. Answer permission prompts without going back to your desk.
- Send images and files. Attachments you add in the app are downloaded to your machine and passed to Claude as an
@file reference, with or without a caption.
When you connect, the device shows any subagents and workflows the session already has running in the background.
Slash commands that work from mobile
Commands that only make sense in a terminal, like /plugin and /resume, are local-only. These work from the phone:
| Command | Notes |
|---|---|
/compact, /clear, /context, /usage, /exit, /recap, /reload-plugins | Text output, work as expected. |
/usage-credits | Prints the billing URL instead of opening a browser. On Team and Enterprise from v2.1.211, it will not send a usage-credits request to your admin, because that needs a confirmation only the CLI shows. |
/model, /effort, /fast, /color, /rename | Pass the value as an argument, e.g. /model sonnet or /effort high. On mobile the argument replaces the terminal picker or slider. |
/mcp (v2.1.166+) | Returns a text summary of server status instead of opening the picker. reconnect, enable, and disable subcommands work. |
/config (v2.1.181+) | Pass key=value to set a setting, or run with no argument to list settable keys. |
Push notifications
When Remote Control is active, Claude can push to your phone. It decides when, typically when a long task finishes or it needs a decision to continue. You can also ask in your prompt, for example notify me when the tests finish.
Setting them up
- Install the Claude app for iOS or Android.
- Sign in with the same account and organization you use for Claude Code in the terminal.
- Accept the operating system notification permission prompt.
- In your terminal, run
/configand enable Push when Claude decides, Push when actions required, or both.
Beyond those two toggles there is no per-event configuration.
When they do not arrive
/configshows No mobile registered: open the Claude app so it refreshes its push token. The warning clears the next time Remote Control connects.- iOS: Focus modes and notification summaries suppress or delay pushes. Check Settings, Notifications, Claude.
- Android: exempt the Claude app from battery optimization.
Claude Code deliberately skips push notifications while you are typing in or focused on the connected terminal. From v2.1.181 you can extend this with CLAUDE_CLIENT_PRESENCE_FILE: point it at a marker file, and notifications are skipped whenever that file exists. Pair it with a screen-lock listener so pushes only reach you when you are actually away.
Session reminders
From v2.1.208, Claude Code nudges you with the session URL at the moments switching to your phone helps most:
- Long turn: when a turn runs past a server-tuned threshold, a Still working notice with a Check in from your phone link appears.
- Repeated permission prompts: after you answer several in a row, an Approve tool calls from your phone notice shows the session URL.
These appear only a few times in total across sessions, and cannot be configured or turned off. Each clears on its own.
What shipped when, for mobile
Remote Control arrived as a research preview and the mobile side of it has changed a lot since. If you are trying to work out whether a capability you read about exists in your build, this is the mobile-specific timeline. The full list across all surfaces is on the version compatibility page.
| Version | What mobile gained |
|---|---|
| 2.1.166 | /mcp works from the phone, returning a text summary of server status instead of opening the picker. |
| 2.1.176 | Auto-generated session titles match the language of your conversation, so the session list stops being all-English. |
| 2.1.181 | /config accepts key=value from the app. CLAUDE_CLIENT_PRESENCE_FILE arrives, letting you suppress pushes whenever you are actually at your machine. |
| 2.1.202 | Fixed attachments sent without a caption being dropped before they reached the session. |
| 2.1.207 | Desktop-hosted sessions start sending subagent and workflow progress to phones. Updates lost during reconnection are fixed, so a finished task stops showing as running. |
| 2.1.208 | Session URL reminders appear in the terminal (“Still working”, “Approve tool calls from your phone”). A connecting phone now shows subagents and workflows that were already running. |
| 2.1.211 | On Team and Enterprise, /usage-credits from the app stops silently sending a request to your admin. |
| 2.1.212 | A phone joining mid-run shows a running workflow’s agents immediately instead of waiting for the next update. |
The pattern is worth reading as a whole: most of these are about a connected phone seeing what is actually happening. If your app view feels thin or stale compared to what people describe, you are probably on a build before 2.1.208 rather than hitting a bug.
Remote Control is still a research preview, so this list will keep growing. Check claude --version before assuming something is missing.
Limitations worth knowing
- The session lives on your machine. If the terminal closes or the laptop shuts down, the phone loses the session too.
- A network outage longer than roughly ten minutes ends the session.
- Outside server mode, each Claude Code process supports one remote session at a time.