How to use Claude Code from your iPhone: three methods that work

By Meffysto · updated October 4, 2026

You gave Claude Code a long job, walked away, and it's been waiting twenty minutes on a question you'd have answered in two seconds. Your phone fixes that, as long as you pick the right method. Here are three, with what each one does and doesn't do.

What you actually need

Writing code on a phone screen isn't much fun. What matters from the iPhone is seeing where the agent is, answering a question or a permission prompt, and sometimes giving it the next instruction. All the real work keeps happening on the computer, with your files, your tools and your config.

One condition applies to all three methods: the computer has to stay on, and the agent has to keep running when you close its window. If the agent dies with the terminal, there's nothing left to join.

Method 1: Remote Control, Anthropic's own option

Anthropic offers Remote Control, a research preview at the time of writing. It connects the Claude app for iOS or Android (or claude.ai/code) to a Claude Code session running on your machine. According to the official docs, Claude keeps running locally the whole time, so your files, MCP servers and project config stay available. Push notifications can tell you when Claude needs you.

It's the simplest method if Claude Code is all you use. You just need the same account on both sides. On Team and Enterprise plans an admin has to switch it on. The limit is in the name: it only covers Claude Code. A Codex or Gemini running next to it stays invisible.

Method 2: SSH + tmux + an SSH client

This is the universal method, the one that works with any command-line agent. It takes a bit of setup, once.

1. On the Mac, open System Settings ▸ General ▸ Sharing and turn on Remote Login. Your Mac now accepts SSH connections.
2. Install tmux (brew install tmux) and start the agent inside it: tmux new -A -s claude claude. Close the window and the agent keeps going.
3. To reach the Mac away from home, install Tailscale on the Mac and the iPhone with the same account. The Mac gets a private address reachable from anywhere, with no open port.
4. On the iPhone, install an SSH client such as Termius or Blink, add the Mac using an SSH key rather than a password, then run tmux attach -t claude.

You're in the agent's real terminal, colours and history included. It works with Claude Code, Codex, Gemini or any other CLI, on the Mac or on a server. The cost is ergonomics: a full-screen terminal reads badly on a phone, you need to know your tmux shortcuts, and you have to know which session to open before you open it. The remote agents guide covers the traps, starting with session names.

Method 3: Perchoir, if you use Fauconnier

Perchoir is our iPhone app. It's a specialised SSH client that attaches to the tmux sessions Fauconnier opened on your Mac or your servers. It launches no agents and has no server of ours: the phone talks to your Mac and nobody else.

What it adds over a generic SSH client:

• the list of sessions with each one's state: working, waiting for an answer, done;
• the agent's terminal as it is, when you want to type in it;
• the same windows as on the Mac, laid out for a phone screen;
• a chat-style thread with an agent, without opening the terminal;
• optional voice, off by default, using your own OpenAI or xAI key.

Setup is three steps: turn on Remote Login on the Mac, show the pairing QR code in Fauconnier (Settings ▸ Perchoir), scan it from the iPhone. The QR sets up the hosts, a key dedicated to the phone and the Mac's fingerprints, plus its Tailscale address if it has one. To see agents started on the Mac itself, also turn on resumable sessions (tmux) in Fauconnier. Perchoir is free, needs no account, and requires iOS 17 or later.

The three side by side

Security: three rules

Opening your Mac to your phone means opening a door. Three rules keep it shut to everyone else. Use an SSH key, never a password. Go through a private network like Tailscale rather than forwarding port 22 on your router. And keep a separate key for the phone, so you can revoke it alone if you lose the device. Perchoir follows all three: its key lives in the iOS keychain, and removing the perchoir@fauconnier line from your authorized keys revokes the phone.

Which method to pick

If Claude Code is all you use and your sessions run on the machine you were sitting at, Remote Control is the shortest path. If you mix several CLIs, or your agents run on a server, SSH and tmux work everywhere at the cost of some comfort. And if you already use Fauconnier on the Mac, Perchoir gives you the same thing with each agent's state on top. Nothing stops you from combining two: Remote Control for your main Claude session, an SSH client for the rest.

The most common failures

• The Mac went to sleep. By far the top cause. On a plugged-in laptop, prevent sleep when the display is off, or leave the lid open.
• The agent wasn't running in tmux. You reach the machine but not the session. There's nothing to join: start it in tmux this time.
• Tailscale is off on one side. Away from home Wi-Fi the Mac becomes unreachable. Check that both devices show as connected.
• The key is rejected. The phone's SSH client uses a key the Mac doesn't know. Add its public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the Mac.

Frequently asked questions

Can I run Claude Code on an iPhone without a computer?

Not locally: Claude Code runs on a computer or a server. The phone follows and steers that session. Anthropic also offers Claude Code on the web, which runs in their cloud.

Does my Mac have to stay on?

Yes, for all three methods. If the Mac sleeps, the agent stops. Adjust sleep in System Settings, or run your agents on a server that stays on.

Termius or Blink for Claude Code?

Both are SSH clients that handle tmux and keys well. Pick the one whose keyboard you like: it's what you'll use most.

Does Perchoir work without Fauconnier?

It needs tmux sessions named by Fauconnier to have something to show. Without a Mac, a demo mode replays a recorded session so you can see what the app is like.

Read next

• Remote coding agents with SSH and tmux
• Running several coding agents at once
• Voice control for coding agents