Enable Remote Control for Claude Code sessions in Claude Desktop App

[NickvZyl]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

Feature Request
The recently released Remote Control (/remote-control) feature only works from the Claude Code CLI(cursor in my case). When running Claude Code through the Claude Desktop app (Agent SDK / MCP integrations), there is no way to activate Remote Control or continue the session from a mobile device.

Problem
Users running Claude Code via the Desktop app have the same local environment access (filesystem, MCP servers, Supabase, browser tools, etc.) as CLI users, but no path to connect from their phone. The Desktop app sessions don't sync to claude.ai or the mobile app since they're local by design — which is exactly the gap Remote Control was built to solve.

Expected Behavior
Desktop app Claude Code sessions should support Remote Control the same way CLI sessions do — expose a session URL / QR code to connect from the Claude mobile app or claude.ai/code.

Why It Matters
Many users run Claude Code through Desktop app integrations rather than a raw terminal. Being locked out of Remote Control because of the entry point (Desktop app vs CLI) is an unnecessary limitation when the underlying session capabilities are the same.

Proposed Solution

Just enable it on claude desktop app.Its a fairly reasonable expectation that would have me move to the claude desktop app only

Alternative Solutions

No response

Priority

High - Significant impact on productivity

Feature Category

CLI commands and flags

Use Case Example

No response

Additional Context

No response

[jeffflaherty-droid]

+1 — I prefer the Desktop interface but need remote control to monitor long-running tasks from my phone when I step away. Would love to see this brought to Desktop so I don't have to switch to the CLI just for remote access.

[leonardo-oliveir-a]

Please when? We need remote control on the desktop app!

[dhoulb]

Would be amazing! With always-on please.

Having the ability to check in on long running tasks when I step away from my desk, would make me a lot more productive — but always forget to start the session in the terminal.

[narekisaghulyan]

same, is there a timeline on this?

[agentichuman]

I'm surprised april and still not done! I'm tired of using claude code windows app with remote desktop (RDP) on my phone

[lexsisney]

Diagnostic Evidence: Desktop → Mobile Bridge Is One-Directional

Adding concrete diagnostic data that confirms and clarifies this issue.

Environment: Claude Desktop (Mac, CLAUDE_CODE_ENTRYPOINT=claude-desktop), "Enable Remote Control for all sessions" set to true via /config, Claude iOS app, and claude.ai/code in Safari on iPhone.

What I found

1. bridge-state.json (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/bridge-state.json) contains only one entry — and it's for a session I initiated from my iPhone, not from Desktop. Desktop-initiated sessions are never registered with the Remote Control API.

2. CLI sessions auto-register correctly. When I open claude in a terminal (not Desktop), a new session immediately appears on my iPhone as "remote-control-linear-mist" under Idle. The "enable for all sessions" setting works perfectly for CLI.

3. /remote-control command doesn't exist inside Desktop. Typing it returns "Unknown skill." There is no way to manually activate Remote Control from within a Desktop session.

4. Session lists are completely disjoint:

   • Desktop "Today" shows 3 sessions (2 Desktop-initiated + 1 iPhone-initiated)
   • claude.ai/code on iPhone shows only the 1 iPhone-initiated session
   • Claude iOS app shows only iPhone-initiated sessions under "Idle"

Summary

The bridge is one-directional: iPhone/web → Desktop works. Desktop → iPhone/web does not. The Desktop app simply never registers its sessions with the Remote Control API, despite the setting being enabled. This makes the "Enable Remote Control for all sessions" setting misleading — it only applies to CLI sessions.

Impact

This forces users who prefer the Desktop app to choose between the Desktop UI and mobile session visibility. The whole point of Remote Control is to monitor and interact with active sessions on the go — but the app most users run (Desktop) doesn't support it.

Repro: Open Claude Desktop → start a session → check claude.ai/code on phone → session is not listed. Open claude in terminal → session immediately appears on phone.

[stevek77]

need this urgently!