Code Remote Starter

Start Claude Code sessions in any directory on your Mac — from your phone.

The Claude mobile app's Remote Control can drive sessions that already exist, but it can't start a new session in a new directory. For that you still have to walk to your Mac, open a terminal, cd, and run Claude Code. Code Remote Starter closes that gap: a small web app that runs on your Mac and is reachable from your phone. Pick a directory, confirm, and it launches a session there with Remote Control on — so it shows up in the Claude app and you drive it from your phone as usual.

How it works

When you launch a session, the server runs your Claude Code command — the cym alias, claude --dangerously-skip-permissions --effort max — inside a detached tmux session in the directory you chose:

claude --dangerously-skip-permissions --effort max

tmux keeps the process alive independently of the browser. With Remote Control enabled at startup ("remoteControlAtStartup": true in ~/.claude/settings.json), the session registers with Anthropic and appears in the Claude mobile app, where you do the actual work — exactly as if you had typed cym in that directory yourself. Code Remote Starter is purely the launcher and session manager — it never proxies your conversation.

The base command is configurable via baseCommand.

Requirements

• macOS
• tmux — brew install tmux
• Claude Code on your PATH, signed in, with Remote Control enabled at startup ("remoteControlAtStartup": true in ~/.claude/settings.json)
• Node.js 20+

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/burakgon/code-remote-starter.git
cd code-remote-starter
npm install
npm run build
npm start

Run it from a shell where claude already works, so the launched sessions inherit your sign-in. On start it prints an access URL for this Mac, plus a LAN URL and a QR code for your phone:

  Code Remote Starter is listening on 0.0.0.0:4317

  On this Mac:
    http://localhost:4317/?token=…

  On your phone (same Wi-Fi / Tailscale) — scan the QR or open the URL:
    http://192.168.1.20:4317/?token=…
    █▀▀▀▀▀█ ▀▌▄█ █▀▀▀▀▀█
    …

Scan the QR with your phone's camera (on the same network) — it opens the full URL, so the long token can't get truncated in transit.

For day-to-day development with hot reload:

npm run dev      # Vite on :5173 proxying the API to the server on :4317

Reaching it from your phone

The server binds to 0.0.0.0 so it is reachable on your network, and the access token is what protects it. The easiest way in is to scan the QR code printed at startup. Otherwise:

• Same Wi‑Fi: open http://<your-mac-ip>:4317/?token=… on your phone.
• Anywhere: put your Mac and phone on a private network such as Tailscale and use the Mac's Tailscale address.

Code Remote Starter launches Claude Code with --dangerously-skip-permissions, so treat the URL like a password and only expose it over networks you trust. A first-class tunnel is on the roadmap.

Security

• Every HTTP request and the WebSocket require a valid token. The token is generated on first run and stored in ~/.config/code-remote-starter/config.json (mode 0600).
• The token arrives once via ?token=…, then is kept in a Strict, httpOnly cookie; the URL is tidied so the token isn't left in the address bar.
• State-changing requests are checked against an Origin allowlist (CSRF guard).
• Brute-force protection: more than 5 wrong-token attempts from an IP within an hour locks that IP for 30 minutes. Behind a local reverse proxy or tunnel (Cloudflare, nginx, …) the forwarded client IP (CF-Connecting-IP / X-Forwarded-For) is used so the lock targets the real attacker; on direct connections those headers are ignored to prevent spoofing.
• Nothing leaves your machine except Claude Code's own traffic.

Configuration

~/.config/code-remote-starter/config.json:

Command-line flags override the config for a run: --port, --host, --command, --open.

npm start -- --port 8080 --command "claude --effort max"

Set CRS_CONFIG_DIR to relocate the config directory.

Features

• Touch-first directory picker: browse the filesystem, paste a path, with Git and "used with Claude before" indicators.
• Bookmark directories you launch into often, plus recent ones drawn from your launch history and from where you've used Claude Code.
• Live session list over a WebSocket — rename, stop (with confirmation), or dismiss / clear finished sessions.
• Installable PWA — add it to your phone's home screen for a full-screen, app-like launcher.
• A scannable QR code and LAN URL printed on startup, so opening it on your phone is one scan.
• Brute-force protection on the access token (per-IP lockout), correct behind a reverse proxy / tunnel or on a direct connection.
• One dark, considered interface that works on phone, foldable, and desktop. No emoji.

Development

npm run dev         # server + web with hot reload
npm test            # unit + integration tests (Vitest)
npm run typecheck   # tsc --noEmit
npm run lint        # ESLint
npm run build       # build web (and server bundle) into dist/

The backend lives in src/server (Hono + ws, sessions via tmux); the web app in src/web (React + Vite + Tailwind). Design and implementation notes are under docs/superpowers/.

Roadmap

• Optional "working vs needs input" session status via a Claude Code hook.
• A built-in tunnel for zero-config remote access.
• Light theme.

License

MIT