FIELD GUIDE · REMOTE

Driving Claude Code From Your Phone

Yes, you can run and steer a real Claude Code session from an iPhone or Android phone — the model working, you approving, all from the couch. Two native paths do it, and neither one is a hack. Here is the whole map.

Chapter I

Two native paths

There are two official ways to put Claude Code on your phone, and the difference between them is simply where the work runs.

	Remote Control	Claude Code on the web
Where code runs	Your own machine	Anthropic's cloud VM
Your local files & tools	All available	Only the cloned repo
Needs your computer awake	Yes	No
Survives closing the phone	Yes (laptop must stay on)	Yes (fully cloud)
Best for	Steering work in your real project	Parallel tasks, repos you haven't cloned

Short version: use Remote Control to reach the session running on your desk; use Claude Code on the web to start fresh work in the cloud with no computer involved. Both are reached from the same Code tab in the Claude app.

Chapter II

Remote Control — your own machine, from your pocket

Remote Control opens a session that is running on your computer to your phone, tablet, or any browser. The model still works inside your real project — your files, your MCP servers, your scripts, your environment variables — and the phone is just a window onto it. Your code never leaves the machine.

What you need

Claude Code v2.1.51 or newer (claude --version).
A Claude subscription — Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise. API keys are not supported for this.
Signed in with your Claude account: claude /login (choose claude.ai, not an API key).
The project trusted once — run claude in the folder and accept the workspace-trust prompt.
On Team/Enterprise, an admin enables Remote Control in the workspace's Claude Code admin settings.

Turn it on

Any one of these makes a session reachable from your phone:

Command	What it does
`claude remote-control --name "My Project"`	Persistent server; prints a session URL and a QR code (press space). Best for phone access.
`claude --remote-control "My Project"`	A normal interactive session you can also drive from the phone.
`/remote-control`	Opens the session you're already in to remote access; shows a QR code in the conversation.
`/config` → "Remote Control for all sessions"	Makes every interactive session remotely reachable by default.

Connect the phone

With a session live, open the Claude app, tap Code, and do any of:

Scan the QR code from your terminal — the session opens straight away.
Open the session URL the terminal printed, in the app or any browser.
Pick it from the list — remote sessions show a small computer icon and a green dot when your machine is online.

From there you type steering messages the same way you would at the keyboard — "run the tests," "try a different approach," "review line 47." When you type @, file paths auto-complete from your actual local project. Edits, comments, and approvals stay in sync across the terminal and the phone in real time.

The reconnect nicety: if your laptop sleeps, the session reconnects on its own when the machine wakes. (A network outage longer than about ten minutes will end it — just start it again.)

Chapter III

Claude Code on the web — no computer required

The second path runs the work entirely in Anthropic's cloud, so your laptop can be closed in a bag. You reach it at claude.ai/code or through the Code tab in the Claude app. It is in research preview for Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans.

How it works

Each task gets its own isolated cloud VM and git branch. Sessions persist even with everything closed.
You connect a GitHub repository once (install the Claude GitHub app and grant access).
The sandbox is a hardened Ubuntu VM — Claude only sees the cloned repo, network goes through an allowlist proxy, and your GitHub token stays outside the box (Claude gets scoped, temporary credentials).
Node, Python, Ruby, Go, Rust, git and the GitHub CLI ship by default; a setup script (under ~5 minutes) can add more and is cached per environment.

From the phone

Pick a repo, choose a permission mode (Plan or Accept edits), type the task, and send. Watch the work live, tap the diff badge (e.g. +42 −18) to review changes, leave inline comments, then tap Create PR. Paste a CI failure back in and it keeps iterating in the same conversation.

Moving between desk and cloud: claude --teleport <session-id> pulls a web session down into your terminal; claude --remote "task" starts a fresh cloud session from the terminal. You cannot push a running local CLI session up to the web mid-flight — that is the one direction that isn't seamless yet.

Chapter IV

The apps — iPhone and Android

Both apps reach Claude Code through the Code tab in the bottom navigation, and as of 2026 they are at feature parity.

iPhone / iPad: Claude on the App Store. Voice input, camera capture for errors, and Siri Shortcuts.
Android: Claude on Google Play. Same controls, plus home-screen widgets.

On either one you can start tasks, monitor progress, review diffs, leave line comments, approve permission requests, and send follow-ups. The small screen is the real limit — large multi-file diffs are simply harder to read on glass than on a monitor.

Chapter V

Notifications and approvals

By default Claude Code asks before editing files or running commands. On a Remote Control session, that prompt comes to your phone: Claude pauses, you get a push notification, you approve or deny right in the Code tab, and the session resumes — in sync everywhere.

Turn on push

Open the Claude app and accept the notification permission.
In the CLI run /config and enable "Push when Claude decides."
You'll then get a buzz when a long task finishes, when Claude needs a decision, or when you ask it to ("notify me when the tests pass").

If push goes quiet: open the app once to refresh its token, and check Focus mode (iOS) or battery optimization (Android) for the Claude app. If /config says "No mobile registered," opening the app registers it.

Chapter VI

From nothing to driving — the short setup

The cloud way (fastest)

Sign in at claude.ai/code, install the Claude GitHub app, grant a repo.
Create an environment (name it; "Trusted" network is a fine start).
Install the Claude app, sign in, tap Code.
Pick the repo, type a task, send. Review the diff, tap Create PR.

The Remote Control way (your real project)

claude /login (claude.ai account).
cd into the project, run claude once, accept workspace trust, exit.
claude remote-control --name "My Project" — press space for the QR code.
In the Claude app, tap Code, scan the QR code.
Type "run the tests"; optionally enable push in /config.

Chapter VII

The honest limits

So you're not surprised at 2 a.m.:

No grabbing a session you didn't open for remote. A plain local session can't be reached from your phone after the fact — it has to be started with Remote Control (or /remote-control) first.
The local machine must stay on. Closing the terminal or shutting down ends a Remote Control session. Sleep is fine; a long network drop is not.
Interactive terminal pickers don't work from the phone — commands like /resume's chooser. Text commands such as /context, /usage, and /compact are fine.
Cloud sessions can't touch your computer — they only see the repo they cloned.
Subscription, not API key. Both paths need a Claude plan; API keys and third-party providers aren't supported here.
Small screens. Great for steering and approving; tedious for reviewing big diffs.

For agents & the curious

Sources

Everything here traces to Anthropic's own documentation — verify against the originals before relying on version-specific details, which move quickly:

Remote Control — continue local sessions from any device
Use Claude Code on the web
Claude Code on the web — quickstart
platform.claude.com/docs — the canonical reference

The whole library: Guide · Start · Cookbook · Videos · Sources · News