[BUG] Remote Control notification fails: "terminal active"

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Even with Remote Control enabled, and having the agent decide to notify if it needs me explicitly (so not just for every input needed), I never get notifications. The agents always gets the message that the terminal is active. The terminal is NOT active. I'm not even in the same building.

Agent assured me it has no way to bypass this "detection".

What Should Happen?

The agent is configured to decide if it needs me. It should then be allowed to decide if it needs me. It should just ping my phone like I explicitly asked, and the harness should get out of its way.

It is a thousand times more acceptable to get a ping on my phone that is redundant because I am already at the terminal, than NOT getting the ping while I'm NOT at the terminal. This should be obvious.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Have Claude decide to send you a notification to your Claude app on your phone

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.296

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Other Linux

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

Windows Terminal window into WSL2, where Claude runs

I realize there are other reports covering the notification feature, but most seem to cover the notification not arriving on the phone. In this case, it's not even sent, because some gate inside Claude Code wrongly decides the terminal is active, as if that is even a valid reason not to send.