VS Code extension: remoteControlAtStartup: true is not honored — sessions never auto-start Remote Control

Status Fixed / completed

Maintainer reply None cached

Activity 4 comments · opened Jul 20, 2026 · closed Aug 7, 2026

Summary

The "Enable Remote Control for all sessions" toggle (Settings menu) correctly writes "remoteControlAtStartup": true to ~/.claude/settings.json, but VS Code extension sessions never auto-connect to Remote Control. New sessions started days after enabling the toggle do not appear in the mobile app's Code tab ("No recently connected devices").

Manually running /remote-control in the same sessions works reliably every time — so the RC connection itself is healthy; only the automatic startup is broken (or the extension surface doesn't implement it).

Environment

Claude Code VS Code extension: v2.1.215 (latest at time of filing)
VS Code: 1.129.1 (latest stable)
macOS (Darwin 25.5.0, Apple Silicon)
Auth: claude.ai subscription (Max plan)
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL: unset

Steps to reproduce

In the VS Code extension, open the / command menu → Settings → enable "Enable Remote Control for all sessions"
Verify ~/.claude/settings.json now contains "remoteControlAtStartup": true
Start a new session in the VS Code extension panel
Check the Claude mobile app → Code tab

Expected

The new session auto-connects to Remote Control and appears in the mobile app with a green Connected indicator.

Actual

No connection banner appears at session start; the session never registers. Typing /remote-control manually in the same session connects immediately and the session then appears on mobile.

Notes

Docs describe the toggle as applying to "every new interactive session" but only CLI sessions appear to honor it. If the extension surface is intentionally excluded, a docs clarification + an extension-side auto-start option would be appreciated — the manual /rc-every-session workaround is easy to forget.

View original on GitHub ↗

4 Comments

com6056 · 1 month ago

Still broken on 2.1.220, and it isn't macOS-only. Linux (Fedora, VS Code 1.130.0, extension 2.1.220), panel sessions over Remote-SSH. Since #79699 hit it on plain local macOS, the remote setup doesn't look like the variable.

Timestamps from my repro, mostly to rule out the obvious "setting was written after the session started" explanation:

23:44:41   toggle flipped in the / menu; ~/.claude/settings.json mtime updates, remoteControlAtStartup: true
23:46:22   new panel session spawned, test message sent

The extension spawns the session with --setting-sources=user,project,local, so user settings are in scope, and the shipped binary does contain the remoteControlAtStartup string. But that session runs with --debug --debug-to-stderr and its output has nothing about remote control in it at all. No attempt, no failure, no eligibility complaint. It never tries.

Typing /remote-control into that same session connects right away, so auth and entitlement are fine.

mikulik86 · 1 month ago

Can confirm this is still happening. I have "Enable Remote Control for all sessions" toggled on in the VS Code extension's command menu (Settings section), but every time I start a new session I have to manually re-enable it via /remote-control — it doesn't carry over from the setting.

antrewmorrison · 24 days ago

Fixed in Claude Code 2.1.224 (CLI and VS Code extension, both published today).

What was wrong: the extension did receive your remoteControlAtStartup: true from the CLI, but it additionally gated auto-start behind a server-side rollout flag that was off for most users — so an explicit opt-in was silently ignored while /remote-control typed by hand worked fine. As of 2.1.224 an explicit setting ("remoteControlAtStartup": true in ~/.claude/settings.json, or the extension's "Enable Remote Control for all sessions" toggle) auto-starts Remote Control regardless of that rollout flag.

To pick it up: update the Claude Code extension to 2.1.224 (it bundles the matching CLI) and start a new session. If a new session still doesn't auto-connect on 2.1.224+, please comment with your extension version and OS and we'll reopen.

Pciara1 · 23 days ago

Ok, great. Thanks!
Paul

Please excuse any typo's as sent from iPhone

On Fri, Aug 7, 2026 at 12:18 AM Andrew Morrison @.***>
wrote:

antrewmorrison left a comment (anthropics/claude-code#79389) <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/79389#issuecomment-5212319537> Fixed in Claude Code 2.1.224 (CLI and VS Code extension, both published today). What was wrong: the extension did receive your remoteControlAtStartup: true from the CLI, but it additionally gated auto-start behind a server-side rollout flag that was off for most users — so an explicit opt-in was silently ignored while /remote-control typed by hand worked fine. As of 2.1.224 an explicit setting ("remoteControlAtStartup": true in ~/.claude/settings.json, or the extension's "Enable Remote Control for all sessions" toggle) auto-starts Remote Control regardless of that rollout flag. To pick it up: update the Claude Code extension to 2.1.224 (it bundles the matching CLI) and start a new session. If a new session still doesn't auto-connect on 2.1.224+, please comment with your extension version and OS and we'll reopen. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/79389?email_source=notifications&email_token=CD45BCOTKTVI65GNULMPZSL5IVJ75A5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTKMRRGIZTCOJVGM32M4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2KYZTPN52GK4S7MNWGSY3L#issuecomment-5212319537>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/CD45BCNYHGRLI5Q7BFM5OPL5IVJ75AVCNFSNUABFKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHM4TGNZSGUZTINZVHNEXG43VMU5TIOJSHAZTGMBXGE42C5QC> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/CD45BCPQROISQ2HK7AXPTML5IVJ75A5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTKMRRGIZTCOJVGM32M4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2KUZTPN52GK4S7NFXXG> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/CD45BCJ5O7LEFXHNJCYNQ435IVJ75A5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTKMRRGIZTCOJVGM32M4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2K4ZTPN52GK4S7MFXGI4TPNFSA>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: @.***>