[BUG] Remote Control disconnects an unrelated session when a different CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR re-authenticates

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Remote Control disconnects an already-running session the moment a completely different, unrelated CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR on the same machine re-authenticates — even though that other session's own credentials, directory, and account were never touched.

What Should Happen?

Signing in to a different account under one CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR should not affect a Remote Control connection for a session running under a different CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR on the same machine. This is the same isolation the docs confirm already applies to the underlying .credentials.json file itself (it lives inside whichever CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR is set).

Error Messages/Logs

Remote Control disconnected — signed-in claude.ai account or organization
changed on this machine — run /remote-control to start a session for the
current account, or /login to switch back, then /remote-control

Steps to Reproduce

1. Set up two projects on one machine, each with its own distinct CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR, each signed into a different Claude account (e.g. CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.claude-project-a and CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.claude-project-b).
2. Start a claude session in project A (VS Code integrated terminal) and leave it running.
3. In a separate VS Code window/terminal, start a session with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR pointed at project B's directory, and run /login there to sign in to a different account than the one already logged in.
4. Project A's already-running session — a completely separate CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR, never touched by step 3 — immediately prints the Remote Control disconnect message above.

Note: the bug only shows up with genuinely separate CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIRs that are each meant to be isolated; it does not require anything unusual about either project's contents.

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Claude Code Version

2.1.240 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

I haven't found an existing issue for this exact interaction — the closest related reports are a cluster of open issues where CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR isolates the credentials file correctly but other account-identity-adjacent state does not consistently follow it: #87447 (a session's CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR names a different account than the one it actually authenticates/bills under), #84561 (status bar shows the default account instead of the CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR account), #81278 (CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR not honored for credential storage on macOS without also setting the undocumented CLAUDE_SECURESTORAGE_CONFIG_DIR), #79223 (docs request for that same undocumented variable). This may be the same underlying gap surfacing in Remote Control specifically, or a separate instance of it — filing in case it's useful signal either way.

Also structurally similar: #83759, where a credential rotation on one machine cascaded into a Remote-Control-visible disconnect for a session on a completely different machine — suggesting the server side may treat any credential-rotation signal as informative for every session tied to the account/org, rather than scoping it to the session whose own credential actually rotated.

disableRemoteControl in settings.json is a workaround for suppressing this, but it turns Remote Control off entirely rather than fixing the cross-CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR scoping.