VS Code extension: native-UI sessions don't auto-engage Remote Control (remoteControlAtStartup: true ignored)

Summary

The VS Code extension's native-UI Claude sessions don't appear on Remote
Control even with "remoteControlAtStartup": true set in
~/.claude/settings.json. Engaging Remote Control requires a manual UI
toggle per session, which is impractical when working many per-issue
worktrees in separate VS Code windows.

Environment

• VS Code extension anthropic.claude-code v2.1.143
• Claude Code 2.1.143 (native install, ~/.local/bin/claude.exe)
• Windows 11
• claudeCode.useTerminal: false (default — native webview UI)

Observed behavior

• ~/.claude/settings.json has "remoteControlAtStartup": true.
• CLI sessions launched outside VS Code (claude in a terminal) DO appear

on the Remote Control list — works as documented.

• VS Code native-UI Claude sessions (Ctrl+Esc / sidebar) DO NOT appear

on the list.

• Setting claudeCode.useTerminal: true (terminal mode) makes the

extension spawn the regular claude CLI in an integrated terminal,
and Remote Control auto-engages as expected. So terminal mode honors
the setting; native UI does not.

What I tried

I attempted a workaround using claudeCode.claudeProcessWrapper to inject
--remote-control 'Name' --name 'Name' flags via a tiny C# shim that
wraps claude.exe. The shim is invoked correctly (Claude launches with no
errors, the spawn log shows the wrapper path), but Remote Control still
doesn't engage. The flags appear to be ignored when Claude is spawned via
the SDK query() function (which native UI uses).

This suggests Remote Control auto-start is gated on Claude running as
an interactive shell session, not on the --remote-control flag being
present in argv.

Use case

Per-issue git worktrees, each launched as a separate VS Code window. I'd
like to monitor and steer those sessions from my phone via Remote Control
without remembering to click the toggle in every fresh window.

Proposed solutions (any of these would unblock)

1. Honor ~/.claude/settings.json's remoteControlAtStartup: true in

native-UI mode the same way terminal mode does.

1. Add a claudeCode.remoteControlAtStartup workspace setting that the

extension fires toggle_remote_control for at session launch.

1. Expose a VS Code command (e.g., claude-vscode.toggleRemoteControl)

so users can trigger it via tasks.json, a keybinding, or an
onStartup hook.

Notes for triage

The IPC plumbing already exists in the extension — toggle_remote_control,
list_remote_sessions, remoteControlState are all referenced in
extension.js. So this likely a small wiring change (extension reads the
setting at session-launch time and fires the existing IPC message)
rather than a new feature.