[BUG] Desktop app Code tab shows "max" effort for a Remote Control session actually running at "medium"

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

When starting a Claude Code session locally with Remote Control enabled and an explicit --effort flag, the local terminal correctly applies and displays the configured effort level, but the Claude Desktop app's Code tab — running on a separate machine, viewing the same session via Remote Control — always displays "max" regardless of the actual configured level.

What Should Happen?

Expected Behavior

Desktop's Code tab should display the actual effort level the session is running at (medium, in this case), regardless of which machine or OS it's viewed from.

Actual Behavior

Desktop's Code tab always shows "max," even though:

• The local terminal (Ubuntu) banner confirms "medium effort" is active
• /status in the local session also confirms medium
• No CLAUDE_CODE_EFFORT_LEVEL env var is set (confirmed via echo)
• ~/.claude/settings.json has "effortLevel": "xhigh" (lower precedence than --effort, and not the actual value shown locally, so not the cause)
• No project-level settings.json or settings.local.json overrides present

This appears to be a display-only bug isolated to the Desktop Remote
Control Code tab — the actual API requests are unaffected, since the
local terminal confirms medium is genuinely applied. The bug reproduces
across a cross-platform Remote Control connection (Ubuntu CLI host ↔
Windows Desktop client), which may be relevant if the display state is
synced/serialized differently across platforms.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. On the CLI machine (Ubuntu), start a session with:

claude --remote-control -n o5555 --model claude-opus-5 --effort medium

1. Confirm the local terminal banner: "Opus 5 with medium effort · Claude Max"
2. On a separate machine (Windows), open Claude Desktop app → Code tab

→ connect to this Remote Control session

1. Observe the effort level shown for the session in Desktop

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

Claude 1.24012.9 (03c61d) 2026-07-24T04:59:17.000Z

Claude Code Version

Claude Code v2.1.220

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

Environment

• Claude Code v2.1.220
• Model: claude-opus-5
• CLI host OS: Ubuntu (Linux)
• Desktop app OS: Windows (separate machine, connected via Remote Control)