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claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Preview pane (PDF/image/HTML) unavailable in remote-control sessions [1 participants]

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anthropics/claude-code#48466•Fetched 2026-04-16 06:59:22
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Root Cause

Remote-control is the only session type that offers persistence — the session survives disconnects and can be reconnected from any device. SSH sessions from the desktop app support file preview but die when the connection drops. This forces users to choose between persistence and visual feedback, which is a painful tradeoff for workflows that involve iterating on visual outputs (plots, figures, generated documents) on remote machines.

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Problem Statement

The preview pane in Claude Code Desktop can render PDFs, images, and static HTML files in local and SSH sessions. However, in remote-control sessions (claude remote-control), clicking a file path in the chat does not open the preview pane — the file simply isn't displayed. This is because remote-control only streams chat messages and tool results through the Anthropic API bridge, with no channel for binary file content.

Why this matters

Remote-control is the only session type that offers persistence — the session survives disconnects and can be reconnected from any device. SSH sessions from the desktop app support file preview but die when the connection drops. This forces users to choose between persistence and visual feedback, which is a painful tradeoff for workflows that involve iterating on visual outputs (plots, figures, generated documents) on remote machines.

Reproduction

  1. On a remote machine: claude remote-control --name my-session
  2. Connect from Claude Desktop or claude.ai/code
  3. Ask Claude to create or read a PDF/image file
  4. Click the file path in the chat → nothing happens (no preview pane)
  5. Compare: the same file path in an SSH session opens in the preview pane

Expected behavior

File paths for supported types (PDF, PNG, HTML, etc.) should open in the preview pane in remote-control sessions, just as they do in SSH sessions.

Possible approach

SSH sessions already stream file content for the file pane and preview pane. A similar mechanism could be added to the remote-control protocol — when the client requests a file for preview, the local CLI process reads it and sends it back through the existing encrypted bridge. This could be limited to supported preview types and capped in size to keep things lightweight.

Environment

  • Claude Code CLI: latest
  • Platform: Linux (Ubuntu 24.04, remote) → macOS (Desktop app, client)
  • Session type: remote-control

extent analysis

TL;DR

Implementing a file streaming mechanism in the remote-control protocol could enable preview pane functionality for supported file types.

Guidance

  • Investigate modifying the remote-control protocol to stream file content, similar to SSH sessions, to enable preview pane functionality.
  • Consider limiting the file types and sizes that can be streamed to maintain a lightweight experience.
  • Evaluate the feasibility of using the existing encrypted bridge to send file content from the local CLI process to the client.
  • Test the proposed solution with different file types and sizes to ensure compatibility and performance.

Example

No code snippet is provided as the issue does not contain specific implementation details.

Notes

The proposed solution may require significant changes to the remote-control protocol and the Claude Code CLI. Additionally, ensuring the security and efficiency of the file streaming mechanism will be crucial.

Recommendation

Apply a workaround by implementing a file streaming mechanism in the remote-control protocol, as this approach has the potential to enable preview pane functionality for supported file types while maintaining the benefits of remote-control sessions.

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FAQ

Expected behavior

File paths for supported types (PDF, PNG, HTML, etc.) should open in the preview pane in remote-control sessions, just as they do in SSH sessions.

#api#optimization#mixed precision#training loop#device allocation

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