AI

From /rc to Dispatch

Two weeks ago I wrote about controlling Claude Code from my couch with /rc. Then Anthropic shipped the polished version.

From /rc to Dispatch — AI

On March 21, I published Claude Code Remote Control: Your AI Coding Agent in Your Pocket. The pitch was simple: type /rc in your terminal, open the link on your phone, control your Mac’s Claude Code session from the couch.

Two days later, Anthropic shipped Dispatch.

Same idea. Different approach. And honestly? It’s the version most people were waiting for.

What Dispatch Is

Dispatch lives in the Cowork tab of the Claude Desktop app. It’s a persistent conversation with Claude that syncs between your phone and your desktop. You send a task from your phone, Claude decides how to handle it — routing it to either a Cowork session (documents, research, spreadsheets) or a Claude Code session (bugs, tests, PRs) — and gets to work.

The key word is persistent. One continuous thread. Send a message from your phone at a coffee shop. Pick up the results on your desktop at home. Send another task from bed. Same conversation, same context.

Your phone is the remote. Your desktop is the engine. Nothing runs on the phone itself.

The Fundamental Difference: Steering vs Delegating

This is the distinction that matters.

/rc is steering. You open a running Claude Code session from your phone and actively drive it. You’re the pilot. Claude is the co-pilot. You see the terminal, you send commands, you review output in real-time.

Dispatch is delegating. You describe what you want. Claude decides how to do it. You walk away. A push notification tells you when it’s done. You’re the manager. Claude is the executor.

Both have their place. Sometimes I want to steer a refactor from my phone. Sometimes I want to say “fix the login bug” and go make coffee.

Computer Use Changes Everything

Here’s what Dispatch has that /rc doesn’t: Computer Use.

When you dispatch a task, Claude doesn’t just run terminal commands. It can see your screen, click buttons, type into apps, drag files. It controls your desktop the way you would — mouse, keyboard, the whole thing.

A tiered permission model keeps this sane:

  • View only — see screenshots, no interaction (browsers, trading platforms)
  • Click only — click and scroll, no typing (terminals, IDEs)
  • Full control — click, type, drag, keyboard shortcuts (everything else)

Claude reaches for the most precise tool first — direct integrations and connectors before resorting to mouse and keyboard. Screen control is the last resort, not the first.

Setup: Two Minutes

  1. Update the Claude Desktop app
  2. Update the Claude mobile app
  3. Open Cowork, tap Dispatch in the left panel
  4. Toggle on file access and computer wake
  5. Start messaging

No SSH tunnels. No API keys. No OAuth dance. No terminal. Scan and go.

The Honest Truth About Reliability

Dispatch is in research preview. Anthropic says it themselves: “complex tasks sometimes need a second try.”

Early reports put reliability on complex tasks at roughly 50/50. Simple tasks — “find that file and summarize it,” “pull sales data into a report” — work well. Multi-step workflows with app-switching and screen interaction? Hit or miss.

This matters because the premise of Dispatch is delegation — you walk away. If you need to check back and retry half the time, you’re not delegating, you’re babysitting from a smaller screen.

It will get better. But right now, use it for tasks you’d be OK retrying.

Dispatch vs /rc: The Comparison

  • Mental model: Dispatch delegates. /rc steers.
  • Runs on: Dispatch uses Desktop app (Cowork). /rc uses terminal (CLI).
  • Task types: Dispatch handles code + documents + apps. /rc is code only.
  • Computer Use: Dispatch has it. /rc doesn’t.
  • Plans: Dispatch is Pro and Max only. /rc works on all plans including Team and Enterprise.
  • Session model: Dispatch is a single persistent thread. /rc is per-session with multiple via server mode.
  • Terminal required: Dispatch doesn’t need one. /rc does.

They’re not competing. They’re complementary.

Five Ways to Work Remotely Now

The official docs now list five approaches:

  1. Dispatch — delegate from phone via Desktop app
  2. Remote Control (/rc) — steer a running CLI session
  3. Channels — push events from Telegram, Discord, iMessage
  4. Slack — mention @Claude in team channels (runs in Anthropic’s cloud)
  5. Scheduled tasks — set recurring triggers

Two months ago, the answer to “how do I use Claude from my phone?” was “you don’t.” Now there are five answers. The pace of this is absurd.

My Setup Now

I use both. /rc when I’m actively working on code and want to keep steering from wherever I am. Dispatch when I want to hand off a task and forget about it until the notification comes.

The couch workflow from my original post still works exactly the same. But now I have a second mode: assign and forget.

That’s the real upgrade. Not a better remote control. A different relationship with the work.

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Working with a team that wants to adopt AI-native workflows at scale? I help engineering teams build this capability — workflow design, knowledge architecture, team training, and embedded engineering. → AI-Native Engineering Consulting

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