How to use Claude Code from your phone (iPhone and Android)

You can use Claude Code from your phone in three ways: start a cloud session in the Code tab of the Claude app, drive a session on your computer with Remote Control, or SSH into a machine from a terminal app. The code always runs somewhere else. What changes between the three is whether your computer has to stay on.

Can you run Claude Code on your phone?

Your phone is a screen and a keyboard for a Claude Code session running somewhere else: in Anthropic's cloud, on your computer, or on a server. Anthropic's docs describe the Claude app as "a client for Claude Code sessions rather than a place where code runs."

There is no separate Claude Code app. Cloud sessions and Remote Control both live in the Code tab of the Claude app for iOS and Android, and an iPad uses the same iOS app. You sign in with the same claude.ai account you use for Claude Code. An Anthropic Console API key, Amazon Bedrock or another third-party provider can't reach either one.

If the Code tab is missing, your plan or organization may not include these features.

What are the ways to use Claude Code from your phone?

Way	Where Claude Code runs	Your computer must stay on	Good for
Cloud session	A virtual machine Anthropic manages	No	Starting a task on a GitHub repo from anywhere
Remote Control	Your computer	Yes	Continuing work you started at your desk
Dispatch	The Claude Desktop app on your computer	Yes	Messaging a task and letting Desktop run it (Pro and Max)
SSH and tmux	A server or your computer	The machine you connect to	Full terminal access, any tool
A hosted workspace (Kavela)	A cloud computer for each agent	No	Answering approvals for work across your tools

The first question to ask is where your files are. If the work needs your local files, tools or MCP servers, use Remote Control or SSH. If the repo is on GitHub and the task can start from a clean checkout, a cloud session keeps going after you lock the phone and close the laptop. For every option side by side, including GitHub Actions and scheduled tasks, see the best way to work with Claude Code in the cloud.

How do I set up Claude Code Remote Control on my phone?

Remote Control is available on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans, with a claude.ai login. On Team and Enterprise an Owner has to turn it on first.

1. Install the Claude app and sign in with the same account and organization you use in the terminal. Running /mobile in Claude Code shows a QR code that opens the right app store.
2. Start Remote Control on your computer. Run claude remote-control, or type /remote-control in a session that is already open.
3. Connect from the phone. Scan the QR code the terminal shows, or open the Code tab and pick the session.
4. Turn on push notifications. In the terminal, run /config and enable Push when actions required for permission prompts and questions, Push when Claude decides for updates such as a finished task, or both.

From the phone you can send messages, answer permission prompts, attach files and switch models with /model sonnet. The session keeps your local filesystem, tools and MCP servers, because it is still running on your computer.

To serve several sessions at once, run claude remote-control as a server. Outside server mode, each Claude Code process supports one remote session at a time.

How do I start Claude Code from my phone without my laptop?

Use a cloud session. In the Code tab, pick a repository and branch, describe the task and submit it. Claude Code runs in a fresh virtual machine that Anthropic manages, so the task keeps going after you put the phone away, and your laptop can stay closed.

When you are back at your desk, open the session at claude.ai/code or pull it into your terminal with claude --teleport. You can also ask Claude to watch a pull request and fix CI failures and review comments as they arrive.

Two requirements: the repository has to be on GitHub, and you set up the connection once through Anthropic's cloud quickstart. What the cloud machine has installed, and how to give it secrets, is in the guide to the Claude Code cloud environment.

Why does Claude Code Remote Control keep disconnecting?

You are not alone. Remote Control's launch thread on Hacker News reached 544 points in February 2026, and dropped sessions are a common complaint on the Claude Code repo: one open issue with 110 reactions reports that the connection drops "with no indication on either side that the connection is dead", and another with 86 reports sessions dying after about 20 minutes idle.

The causes the docs list, and what to do about each:

• Your computer slept or the claude process stopped. The session goes offline until the process is back. On a remote machine, start claude inside tmux or screen so it survives your SSH connection closing.
• Your network changed. After a VPN switch, Claude Code retries for up to three minutes, then disconnects and names what refused the connection.
• "Could not reach the Remote Control server for about 30 minutes." Run /remote-control again to reconnect.
• A long outage in server mode. The server gives up after about 10 minutes offline. Start claude remote-control again.
• "Remote Control requires a claude.ai subscription." You are signed in with an API key. Run /login and sign in with your claude.ai account.
• No push notifications. If /config says No mobile registered, open the Claude app once. On iOS, check that Focus modes aren't holding them back. On Android, exempt the Claude app from battery optimization.

None of these fixes keeps your computer awake for you. Remote Control is a window onto your machine, and when the machine stops, so does the session.

Can I SSH into my computer from my phone to run Claude Code?

Yes, and people were doing it before Remote Control existed. A post on building "via the terminal from your phone" reached 577 points on Hacker News in January 2026.

The usual setup has four parts:

1. A machine that stays on, such as a desktop at home or a small cloud server.
2. A private network such as Tailscale, so SSH is never open to the whole internet.
3. A terminal app on the phone, such as Termius or Blink Shell.
4. tmux, so the session survives the phone locking or the connection dropping.

# on the machine, once
tmux new -s work
claude
# press Ctrl-b then d to detach

# from the phone, any time
ssh you@your-machine
tmux attach -t work

You get the full terminal and every tool on the machine. In exchange, you type on a phone keyboard into a terminal UI, and you look after the machine, the network and the logins yourself. Setting that machine up properly is covered in Claude Code on a VPS.

What can't you do from your phone?

• Local-only commands. /plugin and /resume only work in the terminal.
• Bypass permissions. You can't select it from the app. Cloud sessions offer Accept edits, Plan and Auto; Remote Control offers Manual, Accept edits, Plan and Auto.
• Dispatch on Team or Enterprise. Dispatch needs a Pro or Max plan.
• Expiring dialogs. Permission prompts and questions wait for you. Other forwarded dialogs close after five minutes by default and continue with their no-action choice.

Expect a prompt for most edits and commands unless you set permission rules first. An open issue about the app showing prompts even when the session was started with skipped permissions has 86 reactions. Allowing the commands you always approve, such as tests and reads, cuts the prompts down to the ones worth taking on a phone.

How does Kavela handle work you check from your phone?

In Kavela, nothing runs on your laptop or your phone. Each agent works in its own cloud computer, with a shell, files, git and a real browser, and runs Claude Code on your own Claude plan. You sign in once for the workspace. Close the laptop and the work carries on.

Your phone is where you answer. When an agent needs a decision, a sign-in or a password, it posts one card to the Approvals inbox and ends its turn. You answer from your phone, and the agent's next turn starts from your answer. Other work keeps running in the meantime, so a question on one task doesn't hold up the rest.

Every workflow run is checked by a second agent against your checklist before it reaches you. Work that falls short goes back with the exact gap, so what reaches your phone is checked work and the decisions that only you can make.

Kavela starts with a 14-day free trial, no card. Start your free trial