Claude Code without your computer

For months now I’ve barely opened Claude Code from my computer. I code from my phone, my iPad, from a café… and all the heavy lifting runs on my machine back home, in Montevideo.

The trick? A Claude Code feature called Remote Control. You leave your most powerful computer running as a “server” and connect from any device, with all your credentials, integrations, and MCPs intact. There are two ways to turn it on, and here are both.

What Remote Control is

It connects claude.ai/code or the Claude app (iOS/Android) to a Claude Code session running on your machine. The key part: Claude keeps running locally the whole time, none of your code moves to the cloud. The web and your phone are just a window into the session that’s already running, with your filesystem, your MCPs, and your config.

Requirements

• Claude Code v2.1.51+, check it with claude --version.
• Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise plan, it doesn’t work with API keys. On Team/Enterprise, an admin has to enable it first.
• It’s in research preview.

$ claude update
$ claude --version

How to turn it on: the 2 options

First, two steps that apply to both options:

1. Log in with claude.ai (claude.ai login, not an API key).
   terminal

   $ claude
   › inside Claude Code:  /login

2. Accept the “trust” dialog for your folder. Go into your projects folder (mine is ~/dev) and run claude once.
   terminal

   $ cd ~/dev/my-project
   $ claude   # accept the trust dialog

Option A, Server mode (the one I use)

Run this in your projects folder. It stays in server mode and lets you create several sessions at once (up to 32). Ideal for leaving your home computer running as a server.

$ claude remote-control
✓ Connected · dev · master
  Capacity: 1/32 · space to show QR code · w to toggle spawn mode

Press the space bar to see the QR code, and w to toggle spawn mode. Handy flags:

$ claude remote-control --name "My Project"
$ claude remote-control --spawn worktree  # each session in its own worktree

Option B, Interactive session

A normal session in your terminal that you also control from your phone (you can type locally and remotely at the same time):

$ claude --remote-control            # or the shortcut: claude --rc
$ claude --remote-control "My Project"

Already in a session and want to keep going on your phone? Turn it on with the slash command, it carries your full history:

› inside the session:
/remote-control   # or:  /rc

Connecting from the web and your phone

With the session active, you have three ways in:

• Scan the QR code (space bar in server mode) → it opens the session in the Claude app. Don’t have the app? Run /mobile for the download QR code.
• Open the session URL in any browser → you get in through claude.ai/code.
• Find it in your session list on claude.ai/code (or tap Code in the app). Remote Control sessions show a computer icon with a green dot when they’re online.

From the mobile app

Claude app → Code tab → tap the session → keep working with the same context. @ autocompletes files from your project, just like on your computer.

Why it changes everything

• Power without carrying it: your heavy machine does the work; you carry a phone.
• Your credentials and integrations: everything lives on the server computer, no reconfiguring anything on each device.
• From anywhere: café, iPad, phone. Start something and pick it up wherever you are.
• Same context everywhere: the conversation syncs across terminal, web, and phone.

Tips & tricks

• The home computer = your server. Server mode (claude remote-control) on your most powerful machine.
• Turn it on for every session: run /config and enable “Enable Remote Control for all sessions”.
• Each session in its own worktree: with --spawn worktree they won’t step on each other editing the same files. Press w to toggle.
• Let your phone notify you: Claude sends you a push when something long finishes. Just ask: “let me know when the tests are done”.
• Keep the session alive: over SSH, use tmux so it doesn’t die when you close the connection.

Common errors and limits