Remote Control: expose the ~/.claude.json project registry as a picker in the session list
Summary
Remote Control's session list shows only sessions that are already running. It should also expose the project registry Claude Code already keeps in ~/.claude.json, so I can pick a project on my machine from the phone and start a session in it.
Why this is a small ask
The data already exists. ~/.claude.json records every directory Claude Code has run in — 21 entries on my machine, including nested ones like C:\work\project-a\subproject. The remote channel already exists. Only the picker is missing.
Current workarounds, and why they fall short
Neither gives you tap-a-project-then-work:
- One named session per project —
cd C:\work\project-a; claude --remote-control "Project A". Closest feel, but needs a separate terminal per project and burns a concurrent session on each. - One wide session —
claude remote-control --add-dir ...from a parent, then navigate by typing@. Less setup, but you have to know the path already; there's nothing to browse.
Both require deciding what you want before leaving the desk, which defeats the point of picking something up from the phone.
Prior art
The Codex app's remote view already does this — its Projects list is drawn from its own registry of directories you've worked in, and tapping one starts a session there.
Suggested behavior
In the Remote tab, alongside the running-session list, show the projects from ~/.claude.json. Tapping one starts a session with that directory as cwd, subject to the usual workspace-trust check.
Environment
- Windows 11 Home Single Language (10.0.26200)
- Claude Code CLI,
claude remote-controlserver mode - Claude mobile app, connected and working
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3 Comments
+1, same setup here (Linux,
claude remote-controlserver mode, with Codex's remote as the comparison).Workaround 2 (one wide session started from a parent directory) has another cost that isn't mentioned above: everything keyed to the launch directory follows the parent, not the project Claude is actually working in.
~/.claude/projects/<parent>/entry, soclaude --continue/claude --resumerun from the project directory can't find it when I pick the session back up at my desk..claude/settings.local.jsonallowlists don't apply, so there are more permission prompts.Workaround 1 (one server per project) avoids that, but it means N long-running processes, each stuck on the version it started with until restarted, plus timer or restart plumbing to keep them current.
A picker that starts the session with the chosen project as its cwd fixes both: transcript, memory and settings land in the right place, and there's only one server process to keep updated.
Urgent
+1. I have 10+ projects, and to start a session from my phone I either run
claude rcin each one or go through Dispatch. A project picker would replace both. The new session should also show up in the desktop app's sidebar under that project.