[BUG] Dispatch-spawned Claude Code sessions ignore user's model and permission-mode settings — no way to change from mobile

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?

When Dispatch spawns a Claude Code session from the mobile app, the session always starts with Sonnet as the default model and standard permission mode, regardless of the user's configured preferences. Since the spawned Code session is not accessible from the mobile app, there is no way to correct model or permission-mode selection remotely.

This defeats the core value proposition of Dispatch: assigning work from your phone and coming back to finished results. If the session starts with the wrong model and permissions, the task either produces lower-quality output (Sonnet instead of Opus) or gets blocked by permission prompts that nobody can approve from mobile.

Actual Behavior

• Model: Always defaults to Sonnet, ignoring settings.json and environment variables
• Permission mode: Always defaults to standard (ask permissions), ignoring settings.json
• The spawned Code session is visible in the Desktop sidebar but not accessible from the mobile app
• No workaround exists from mobile — the user must physically go to the desktop to change settings

Root Cause Analysis

Claude Desktop is an Electron app that [constructs a custom environment for CLI subprocesses, extracting only PATH and dropping all other environment variables](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/22559). This means:

• ~/.zshrc exports are not inherited (Electron does not source login shells)
• launchctl setenv variables are present in the Electron parent process but not forwarded to the CLI child process
• settings.json "model" field is a [known ignored setting on startup](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/13242)

Combined with the fact that Dispatch-spawned sessions are [not accessible from Claude mobile](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/37713), users have zero control over these parameters when working remotely.

Environment

• Platform: macOS (Mac Studio)
• Claude Desktop: Latest version
• Claude iOS app: Latest version
• Plan: Max
• Model desired: Opus 4.6
• Permission mode desired: bypassPermissions

Related Issues

• #37713 — Dispatch sessions fully isolated from Projects (covers directory/file access, not model/permissions)
• #36170 — Dispatch slow and infinitely asking permissions (symptom of the same root cause)
• #13242 — settings.json model setting ignored on startup
• #22559 — Desktop app drops all environment variables except PATH
• #36313 — No way to revisit folder permissions for Dispatch

Proposed Solutions (any of these would resolve the issue)

1. Inherit settings: Dispatch-spawned Code sessions should read and apply ~/.claude/settings.json model and permission-mode settings
2. Mobile UI controls: Add model and permission-mode selection to the Dispatch mobile interface before or during session creation
3. Mobile session access: Allow viewing and interacting with spawned Code sessions from the mobile app (would enable /model and Shift+Tab)
4. Dispatch configuration: Add Dispatch-specific settings (e.g., in Claude Desktop Settings → Dispatch → Default model / Default permission mode)

What Should Happen?

Expected Behavior

Dispatch-spawned Claude Code sessions should inherit the user's configured model and permission-mode preferences from ~/.claude/settings.json (or environment variables). At minimum:

• "model": "opus" in settings.json → Code session starts with Opus
• "permissions": { "defaultMode": "bypassPermissions" } → Code session starts in bypass mode

Alternatively, Dispatch should expose model and permission-mode selection in the mobile UI before spawning a Code session.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to Reproduce

1. Configure preferred model and permission mode:

• Set "model": "opus" in ~/.claude/settings.json
• Set "permissions": { "defaultMode": "bypassPermissions" } in ~/.claude/settings.json
• Alternatively: set ANTHROPIC_MODEL=opus and CLAUDE_CODE_PERMISSION_MODE=bypassPermissions via launchctl setenv (for GUI apps) or ~/.zshrc (for shell)

1. Restart Claude Desktop
2. Open Dispatch from the Claude iOS app
3. Send a task that triggers a Claude Code session (e.g., "Open a Claude Code session on my project at ~/projects/myapp and fix the failing tests")
4. Observe: Dispatch spawns a Code session on the desktop using Sonnet and standard permission mode
5. From the iPhone, there is no way to access the spawned Code session to run /model opus or change the permission mode via Shift+Tab

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude 1.1.9134 (87a63a) 2026-03-26T22:41:57.000Z

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_