Claude Code's session history stopped being terminal-only this week. On August 28, 2026, @ClaudeDevs — Anthropic's official developer-updates account on X — posted that you can now resume CLI-started sessions inside the Claude Code desktop app:
"You can now resume your terminal sessions in the Claude Code desktop app. Type /resume to pick any session you started from the CLI. The session continues in the app with the full conversation and context intact."
This is a small change with an outsized effect on how a multi-surface Claude Code workflow feels. The --continue and --resume flags already made sessions persistent and re-openable in the terminal; this extends that same persisted history to the desktop client. This post covers exactly what shipped, the CLI-to-desktop-to-mobile picture, what the community immediately asked for that is still missing, and how it compares to Codex.
TL;DR — what shipped and what did not
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What changed? | The Claude Code desktop app can now open sessions you started in the CLI, via /resume. |
| How do I use it? | In the desktop app, type /resume, pick a CLI session from the list, keep working. |
| Is context preserved? | Yes — @ClaudeDevs says "full conversation and context intact." |
| Does it work desktop → terminal? | Unconfirmed. Only the terminal → desktop direction was announced. |
| Are queued messages included? | No. Multiple replies asked for a Codex-style message queue; nothing was announced. |
| Did Codex do this first? | Codex reached multi-surface continuity earlier through cloud tasks and web/IDE handoff, not an identical /resume flow. |
| Does it change session storage? | No — it exposes the existing on-disk session store (~/.claude/) to a second surface. |
What /resume in the desktop app actually does
Inside the terminal, /resume already opens an interactive picker of every saved session — name, last-active time, directory, and a short preview — and loads the one you choose inline. The desktop app now runs the same command against the same session store.
The practical flow:
- Start and work in a session from the terminal:
claudein your project directory. - Stop for the day, or just switch machines/contexts — the session is persisted automatically, even on Ctrl+C.
- Open the Claude Code desktop app, type
/resume, and select that session. - The app loads the full message history and working context, and you continue in a GUI instead of a TUI.
Nothing about persistence itself changed. Sessions still live under ~/.claude/, still get saved automatically, and are still directory-scoped for --continue. What is new is that the desktop client reads that store, so a session is no longer trapped in the surface that created it. For anyone who drives long-running work through Claude Code's loop and schedule commands, this means you can kick a run off in the terminal and check on it from the app without losing the thread.
The cross-surface picture: CLI, desktop, mobile
This lands on top of a run of Claude Code surface-expansion updates through mid-2026. Taken together:
| Surface | What it can do with a session |
|---|---|
| CLI | Create sessions, --continue / --resume / --fork-session, name with -n, non-interactive -p continuation. The source of truth. |
| Desktop app | As of Aug 28, 2026: /resume any CLI-started session with full context. Also has the built-in browser and the auto-continue checkbox for usage limits. |
| Mobile (Remote Control) | Drive an active session from your phone — approve permissions, send messages, watch tool calls. The Aug 29 update fixed reconnect-on-disconnect and phone notifications. |
The direction of travel is clear: one persisted session, reachable from whichever surface you happen to be at. The cross-session messaging and agent-listing work is the same idea applied between concurrent sessions rather than between surfaces.
What the community asked for that is not here yet
The reply thread under the @ClaudeDevs post converged on two gaps. Both are worth naming so you know what this update does not deliver.
1. Bidirectional resume (desktop → terminal) is unconfirmed
Several replies asked the obvious question: does it work the other way? If you start a session in the desktop app, can you later run claude --resume in the terminal and pick it up?
The announcement only claims the terminal → desktop direction. It is plausible the desktop app writes to the same ~/.claude/ session store and that CLI --resume would therefore see desktop sessions — but Anthropic has not said so, and "the session continues in the app" is specifically one-directional phrasing. Until it is documented, assume terminal-originated sessions are the only ones guaranteed to cross over.
2. No queued messages like Codex
The other recurring request: a message queue. In Codex, you can line up several follow-up instructions while the agent is still executing, and it works through them in order. Claude Code today lets you interrupt a running turn to redirect it, but there is no confirmed feature for stacking multiple queued messages that execute sequentially without supervision.
This came up as "Codex/Pi had this already" in the replies. That is partly accurate and partly not — see the next section.
How this compares to Codex and other harnesses
The "Codex had this already" claim refers to multi-surface continuity in general, not this exact /resume mechanic.
- Codex reached cross-surface work earlier through its cloud-tasks model: a task started in the CLI or IDE can be viewed and continued in the ChatGPT/Codex web UI because the task state lives server-side. OpenAI then shipped a persistent always-on agent mode in August 2026. That is a different architecture — cloud-hosted session state — versus Claude Code's local
~/.claude/store that the desktop app now also reads. - The trade-off: Codex's server-side model makes any-surface access natural but ties your session to OpenAI's infrastructure. Claude Code's local-first model keeps sessions on your machine; this update is Anthropic teaching a second local client to read that same store. See the full Codex vs Claude Code comparison for how the two harnesses differ on this axis.
- Message queueing is a genuine Codex feature Claude Code has not matched. If unattended, sequential multi-step instruction is central to your workflow, that gap is real today.
How to verify it
# 1. Start a session in the terminal and do some work
cd ~/projects/my-app
claude
# ...have a real exchange so there is context to carry...
# 2. Exit (Ctrl+C or /exit) — the session is saved automatically
# 3. Open the Claude Code desktop app, then:
/resume
# Pick the session you just ran. Confirm the full history loads
# and that Claude still knows what you were working on.
If /resume in the desktop app shows no CLI sessions, update the app to the current build — this feature was announced August 28, 2026 and older desktop builds will not have it.
Summary
On August 28, 2026, @ClaudeDevs announced that the Claude Code desktop app can now /resume any session you started in the CLI, loading it with full conversation history and context. It is a clean extension of Claude Code's existing local session persistence to a second surface, and it fits a broader 2026 pattern of making one session reachable from terminal, desktop, and phone. Two things builders asked for on day one are still open: confirmed desktop-to-terminal resume, and a Codex-style queued-message input. Neither was part of this announcement.
Related reading
- How to continue previous chats in Claude Code: --continue and --resume
- Claude Code desktop adds an auto-continue checkbox for usage limits
- Claude Code Remote Control: drive a session from your phone
- Claude Code weekly update: faster startup and token visibility (Aug 29)
- Claude Code cross-session messaging and listing agents
- Claude Code desktop app gets a built-in browser
- Codex vs Claude Code: AI agent harness comparison
- OpenAI Codex persistent mode: always-on agents
- Claude Code commands: complete slash command reference
Primary source: @ClaudeDevs on X, August 28, 2026 — "You can now resume your terminal sessions in the Claude Code desktop app."
This post reflects the @ClaudeDevs announcement and reply-thread reactions as of August 29, 2026. Bidirectional resume and message-queue behavior are described as unconfirmed based on the announcement wording and community questions — check Claude Code's in-app release notes for current behavior before relying on any specific flow.