How to move a Claude Code session from your terminal to your phone

I kept wanting a simple promise:

“I started Claude Code in my terminal. Can I keep it going from my phone without starting over?”

The answer is yes — but there are actually two different workflows hiding inside that sentence.

There are two different workflows hiding inside that sentence:

you want to keep the same session, but switch between terminal UI and phone UI
you want to open an existing terminal-started session in a phone-friendly UI without starting over

Happier is one of the ways to do that, and which path you use depends on how the session originally started.

This guide covers both, because they solve the same human problem (“I want to keep going from my phone”), but the mechanics are different.

TL;DR

Set up Happier on the machine running Claude Code and connect your phone.
If the session was started in Happier: use attach + local ↔ remote switching (same session).
If the session was started outside Happier: open it as a Direct session, then Take over + Sync.

What I tried first (and where I bounced off)

Just start a fresh session on my phone: works, but you lose the existing context.
SSH from my phone: works, but it turns into terminal work on a small screen.
Happier: gives you two real paths depending on how the session began. Trade-off: if the session is Direct, it’s machine-bound until you sync it.

If you’re new to Happier (what it is, and where to get it)

If you haven’t seen Happier before: it’s an open-source companion app (mobile/web/desktop) for AI coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode.

The workflow here is: keep Claude Code running on your machine, and use Happier from your phone to continue the same work without re-explaining context.

Get set up:

How to run Happier from your phone
GitHub: https://github.com/happier-dev/happier
Install/download: https://github.com/happier-dev/happier#how-it-works
Discord (community + support): https://discord.gg/W6Pb8KuHfg

Workflow A: you started the session in Happier (local ↔ remote switching)

This is the “best case” workflow because it’s one Happier-native session from the start.

What it looks like

Start a Claude session from the Happier app.
Later, on the same machine, run happier attach <session-id>.
You’re now in Claude Code’s terminal UI (local mode).
You can later switch back and continue from your phone (remote mode), without starting a new session.

Step-by-step

Start the session from the Happier app (Synced session).
On the owning machine:

happier attach <session-id>

Use Claude Code locally in the terminal.
When you want to continue from your phone, switch back to remote mode (same session).

Notes:

On machines with tmux, this is usually a tmux-backed attach flow.
On Windows, use Happier’s Windows session modes instead of expecting tmux.

Workflow B: you started Claude Code outside Happier (Direct → Take over + Sync)

This is the workflow when you already have a provider-native Claude session you care about.

Step-by-step

In Happier, open Direct sessions.
Browse provider sessions for Claude on the owning machine.
Open the existing session as Direct.
Choose Take over + Sync.

What happens:

Happier imports the provider transcript.
The session becomes a Synced Happier session.
From this point forward, you can treat it like a normal Happier session (including phone workflows).

Troubleshooting

Symptom: I don’t see Direct sessions

Likely cause:

Direct sessions are disabled (experimental feature flag)

Fix:

enable Direct sessions on the server

Symptom: I can attach, but I can’t switch back to remote

Likely cause:

the session is currently in local control and busy

Fix:

let the current turn complete, or use pending queue / interruption patterns