[Cowork/Dispatch] Remote approval for Mac dialogs with mobile push notifications
Preflight Checklist
- [x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
- [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)
Problem Statement
Problem 1 — Dialogs require physical presence
When Cowork's request_access triggers a native macOS permission dialog, the user must be physically at their Mac to approve within the 60-second timeout. Users who are away (traveling, on a flight) cannot approve, blocking all computer-use tasks for the entire remote session.
Problem 2 — No push notification for Dispatch messages
Even if approval requests were forwarded to Dispatch, the Claude mobile app currently has no push notification mechanism. Users only see Dispatch messages if they already have the app open — making remote approval impractical.
Proposed Solution
- Forward request_access dialogs to the Dispatch text channel as interactive messages with Approve/Deny buttons
- Send a push notification to the user's mobile device (iOS/Android) when a Dispatch approval request is pending
- Relay the user's response back to dismiss the dialog on Mac — resuming the paused task automatically
Alternative Solutions
Currently there is no viable workaround. The user must be physically present at their Mac to approve dialogs. If they miss the 60-second window, the task silently fails and computer-use is blocked for the session until they return.
Priority
Critical - Blocking my work
Feature Category
CLI commands and flags
Use Case Example
User is on a long-haul flight with Cowork running autonomously on their Mac at home. Cowork needs computer-use access to open a new application.
Currently: request_access triggers a dialog on Mac. The 60-second timeout expires. Task silently fails. Computer-use is blocked for the rest of the session.
With this feature: User gets a push notification on their phone mid-flight. Dispatch shows Approve/Deny. User taps Approve. Dialog dismissed. Task continues.
Additional Context
This affects Cowork + Dispatch users. The two sub-issues are tightly linked — forwarding dialogs to Dispatch is only useful if Dispatch delivers push notifications. Both need to be implemented together.
Scope: Cowork macOS app + Dispatch + Claude iOS/Android app
This issue has 3 comments on GitHub. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