majorwiki/02-selfhosting/services/claude-code-remote-control.md
MajorLinux f9c61fbac3 wiki: publish 3 unpushed articles and catch nav up
Articles from prior sessions that were written locally but never shipped:
- 02-selfhosting/cloud/aws-s3-cost-management.md — lifecycle rules, storage class selection, bucket inventory, unexpected-growth investigation
- 02-selfhosting/dns-networking/wake-on-lan-router-ssh.md — WOL magic packets via Asus router SSH + ether-wake, Ansible vault integration
- 02-selfhosting/services/claude-code-remote-control.md — mobile access to a persistent host Claude Code session

Nav updated (index.md + SUMMARY.md):
- Added Cloud subsection under Self-Hosting for aws-s3
- Added wake-on-lan and aws-s3 entries to SUMMARY
- Added claude-code-remote-control to index's Services section
- Added ansible-ssh-host-alias-bypass nav entry (article shipped in 2dbeb22)
- Article count 87 → 89, self-hosting 30 → 32, troubleshooting 33 → 34
2026-04-21 09:17:31 -04:00

4.3 KiB

title domain category tags status created updated
Claude Code Remote Control — Mobile Access to a Persistent Host Session selfhosting services
claude-code
anthropic
remote-control
tmux
tailscale
mobile
workflow
published 2026-04-20 2026-04-20

Claude Code Remote Control

Anthropic released Remote Control for Claude Code in February 2026. It bridges a locally-running Claude Code CLI process with Claude Mobile (iOS/Android) and claude.ai/code in any browser. The local session stays running on the host with full filesystem, environment, and MCP access; the phone or browser is just a thin front-end that attaches to it.

This article covers the setup pattern used at MajorsHouse — running Remote Control on an always-on host inside a tmux session over Tailscale SSH so the mobile connection survives client disconnects.

How Remote Control Works

  • All traffic flows through Anthropic's API over outbound HTTPS. No inbound ports on the host, no port forwarding, no reverse proxy.
  • The mobile/web client attaches to the existing session — same transcript, same context, same MCP servers, same working directory.
  • Terminal and mobile can be active at the same time; input is interchangeable and both views stay in sync.
  • Only one remote client per session is supported.
  • The session ends when the local claude process stops.
  • Must be started with claude remote-control from the beginning — a plain claude session already in flight cannot be retrofitted.
  • Requires Claude Pro or Max.

Why MajorRig Hosts the Session

The vault is Obsidian-synced across MajorAir, MajorMac, and MajorRig. Native Linux servers like majorlab or majorhome would be architecturally cleaner (true always-on, no Windows Update reboots) but have no vault sync — adding them would require another Obsidian Sync device slot, or an SMB/NFS mount, or git-only access to the MajorWiki subset. Until that's solved, MajorRig is the de facto primary.

WSL2's /mnt/c I/O is slow for heavy workloads (node_modules, fsync-heavy DBs) but not a practical issue for markdown reads/writes and FTS5 search across the vault.

Setup on MajorRig

1. Enable Remote Control by default

Inside any Claude Code session:

/config

Toggle "Enable Remote Control for all sessions". This means future claude invocations automatically expose a Remote Control endpoint — no need to remember the subcommand.

2. Install the mobile app

Inside Claude Code:

/mobile

A QR code appears for iOS and Android download links.

3. Start a persistent session via Tailscale SSH + tmux

From any fleet machine:

ssh majorrig
tmux new -s claude
claude remote-control

Detach with Ctrl+b d. The claude process survives SSH disconnect because it's owned by the tmux server, not the SSH session.

To reattach from the host later:

ssh majorrig
tmux attach -t claude

4. Connect from the phone

Open Claude Mobile → select the session from the list, or scan the QR code the host prints on start. The app connects over outbound HTTPS through Anthropic; no Tailscale required on the phone.

Alternatives

  • SSH + tmux directly from a mobile terminal app (Blink Shell, Termius) — works without Pro/Max, survives client drops, full shell access. UX on a phone screen is rough; no native paste/share affordances.
  • JessyTsui/Claude-Code-Remote (community) — routes Claude Code task output via email/Discord/Telegram. Not interactive; useful for notifications.

Constraints and Gotchas

  • Process death kills the session. If the claude process exits (crash, tmux kill-session, host reboot), the mobile connection drops and the transcript is lost. For true resilience, pair with a systemd user service that auto-restarts.
  • One remote per session. Phone and laptop browser cannot both attach at the same time.
  • Windows Update reboots on WSL2. MajorRig's uptime is gated by the Windows host. A scheduled-restart-free maintenance window is worth configuring if this pattern becomes primary.
  • Session must start with Remote Control. Restart claude if you realize mid-session you want phone access (unless /config toggle is already set).

See Also