VS Code extension: remoteControlAtStartup=true does not auto-start Remote Control

Summary

The setting remoteControlAtStartup: true in ~/.claude/settings.json is recognized by the VS Code extension's settings schema, but does not actually start the Remote Control bridge automatically — neither for new chat sessions inside the same VS Code window, nor after a full window reload, nor for newly opened windows.

The user must run /remote-control manually in each session to enable it.

Environment

• Platform: macOS (Darwin 25.4.0, arm64)
• VS Code extension: anthropic.claude-code v2.1.138 (active)
• Also installed: v2.1.136
• No CLI claude binary on PATH (extension-only install)
• No managed-settings override present (/Library/Application Support/ClaudeCode/ does not exist)

Repro

1. Set ~/.claude/settings.json to:

``json
{
"model": "opus",
"remoteControlAtStartup": true
}
``

1. Open a new Claude Code session in the VS Code extension → Remote Control is off.
2. Run "Developer: Reload Window" → new session still has Remote Control off, and any prior RC session is killed.
3. Open a different VS Code window → Remote Control is off there too.

Expected: every new session has Remote Control already active (no need to run /remote-control).

Diagnostics

• The schema at <extension>/claude-code-settings.schema.json declares the setting:

``json
"remoteControlAtStartup": {
"description": "Start Remote Control bridge automatically each session",
"type": "boolean"
}
``

• strings on the bundled resources/native-binary/claude shows getRemoteControlAtStartup and multiple references to remoteControlAtStartup, so the binary side reads it.
• The extension's extension.js only references the key inside a zod schema describe call — no observable wiring that triggers the bridge based on the setting at session start.

Workaround

Run /remote-control in each session manually.