RIP OpenClaw? Meet Claude Dispatch

My biggest complaint with AI solutions is that they are too dependent on my presence in any activity. Even with agent AI now in the mix, complete automation of any complex process still seems like a myth. Tools like n8n and make.com require a lot of setup time and are not as efficient as traditional AI chatbots. OpenClaw requires some installation steps before it starts. Then out comes Claude and his Cowork, a promising team of AI chatbots. But the most interesting addition to this area is the new Claude Dispatch, which looks very close to the type of automatic I’ve always wanted.

Imagine you provide information and your AI takes over your computer to complete your task. Not just ‘help me think’, not just ‘fix this email’, but ‘take this task, use my computer, and come back with the task done.’ That’s exactly the kind of automated AI that Claude is promising with Cowork.

Now imagine sending this one notification from your phone. That is the power of Claude Cowork + Dispatch

So, what are these features, how do they work, and most importantly, how can they benefit you? We’ll explore all of that in this article here, starting with:

What is Claude Dispatch?

In basic terms, Dispatch is Claude’s latest skill that works with the Cowork and Code platforms. Dispatch is a way to connect the Claude app on your phone with the Claude app on your system. So the next time you are away from your computer and need something done, just instruct Claude on your phone, and it will do the job on your computer. Everything except you being in the room.

Here’s how it works:

• Assign Claude a task by command from your phone
• Do the work on your computer, completely alone
• Returns the final result to your phone.

That, right there, is how the new Claude Dispatch on Cowork works. Now, to illustrate this, imagine you instruct Claude to make a presentation based on certain files on your system, even before you start your drive to work. By the time you get to the office, your system will be ready for the final presentation.

An absolute game changer, right?

Dispatch works on Cowork and Claude Code. For those who don’t know, Cowork is another Claude feature that allows AI to take over your computer for any task you assign. You can read all about it here. Claude Code, on the other hand, is Claude’s AI code assistant. Know more about it here.

Dispatch is nothing more than a gateway that connects Claude to your system and your phone.

Think – a remote control for your computer.

Now that we know the basic steps involved in its operation, let’s dive a little deeper into what goes on behind the scenes.

Claude Dispatch: How it works

Above, I have shared the basic steps in which Claude Dispatch works. There are some nuances that are taken care of in the background. Here’s what happens:

When you assign work, Claude finds out what kind of work it actually is and moves it accordingly. If it’s a development related job, you work on Claude Code. If it’s more research, document, or desktop workflow work, work on Cowork. These sessions then appear in their sidebars, so you can jump in if you’re looking for details.

But the real beauty of this whole process is that you don’t have to sit there and handle little Claude. Instead of making you monitor every click and action, Claude just returns the final result. That output can be a memo, a spreadsheet, a comparison table, or a pull request. And if something important needs your permission, Claude sends a notification to your phone. Therefore, you can be sure that no job gets stuck at any time.

The notable feature here is that instead of creating a brand new session for every task, Claude gives you one continuous thread. In simple words, the conversation doesn’t always forget what you were doing. Claude keeps the context of your previous tasks, which means you can continue the task from where you left off instead of talking over and over like a new learner every time.

So, you say you text Claude on your phone while you’re away. Later, when you are sitting at your desk, you can open the same conversation on your desktop and continue from that point. Same thread, same core, no unnecessary reset.

Now that you know how it works, here’s how to access it.

Also read: Claude’s Skills Explained: Use Custom Skills in Claude’s Code

Claude Cowork Dispatch: Requirements and Access

There is a very short list of requirements for Claude’s latest work to work well on all devices. You can check it here:

• Install the latest version of the Claude Desktop application on your computer. It currently runs on macOS and Windows x64.
• Keep your computer awake and the Claude Desktop application open, as Claude does work on your system.
• Install the latest version of the Claude mobile app on your phone.
• If you’re already using the Claude mobile app, update it to the latest version before trying Dispatch.
• Make sure you are on the Claude Pro or Max plan, as the feature is not available on the lower tiers.
• Make sure that both your phone and your computer have a working internet connection, or the workflow will not work properly.

