[BUG] Windows desktop: Remote Control session stuck on "Needs input" after its host goes offline — prompt unanswerable and home-screen card can't be cleared

Preflight checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues — this exact combination isn't filed (closest related are linked under "Related issues" below)
• [x] This is a single, focused bug report
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's wrong?

On the Claude desktop app (Code tab) home / "Sessions" screen on Windows, a session attached via Remote Control gets permanently stuck showing a "Needs input" badge after the remote host becomes unreachable (e.g. a lab/build machine that is powered off or disconnected while a prompt was pending on that session).

Because the host that would receive the answer is gone, the pending prompt can never be resolved through the normal flow:

• The "Needs input" badge makes the card look actionable.
• Clicking the card opens the session and shows the pending question, but it cannot be answered (the host is gone) — a dead end.
• The card can only be archived (the X at the end of the session row), which hides it from the list — there's no way to actually answer or resolve the dead prompt, and the misleading "Needs input" badge persists until you archive. Archiving makes a dead-end disappear; it doesn't resolve it (related: #69457, which argues X should dismiss the notification rather than archive the whole session).

What should happen?

An in-product way out of the dead end, for example:

• Detect that the host is unreachable and surface an explicit, non-actionable state (e.g. "Host offline / disconnected") instead of "Needs input"; and/or
• A discoverable way to resolve the dead session (mark done / host-gone) that is distinct from archiving it — so the session list reflects reality instead of a permanent, unanswerable "Needs input".

Steps to reproduce

1. On a remote machine, start Claude Code with Remote Control (/remote-control) and attach to it from the Claude desktop app on Windows.
2. On that session, trigger a state that requires user input (a permission request / AskUserQuestion / usage-limit prompt).
3. Before answering, make the remote host unreachable (power it off / disconnect it).
4. Return to the desktop app home / "Sessions" screen.
5. Observe: the card shows "Needs input"; opening it offers no way to answer; the only way to remove it is to archive it (the X), which hides rather than resolves it.

Environment

• Claude Code version: 2.1.181
• OS: Windows 11
• Platform: Anthropic API
• Feature: Remote Control (desktop app, Code tab)

Additional information

Docs checked: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop documents a hover→archive icon in the in-session sidebar and auto-archive after PR merge, but does not cover the home-screen "Sessions" cards, the "Needs input" state, or what happens to a Remote Control session when its host is offline.

Related issues (searched — none is an exact match for this combination: Remote Control + host permanently gone + unanswerable "Needs input" + a card that can only be archived, on Windows):

• #69457 — X on home-screen session cards archives instead of dismissing the "Needs input" dot (same card surface; macOS; about X-button semantics).
• #54266 — Stale remote environment persists across platforms after local purge attempts (stale Remote Control state that couldn't be cleared locally; resolved only by server-side purge; Windows).
• #64468 — Allow manually overriding session status + a Closed/Dismissed state (a finished/irrelevant session stays with no way to dismiss it).
• #67811 — Desktop archived an active Remote Control session without user action (Remote Control + archive coupling; closed as duplicate).
• #41503 — /remote-control session permanently stuck on a usage-limit prompt with no recovery path (closed/stale).

Open questions for maintainers:

• Archiving (the X) hides the card but doesn't resolve the prompt. Should there be a distinct "resolve / host-gone" affordance, or should X dismiss the notification rather than archive the whole session (per #69457)?
• Should a Remote Control session detect host unreachability and stop presenting an unanswerable "Needs input" state?