[FEATURE] Cross-device session continuity and parallel execution for Cowork

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

In 2026, working across multiple devices throughout the day is the default mode for most knowledge workers. Claude.ai chat already supports this seamlessly — I can start a conversation on my work PC, continue on my phone during my commute, and pick it back up on my home PC, all within the same thread.

Cowork does not have this. Today, a Cowork session is locked to the physical device where it was started. Two related needs are unmet:

1. Cross-device session continuity. Resume the same Cowork session from a different device. Today this is impossible — the session is tied to the originating PC, and even Dispatch requires that PC to remain awake and the Claude Desktop app open.

1. Parallel Cowork execution. Run multiple Cowork sessions concurrently (similar to how Claude Code supports parallel sessions via worktrees, or how Claude.ai chat allows multiple independent conversations). Today, Cowork is single-threaded per account, and the device lock prevents even launching a second Cowork instance on a different machine.

These two needs are the core. They're what users actually want in their day-to-day workflows.

Why this matters now

The gap between Chat and Cowork is widening. Chat is fully multi-device. Cowork — the more powerful agentic capability — is locked to one machine. Users who've adopted Cowork as core infrastructure for their work hit this wall daily.

Dispatch was a partial step, but it's a remote control for a desktop-bound agent, not true device continuity. The mobile UI is built around dispatching new tasks to a primary PC, not picking up an in-progress Cowork session from where it left off.

Proposed Solution

The needs above can be met by several architectural approaches. One promising direction is server-side Cowork execution, in line with Anthropic's stated "brain and hands separation" philosophy already implemented in Claude Code on the web and Managed Agents:

1. Run Cowork sandbox VMs on Anthropic-managed infrastructure, similar to how Claude Code on the web runs tasks on Anthropic's cloud. Session state lives server-side. The session is no longer bound to a physical device.

1. Provide device-optimized clients:

• Desktop app / web browser: full Cowork UI for primary work
• Mobile: a UI optimized for review, approval, and lightweight follow-up — capable of continuing an in-progress session, not just initiating new tasks like Dispatch

1. Support multiple concurrent sessions per account, with shared usage limits drawing from the same plan budget.

Other approaches are possible (e.g., session-state sync between local agents, optional cloud fallback when the primary device is asleep), but server-side execution is the cleanest path and consistent with where Anthropic's other products are already heading.

Alternative Solutions

• Manual "external brain" in Google Drive (current workaround): I write session state to markdown files at the end of a Cowork session, then read them from a Claude Desktop instance on another device to reconstruct context. This is essentially a user-space implementation of what Anthropic already does server-side for Claude Code on the web. It works but adds friction every day.

• Dispatch: Partially addresses mobile access but only for initiating new tasks. Cannot resume an in-progress Cowork session, and requires the primary PC to stay awake with the app open.

• Cloud Windows VM (e.g., Windows 365) running Claude Desktop: Considered this, but Claude Desktop's Cowork UI is designed for desktop screens — accessing it from iPhone through a remote desktop session is unusable in practice.

• Lifting the local device lock only (per #43698): Solves the parallel-execution need but not session continuity. Complementary to this Issue, not a substitute.

Priority

High - Significant impact on productivity

Feature Category

Other

Use Case Example

_No response_

Additional Context

About the user: I'm a non-engineer business owner running a small IT consulting firm (ASKATE Co., Ltd., based in Tokyo). I use Cowork as a daily core tool, not as an experimental capability. If even users like me — without a development background — are building workarounds for this limitation, the need is broad.

Related work:

• #43698 — Multi-device Cowork (concurrent local agents). Same underlying user need but proposes lifting the device lock locally rather than moving execution server-side. The two approaches are complementary; this Issue takes the higher-level view.
• Claude Code on the web — already implements server-side session persistence with multi-device access. Demonstrates the architecture works.
• Managed Agents + Cloudflare integration (May 2026) — "brain and hands separation" model already deployed for developer-facing products.

Environment: Pro plan, Cowork on Windows (MSI Prestige 16 AI Studio).

Happy to provide more usage details or test early implementations.