If you ever want to kick off a build, run the complete test suite, or merge a PR while you’re on the subway or having a coffee — Dispatch is exactly for that.
Anthropic launched Dispatch on March 17, 2026 as part of Claude Cowork, and extended it to Claude Code days later. The core idea is simple but powerful: instead of sitting at your computer and supervising Claude in real time, you send it a task from your phone, your desktop executes everything in the meantime, and notifies you when it’s done.
Chat is synchronous. Dispatch is asynchronous. That difference changes how you think about delegating work to the agent.
What the complete stack includes
Dispatch isn’t an isolated feature — it comes with three capabilities that together form the complete workflow:
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Dispatch | Persistent thread between phone and desktop. You send the task, Claude executes it, notifies you. |
| Remote Control | Start a terminal session and continue it from the browser or mobile app. |
| /schedule | Recurring tasks on a schedule — daily, weekly, or with cron expression. |
| Computer Use | If Claude doesn’t have a direct connector for something, it controls the screen and programs like a person would. |
For most development use cases, Dispatch + /schedule is the combo you’ll use most.
Requirements before getting started
- Pro ($20/month) or Max plan — Max had access first (March 17), Pro followed days later
- Claude Desktop on your Mac (currently macOS only in research preview)
- Claude on iOS or Android on your phone
- Keep the computer awake with the app open — if it sleeps, Dispatch stops
Step-by-step setup
1. Update the apps
Make sure you have the latest version of Claude Desktop and the mobile app. Dispatch requires both to be updated.
2. Link your desktop with your phone
In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Paired Devices → Add Device. You’ll see a QR code. In the mobile app, scan it from Settings → Pair Desktop. Done — your devices are synced.
3. Enable Dispatch in Cowork
In the left panel of Claude Cowork, click on Dispatch. The first time it asks you to confirm two things:
- File access: choose which folders it can read and modify
- Keep computer awake: toggle so the desktop doesn’t go to sleep
Enable both and you’re ready to start sending it tasks.
4. (Optional) Configure /schedule for recurring tasks
In the CLI or Claude Desktop, use /schedule to create a task with a schedule:
/schedule "Review pending PRs" --cron "0 9 * * 1-5"
That tells Claude to run the PR review every weekday at 9 AM. You can also create scheduled tasks from the web or desktop without touching the CLI.
4 concrete use cases for devs
Case 1: PR from your phone while traveling 
You finished a feature right before leaving. You want to make the PR but you already have to go. From the app:
Run the tests for the authentication module. If they all pass,
create a PR against main with a clear title and description of the changes.
Assign me as reviewer.
Claude Code runs npm test, waits for them to pass, generates the PR description based on the diff, and pushes it to GitHub. When you arrive at your destination, the notification came through that the PR is ready.
What you need: GitHub MCP configured (claude mcp add --transport http github https://mcp.github.com/mcp)
Case 2: Overnight test suite with report 
Instead of running tests by hand every morning, you configure a scheduled task:
/schedule "Overnight test suite" --cron "0 2 * * *"
With this prompt saved:
Run the complete test suite. If there are failures, generate a
FAILED_TESTS.md file in the project root with a summary of what failed
and in which file. Send me a notification with the result.
At 2 AM Claude runs everything, and in the morning you find the report waiting for you — without opening the terminal.
Case 3: Review pending PRs every Monday 
Monday morning, you want to know the status of all open PRs before starting your day:
/schedule "Weekly PR review" --cron "0 8 * * 1"
Prompt:
Review all open PRs in the repository. For each one indicate:
- title and author
- how many days it's been open
- if it has conflicts with main
- if it's missing reviews
Generate a summary in WEEKLY_PR_REVIEW.md and send me a notification.
Monday at 8 AM you have the complete picture waiting for you in Dispatch.
Case 4: Remote debugging with Computer Use 
This is for when the problem isn’t in the code but in something about the environment — a graphical tool, an internal dashboard, or a configuration that only exists in the UI. From your phone:
Open the staging dashboard in the browser (staging.myapp.com),
navigate to the users section, and check if the "Export CSV" button
is generating the file correctly. Take a screenshot of the result.
If Claude Code has a direct connector for what you need, it uses that first. If not, it activates Computer Use and controls the screen directly — opening the browser, navigating, clicking — exactly like a person would. It sends you the screenshot when it’s done.
Security note: Claude always asks for permission before accessing a new app. You can pause Computer Use anytime from the desktop.
Current limitations worth keeping in mind
50% reliability on complex tasks — Dispatch works very well for workflows with one or two steps. For complex workflows with many conditional decisions, the result may not be as expected. Validate the outputs before acting on them.
Desktop has to be awake and with the app open — If your Mac goes to sleep or you close Claude Desktop, tasks stop. For critical tasks, enable “Keep computer awake” in settings or use Scheduled Tasks in the cloud (which run on Anthropic’s infrastructure and don’t depend on your machine).
macOS only for now — The Dispatch + Computer Use research preview is limited to Mac. Windows and Linux don’t have access yet.
Prompt injection in Computer Use — If Claude is browsing the web or processing external content, there’s a risk that content has malicious instructions embedded. Anthropic has active safeguards, but be careful what tasks you give it access to sites or files from unknown sources.
The difference from the traditional workflow
The change that Dispatch introduces isn’t just about convenience — it’s conceptual. You move from supervising to delegating:
| Traditional workflow | With Dispatch |
|---|---|
| You open the terminal, write the prompt, wait | You send the task from your phone and go |
| You have to be present to see the result | You get notified when it’s done |
| Each session starts from scratch | Persistent conversation thread across devices |
| Manual and repetitive tasks you forget to run | /schedule handles your daily rituals |
A dev who commented on the launch on social media summed it up well: “Combine this with /schedule and basically you have a background worker that can interact with any app, on a cron job. That’s no longer an assistant — that’s infrastructure.”
Recommended first steps
If it’s your first time enabling Dispatch, start simple:
- Link desktop and phone with the QR code
- Send a small task from your phone — something like “make a summary of the last 5 commits in the project”
- Check that the notification arrives when it’s done
- Configure a daily scheduled task — the review of pending PRs is a good start
- Enable Computer Use only when you need something that doesn’t have a direct connector
The complete stack takes less than 10 minutes to set up. After that, the question stops being “how do I do this?” and becomes "what else can I delegate?"Have you tried Dispatch yet? What tasks are you delegating to Claude Code from your mobile phone? Let us know in the comments below 