[BUG] remote-control: QR code not displayed on headless/non-GUI systems

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?

On headless systems, running claude remote-control only outputs the session URL — no QR code is shown.

Expected: QR codes can be rendered with ASCII/Unicode block characters (█ ▀ ▄) in any terminal,
including headless. Many CLI tools do this already (e.g. qrencode -t ansiutf8,
or the npm qrcode package with toString({type: 'terminal'})).
Should always render ASCII QR, no GUI required.

Current: QR silently skipped on headless systems, requiring manual URL copy/transfer to mobile.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Run claude remote-control on headless Linux (no display server)
2. Only URL is printed, no QR code

Version: 2.1.76, Linux headless

What Should Happen?

Expected: QR codes can be rendered with ASCII/Unicode block characters (█ ▀ ▄) in any terminal,

Error Messages/Logs

no errors. only URL is presented

Steps to Reproduce

Use a headless system.
Run /remote-control

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.76

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

Xterm

Additional Information

_No response_