Claude Code: stop Remote Control from connecting at every start

Remote Control lets you drive a Claude Code session running on your machine from claude.ai/code or the Claude mobile app. Useful when you want it. Less useful when every terminal session registers itself with Anthropic's servers before you have typed anything.

Since a recent version, some accounts get this behaviour without ever asking for it. The session starts, and a Remote Control pill shows up in the footer.

Why it turns on by itself

The setting behind this is remoteControlAtStartup. The documentation says its default is "unset", which means: follow the organization's admin default if there is one, otherwise "Claude Code's current default".

That current default is not a constant. In the CLI (checked on 2.1.268), when the key is unset, Claude Code reads a server-side feature flag. Anthropic can flip it per account or per rollout cohort, which is why some people see auto-connect and others do not, on the same version.

So "I never turned it on" is correct. Nobody asked you either.

Turn it off

Add this to your user settings, ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "remoteControlAtStartup": false
}

Older versions stored the same key in ~/.claude.json. Claude Code still reads it there, so if you already have it in that file, it keeps working. New setups should use ~/.claude/settings.json.

You can also do it from inside Claude Code: /config, then Enable Remote Control for all sessions, set it to false. Do not pick default, that is the value that follows the server-side flag.

Precedence, in case you manage a team

• A false in project or local settings (.claude/settings.json, .claude/settings.local.json) wins, even over a managed true.
• A true in project or local settings is ignored. A checked-in repo cannot turn Remote Control on for everyone who clones it.
• A true in managed settings beats a false in user settings.
• claude --remote-control still turns it on for that one session, whatever the setting says.

What it does not disable

The setting only stops the automatic connection. /remote-control in a session, and claude remote-control server mode, still work on demand.

Claude Code also shows occasional "Approve tool calls from your phone" reminders in long sessions. Those are unrelated to this setting and cannot be turned off.

Check it worked

Start a new session. No Remote Control pill in the footer, and /status should not list a remote session. If it still connects, run claude doctor and look for a managed setting overriding yours.