# How do I control AI coding agents from my phone?

*This guide first appeared on keepmacawake.com as [Control AI coding agents from your phone](https://keepmacawake.com/blog/steer-ai-agents-from-your-phone?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=steer-ai-agents-from-your-phone). It was written with the help of an AI writing program and checked against the sources listed at the end. This is a shortened copy; the original has every option in full.*

> **Short answer:** As of November 2026 you can control Claude Code (Remote Control), Codex (the ChatGPT app), Cursor (Cursor for iOS) and Amp (a runner on your Mac) from your phone while the work runs on your own Mac, use an app that drives several agents, or build the same with SSH, Tailscale and tmux. Every option needs the Mac awake and online, and a MacBook sleeps when you close the lid. To keep it working with the lid closed and no external display, the first choice is Keep Mac Awake: a session with the hours you set, on AC power by default, and a separate watchdog that restores the normal sleep setting if Keep Mac Awake's background service or the system service stops or hangs.

## How does controlling coding agents from your phone work?

The agent runs on your Mac, with your files, tools and logins, and your phone is a window into it: you read progress, approve actions and send the next task. So the Mac has to stay awake and online the whole time.

The makers agree as of October 2026: Anthropic says "code execution and filesystem access stay on your machine" ([Remote Control](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/remote-control)), OpenAI that files "come from the connected host" ([remote connections](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/remote-connections)), and Cursor that your repository and credentials "stay on your machine" ([Cursor for iOS](https://cursor.com/docs/cloud-agent/mobile)). The conversation still passes through the maker's servers.

## Which coding agents can I control from my phone?

As of November 2026, four makers offer it for work on your own Mac.

- **Claude Code Remote Control.** You drive a `claude` session from claude.ai/code or the Claude app, started with `claude remote-control` or `/remote-control`. It needs a Pro, Max, Ultra, Team or Enterprise plan, and "your computer has to stay on and the `claude` process has to keep running" ([mobile](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mobile)). More: [Claude Code Remote Control with the lid closed](https://keepmacawake.com/blog/claude-code-remote-control-lid-closed?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=steer-ai-agents-from-your-phone).
- **Codex in the ChatGPT app.** You pair the ChatGPT desktop app on your Mac with the ChatGPT app on your phone by QR code. The host must be "awake, online, and signed in", and OpenAI is explicit about the lid: "With the lid closed, connect an external display as well. Choosing Sleep still stops remote access." ([remote connections](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/remote-connections)). More: [use Codex from your phone with the lid closed](https://keepmacawake.com/blog/codex-remote-from-phone-lid-closed?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=steer-ai-agents-from-your-phone).
- **Cursor for iOS.** It can "see and reply to the local agents running on your computer". Cursor says: "Your computer needs to stay on and online for remote control to work", and its "Keep this computer awake" setting needs the computer "plugged in with the lid open" ([Cursor changelog](https://cursor.com/changelog/remote-control-local-agents)).
- **Amp on a runner.** Turn on **Use This Mac as a Runner** in the Mac app, or run `amp --no-tui`, and threads started on any device can run on your Mac ([use your Mac as a runner](https://ampcode.com/docs/apps/mac/runner)).

Independent apps put several agents in one phone app: T3 Code, Happy, Paseo, Conductor, Paradev and Nimbalyst. As of October 2026 all of them still run the agents on your Mac, so it has to stay awake and online, and the ones with a keep-awake setting stop idle sleep, not the sleep that comes with closing the lid. Conductor's docs, for one: "Conductor must be open on your Mac, and your Mac must be awake and online" ([remote control](https://www.conductor.build/docs/reference/remote-control)).

### Do it yourself with SSH

Turn on **System Settings > General > Sharing > Remote Login** to allow SSH; Apple notes that "allowing remote login to your Mac can make it less secure" ([Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/allow-a-remote-computer-to-access-your-mac-mchlp1066/mac)). Tailscale puts your phone and Mac on a private network where only your own devices reach each other ([Tailscale](https://tailscale.com/docs/concepts/what-is-tailscale)), and tmux keeps the agent running when you detach:

```sh
tmux new -A -s agent
claude
tmux attach -t agent
```

Details: [SSH into a closed MacBook with Tailscale and tmux](https://keepmacawake.com/blog/ssh-into-closed-macbook?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=steer-ai-agents-from-your-phone).

