Anthropic launched Remote Control for Claude Code on Tuesday, letting developers start a coding session in their terminal and pick it up from a phone, tablet, or browser. The feature, announced by product manager Noah Zweben, is rolling out as a research preview for Max subscribers ($100-$200/month). Pro users are next, though no timeline was given. Team and Enterprise plans are excluded for now.
Setup is minimal. Run claude remote-control or type /rc in a session, scan the QR code with the Claude app, and your local session is live on mobile. The key detail: nothing moves to the cloud. Your machine does all the work, with the phone acting as a remote window into the local environment. Filesystem access, MCP servers, project configs all stay put. According to Anthropic's official docs, the architecture uses outbound HTTPS only, no inbound ports open on your machine.
Zweben pitched it as a lifestyle feature: "Take a walk, see the sun, walk your dog without losing your flow." Fair enough, but the limitations are worth noting. One remote session at a time per instance. Close the terminal and the session dies. Lose network for more than ten minutes and it times out. A known bug is also hitting some individual Pro and Max users with a "Contact your administrator" error, which Anthropic has acknowledged on GitHub.
Remote Control is distinct from Claude Code on the web, which VentureBeat notes runs on Anthropic's cloud infrastructure. This feature targets developers mid-task with complex local setups who want to step away without breaking context. Claude Code itself has hit a company-reported $2.5 billion annualized run rate and 29 million daily VS Code installs, numbers that remain unverified by third parties. Pro access is expected soon, with users needing Claude v2.1.52 or later.
Bottom Line
Remote Control keeps Claude Code sessions running locally while giving phone and browser access, but it's Max-only for now at $100-$200/month.
Quick Facts
- Available now for Max subscribers ($100-$200/month) as research preview
- Pro ($20/month) access coming soon, no confirmed date
- Not available for Team or Enterprise plans
- Requires Claude Code v2.1.52 or later
- Claude Code ARR: $2.5 billion (company-reported, unverified)
