[BUG] VS Code + Remote Control: session title not synced to claude.ai/code, web shows hostname placeholder unless named before activation

What happens

With the VS Code extension and Remote Control, the session name shown on claude.ai/code is often not the one shown in VS Code. Instead of the real title, the web shows the placeholder <machine-hostname>-<word>-<word> (hostname plus a random word pair).

Observed pattern (reporter's observation, not a confirmed root cause)

• If the session already has a name when Remote Control becomes active (set via /rename, claude -n, or an earlier title), that name reaches the web correctly.
• If the name only appears after Remote Control is active (the auto-generated title produced after the first prompt, or a later /rename in VS Code), it does not seem to be pushed to the web. The web keeps the hostname placeholder.
• This is the common case, hence "most of the time".

This matches the docs, which only describe the web-to-local direction ("When you rename a session from claude.ai or the Claude app, Claude Code also updates the local title shown in claude --resume"). I found nothing documented for local-to-web after activation.

Expected

The title shown in VS Code (auto-generated or manual) is also the title shown on claude.ai/code for the same session, including when it changes after Remote Control is active. Failing that, the hostname placeholder should be replaced once a real title exists.

Steps to reproduce

1. Start a new session in the VS Code extension with Remote Control active from the start, without naming it.
2. Send a first prompt; VS Code generates an auto-title.
3. Open the same session on claude.ai/code. It shows the <hostname>-<word>-<word> placeholder instead of the VS Code title.
4. For contrast: name the session before activating Remote Control. The name shows correctly on the web.

I have not isolated whether a manual /rename after activation also fails to reach the web; the auto-title case is the one I see consistently.

Related

• #75343: same symptom reported for the mobile/web app vs desktop (labelled area:desktop); this report adds the VS Code extension and the name-before-activation pass-through.
• #98334: the hostname + random word pair placeholder in the VS Code Session Manager "Web" tab.

Environment

• VS Code extension: anthropic.claude-code 2.1.285 to 2.1.288 are installed side by side; claude --version on PATH reports 2.1.286
• OS: Linux (WSL2, kernel 6.6.87.2)
• Session surfaces: VS Code extension and claude.ai/code