Claude Code Remote Control vs Dispatch: which one keeps working

Short answer: Claude Code Remote Control lets you drive a claude session running on your Mac from the Claude app or claude.ai/code. Dispatch lets you message a task to the Claude desktop app on your Mac, which decides how to run it. Both keep working only while the Mac is awake, online and running Claude, and closing a MacBook's lid puts it to sleep; only a cloud session, which runs on Anthropic's infrastructure, keeps going with the Mac asleep or off. To use Remote Control or Dispatch with the lid closed, keep the Mac awake with an external display or a Keep Mac Awake session.

What is the difference between Remote Control and Dispatch?

Remote Control is a remote window into a Claude Code session you started on your own machine. Dispatch is one ongoing conversation that you send tasks to, and Claude decides how to run each one on your desktop. Both run on your Mac; a cloud session runs elsewhere. As of October 2026, Anthropic lists Remote Control for "steering in-progress work from another device" and Dispatch for "delegating work while you're away, minimal setup" (platforms).

Claude Code Remote Control

You start it on the Mac with claude remote-control (server mode), claude --remote-control, or /remote-control inside a session, also in the Claude desktop app and VS Code, then open the session in the Code tab of the Claude app for iOS or Android, or at claude.ai/code. In server mode the Mac appears as a device card in the Code tab, where you can start new sessions (what's new).

It needs a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan and a claude.ai login, and "your computer has to stay on and the claude process has to keep running" (Remote Control).

Dispatch

Dispatch is a persistent conversation in the Cowork tab of the Claude desktop app. You message it a task from your phone; development work becomes a Claude Code session with a Dispatch badge, and you get a push notification when it finishes or needs approval (Desktop).

As of October 2026, it needs the Claude desktop app "installed and running", the Claude mobile app, a Pro or Max plan (not Team or Enterprise) and "an active internet connection on both devices"; "your computer must be awake and the app must be open" (Claude Help Center). The same article says "Dispatch isn't available to new users"; existing users can keep using it for now.

Cloud sessions

A cloud session "runs on cloud infrastructure instead of on your machine", Anthropic-managed by default, and "keeps running after you close your laptop" (cloud sessions); claude --cloud starts one from Terminal. It clones your repository from GitHub, or in some cases uploads a bundle of your local repository, so it never sees files that exist only on your Mac. It is on Pro, Max and Team plans, and for Enterprise users with premium seats or Chat + Claude Code seats.

What does each one need on the Mac?

Remote Control and Dispatch need a Mac that is awake, online and running Claude; a cloud session needs nothing from it. As of October 2026, from Anthropic's docs:

Requirement	Remote Control	Dispatch	Cloud session
Where Claude works	Your Mac	Your Mac	Anthropic's cloud by default
What must run on the Mac	A `claude` process (CLI, desktop app or VS Code)	The Claude desktop app, open	Nothing
Mac awake and online	Yes	Yes	No
Plans	Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise	Pro, Max; not for new users	Pro, Max, Team; Enterprise with eligible seats
Local files and tools	Yes	Yes, plus connectors and apps	No: a GitHub clone or an uploaded bundle
MacBook lid closed, default settings	Offline; reconnects when the Mac wakes	Cannot work while the Mac sleeps	Keeps running

Which one should I use?

Use Remote Control when the work needs your Mac's files and tools and you want to steer it; use Dispatch if you already have it and want to hand off a task in one message; use a cloud session when the repository is on GitHub and the Mac may sleep or be off.

Remote Control: Anthropic suggests it "when you're in the middle of local work and want to keep going from another device". Unlike Dispatch, it is open to new users.
Dispatch: you describe the outcome and Dispatch picks the session; it also reaches Cowork tasks, connectors and apps.
Cloud session: "If your computer will be off, use cloud sessions or a project, which run in the cloud and continue with your laptop closed" (mobile).

The same choice for Codex and Cursor is in steer your coding agents from your phone.

What do Remote Control and Dispatch need with the lid closed?

Both need the Mac awake, online and running Claude, and by default a MacBook cannot stay awake with the lid closed: closing the display puts a Mac laptop to sleep (Apple Support).

Claude's documented keep-awake setting covers idle sleep, not the lid. Dispatch setup offers a toggle to keep your computer awake without saying what it covers, and the desktop app has Keep computer awake in Settings > This computer > System; Anthropic documents that setting as preventing idle sleep and adds: "Closing the laptop lid still puts it to sleep" (scheduled tasks). Why caffeinate does not help either is in keep Claude Code running with the lid closed.

A closed MacBook stays awake with an external display, power and an external keyboard and mouse (Apple Support), with sudo pmset disablesleep 1 until you undo it (what pmset disablesleep does), or with a Keep Mac Awake session.

The network is a separate requirement. In server mode, Remote Control "gives up after roughly 10 minutes" of network outage and exits, while an interactive session keeps retrying (Remote Control). Fixes for a session that shows offline are in Claude Code Remote Control with the lid closed.

What to use

To keep Claude Code Remote Control or Dispatch working from your phone with the MacBook lid closed and no external display, Keep Mac Awake (keepmacawake.com) keeps a MacBook with Apple silicon on macOS 26 or later awake for a session you start, for example with keepmacawake start --hours 8, and restores normal sleep afterwards; if the work can run without your Mac, a cloud session needs no keep-awake tool at all.

Keep Mac Awake is a menu bar app plus the keepmacawake command, so Claude can start a session with keepmacawake start --hours 8 --json and end it with keepmacawake stop --json. It runs on AC power by default, and a separate watchdog restores normal sleep if anything stops or hangs. It does not keep Wi-Fi or any network connection alive, does not wake a sleeping Mac and does not provide remote control. It is free for 3 days (sessions up to 8 hours, no card), then 9 USD once per Mac plus tax. More: keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed.

How do I set it up with the lid closed?

Update Claude Code (claude update) or the Claude desktop app, and the Claude app on your phone.
Plug the Mac in and put it on a hard surface with airflow. A closed Mac still makes heat: never in a bag or under a pillow.
Start a session: keepmacawake start --hours 8.
Run claude --remote-control "Night run" in your project, or leave the Claude desktop app open for Dispatch.
Send a message from your phone, close the lid, and send another to confirm.
When the work is done, ask Claude to run keepmacawake stop --json, or let the timed session end.

FAQ

Is Claude Dispatch the same as Remote Control?

No. Remote Control drives a Claude Code session you started on your Mac. Dispatch is one ongoing conversation that you send tasks to, and it starts Claude Code or Cowork sessions in the Claude desktop app itself. Both run on your Mac.

Does Claude Dispatch work with the MacBook lid closed?

Only while the Mac stays awake. As of October 2026, Anthropic says your computer must be awake and the Claude desktop app open, and closing a MacBook's lid puts it to sleep. An external display or a Keep Mac Awake session keeps it awake with the lid closed.

Do Claude Code cloud sessions keep running when my Mac sleeps?

Yes. A cloud session runs on Anthropic-managed infrastructure by default and keeps running after you close your laptop. It works on a clone of your GitHub repository, not on files that exist only on your Mac.

Can new users still get Claude Dispatch?

Not as of October 2026: Anthropic's Help Center says Dispatch isn't available to new users, and existing users can keep using it for now. To drive your own Mac from your phone, use Remote Control.

Does Keep Mac Awake replace Remote Control or Dispatch?

No. It only keeps the Mac awake with the lid closed, so Claude keeps running. The connection comes from Remote Control or Dispatch and lasts while the Mac's network connection holds.