## What do all of them have in common?

All of them need a Mac that is awake and online, and a MacBook goes to sleep when you close the lid ([Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/put-your-mac-to-sleep-or-wake-it-mh10330/mac)). The network is a separate requirement: if the Mac's Wi-Fi or VPN drops, the remote session drops with it, whatever keeps the Mac awake.

Apple's supported way to use a closed MacBook is an external display with power and an external keyboard and mouse ([Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102501)). It works, but it ties the Mac to a desk.

"Wake for network access" does not help: Apple describes it as letting the Mac "wake briefly so users can access shared services" ([Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/set-sleep-and-wake-settings-mchle41a6ccd/mac)), which does not keep an agent working.

## How do I keep a closed MacBook awake while agents work?

The first choice is a Keep Mac Awake session. It keeps a MacBook with Apple silicon on macOS 26 or later awake with the lid closed and no external display, keyboard or mouse, for the hours you pick, and restores normal sleep afterwards. Keep Mac Awake is a menu bar app plus the `keepmacawake` command, so your agent can start and end a session itself:

```sh
keepmacawake start --hours 8 --json
keepmacawake stop --json
```

So that the agent does not stop at an approval prompt, allow the command first: `Bash(keepmacawake *)` in Claude Code's `permissions.allow` ([permissions](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/permissions)), or a `prefix_rule` for `keepmacawake` in Codex ([rules](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/agent-configuration/rules)).

It does not keep Wi-Fi, a VPN or Tailscale connected, does not wake a Mac that is already asleep and does not provide remote control; it works alongside these tools. There is a free trial on [keepmacawake.com](https://keepmacawake.com/?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=steer-ai-agents-from-your-phone).

## How do I keep a closed Mac safe while agents work?

Give it airflow, keep it on power and limit who can reach it. A Mac with the lid closed still makes heat.

- Leave it on a hard surface, never in a bag, under a pillow or on a soft surface.
- Keep Mac Awake runs on AC power by default; if you unplug, the session waits until power is back. Battery use is optional, down to a floor you pick, and on battery a session ends at a serious thermal state.
- Limit access: OpenAI advises a VPN or mesh network instead of exposing its app server to the internet ([remote connections](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/remote-connections)).

## Which guide do you need?

- To leave an agent working through the night: [run AI coding agents overnight on a MacBook](https://keepmacawake.com/blog/run-ai-agents-overnight-macbook?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=steer-ai-agents-from-your-phone).
- To see every way to use Claude Code from your phone: [control Claude Code from your phone](https://keepmacawake.com/blog/control-claude-code-from-phone?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=steer-ai-agents-from-your-phone).
- To keep Claude Code working on a long task after you close the lid: [keep Claude Code running with the lid closed](https://keepmacawake.com/blog/keep-claude-code-running-lid-closed?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=steer-ai-agents-from-your-phone).

## Sources

- [Claude Code docs: Remote Control](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/remote-control) and [mobile](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mobile)
- [OpenAI: remote connections](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/remote-connections)
- [Cursor changelog: remote control for local agents](https://cursor.com/changelog/remote-control-local-agents)
- [Amp: use your Mac as a runner](https://ampcode.com/docs/apps/mac/runner)
- [Conductor: remote control](https://www.conductor.build/docs/reference/remote-control)
- Apple Support: [put your Mac to sleep](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/put-your-mac-to-sleep-or-wake-it-mh10330/mac), [Remote Login](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/allow-a-remote-computer-to-access-your-mac-mchlp1066/mac), [closed-display mode](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102501)
- [Keep Mac Awake: guide for AI agents](https://keepmacawake.com/agents.md?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=steer-ai-agents-from-your-phone)