Surfaces: desktop, web, IDE, Slack

What you’ll learn: where else Claude Code runs, and how to move a session between surfaces mid-task.

Every surface shares one engine

Your CLAUDE.md, settings, skills and MCP servers work identically on all of them. Picking a surface is about ergonomics, not capability.

Desktop app

Beyond the basics:

• Parallel sessions with git isolation — several tasks at once, each in its own worktree
• Drag-and-drop pane layout — arrange sessions how you want
• Integrated terminal and file editor
• Side chats — ask a question without polluting the main session
• Visual diff review — the main reason people switch from the terminal
• App previews — see the thing you’re building
• PR monitoring
• Computer use — Claude can control your desktop
• Connectors
• Dispatch — message Claude a task from your phone, open the session it creates on desktop
• Scheduled tasks — run on your machine with local file access

Linux is available in beta.

Claude Code on the web

Runs in Anthropic’s cloud sandbox. Configure setup scripts, network access, and Docker.

Good for: long-running tasks you kick off and check later, repos you don’t have cloned, parallel tasks, working from a machine that isn’t yours.

claude --cloud "Fix the login bug"   # start a web session from your terminal
claude --teleport                     # pull a web session into your terminal

Teleport requires a claude.ai subscription.

Moving between surfaces

This is the part people don’t know exists.

The pattern: start where it’s convenient, finish where it’s appropriate. Kick off a long refactor from your phone on the train, review the diff on desktop when you’re at your machine.

VS Code

Inline diffs, @-mentions to reference files, plan review, and conversation history in the editor.

Install: search “Claude Code” in Extensions, or the direct links for VS Code and Cursor. Then Command Palette → “Claude Code” → Open in New Tab.

Connect the CLI to a running IDE with claude --ide.

VS Code also supports third-party providers.

JetBrains

IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm and others. Install the plugin from the Marketplace and restart. Requires the Claude Code CLI installed separately.

Slack

Mention @Claude with a bug report and get a pull request back. Setup via /install-slack-app.

The value: non-engineers can file work that turns into code without leaving Slack, and the thread context comes along automatically.

Chrome

claude --chrome
claude --no-chrome

Test web apps, debug with console logs, automate form filling, extract data. The debugging use is the strongest — Claude can read the console and network tab while changing the code.

Terminal configuration

Worth ten minutes if you live in the CLI:

• Shift+Enter for newlines — needs terminal-specific setup
• Terminal bell when Claude finishes
• tmux configuration
• Colour theme matching, plus custom themes shippable in plugins
• Vim mode
• Fullscreen rendering — flicker-free, mouse support, stable memory in long conversations
• Custom keybindings via a keybindings file
• Custom status line — context usage, cost, git status
• Voice dictation — hold-to-record or tap-to-record

See Configure your terminal, Keybindings, Statusline, Fullscreen, Voice dictation.

Artifacts

Publish session output as a live, interactive page at a private URL you can share inside your organisation. Good for incident timelines that update as Claude investigates, or any output you’d rather see visually than as terminal text.

See Share session output as artifacts.

Choosing

A practical default:

• Terminal for daily work and anything scripted
• Desktop for reviewing large diffs and running parallel sessions
• Web for long tasks you’ll check later
• Mobile for kicking things off and answering Claude’s questions
• CI for anything that should happen without you

Try it

Exercise 1 — Desktop diff review. Do a multi-file change in Desktop. Review the diff visually. Compare against reviewing the same change in the terminal.

Exercise 2 — Teleport. Start a task with claude --cloud, check it on your phone, then claude --teleport it into your terminal.

Exercise 3 — Remote control. Start claude --remote-control locally, then drive it from claude.ai. Useful the first time you’re away from your desk mid-task.

Exercise 4 — Status line. Configure a status line showing context usage and cost. You’ll notice cost problems much earlier.

Exercise 5 — Pick your two. Try four surfaces on the same task. Choose the two you’ll actually use and configure them properly.

Checkpoint

• You’ve used at least two surfaces on real work
• You know how to move a session between surfaces
• Your primary surface is configured (status line, keybindings, or theme)

Going deeper

• Platforms and integrations
• Desktop application
• Claude Code on the web
• Remote Control
• VS Code · JetBrains
• Slack · Chrome
• Mobile
• Feature availability across plans and providers