An important note here – Cowork (including Dispatch) is currently a research preview, and Anthropic has not yet published specific credits or limitations for its use. From what I can find, usage is based on your existing Claude plan (Pro, Max, or Team), and there is no separate credit pool or written copy specific to Dispatch functions.

If you’re on Pro or Max and you hit a wall, it’s more likely to be Claude’s general message/usage restrictions rather than Dispatch-specific.

Once you have confirmed that you meet these requirements, let’s proceed to the setup.

Claude Dispatch: How To Set It Up

Here are the easy-to-follow steps to set up Dispatch on your system and phone.

• Download or update Claude Desktop to your computer before starting the setup.
• Download or update the Claude app on your iPhone or Android phone as well.
• Open Cowork from your desktop or your phone.
• In the left side panel, click on “Dispatch.”

• Claude will start by showing you a page that explains what Dispatch does. From there, click “Start.”

• On the next screen, give Claude access to your files and enable the option to keep your computer awake, if prompted.

• Once that is done, click “Finish setup.”
• After the setup is complete, start chatting with Claude directly within the Dispatch section.
• From then on, your ongoing conversation is automatically synced across your phone and desktop.

Once it was set up, I used it to do some basic work on my computer to test its capabilities. Here’s how it went:

Trying the Claude Dispatch

Once I set it up across my Mac and phone, I became overly optimistic when using Claude Dispatch. And for good reasons. It’s not often that you see an AI that will take over your system and complete your tasks, instantly with a phone call. So, I’m waiting to see it in action, save a little work, to see if the AI ​​functions of the cross-platform agent work or not.

Here is the task I assigned to Claude via Dispatch:

The idea was to find some files in a certain folder on my system, open them one by one, and extract the key points from each one. These files were research papers with a large amount of data in each. If I had done it by myself, even if I was using AI, this was an easy 15-30 minute job. With Dispatch, I just wrote the prompt and left for lunch.

I used a series of instructions to guide Claude through the process. Here’s how it happens:

1. Notify:

Find the “eVTOLs” folder in my system and list all the files inside it

Output:

This was my first experience with remote agent AI in action, and it was equal parts surprising and exciting. After some access permissions, which I could authorize with my phone itself, Claude sprung into action and was easily able to find the files inside the folder.

That phase 1 was finished. From then on, I knew that the next step would not disappoint:

2. Notify:

Go through these files and extract important points from each. Create a document that lists all of these important points, separated by source

Output:

These are just 2 guidelines, and I had 4 important points for a very long research paper on electric flying cars. But I believe the most useful result here is that I was able to access the files on my system in the first place, all remotely.

Claude Dispatch Use Cases

Running your system remotely means you’re no longer tied to working in the cloud or carrying your laptop everywhere. Just keep it open and connected to the Internet, and Claude, and the new Claude Dispatch with Cowork will let you –

• Pull data from local files:
  Ask Claude to open a spreadsheet stored on your computer, extract the important data, and turn it into a clean summary report without you touching the machine.
• Search across all your work tools:
  Ask Claude to go through your Slack messages, emails, or connected forums and write you a quick document before you even sit down at your desk.
• Create presentations from existing files:
  You can instruct Claude to collect the relevant material from your Google Drive or desktop folder and create a formatted presentation.
• Organize the files on your computer:
  Claude can process, organize, or clean up files within a specific folder, which is especially useful for repetitive administrative work.
• Access outputs from your phone:
  If Claude creates a file as part of a job, you can get it directly from your phone or get it on your desktop in the way Claude gives you.
• Work with your existing setup:
  Claude uses the same connectors, plugins, and file permissions you’ve already set up in Cowork, so you don’t need to do a separate setup for mobile.
• Automate repetitive tasks:
  You can set up routines like checking emails every morning, compiling weekly metrics, or generating a Friday report, and Claude can continue to manage them on time.
• Manage tasks your phone can’t:
  Since Claude works in your desktop environment, it can access applications, files, and workflows that would normally be impossible to manage on a phone alone.

The conclusion

I feel like this is a huge improvement over the standard implementation of agent AI in any platform. Other than ClawdBot, nothing comes close to the level of automation that Claude provides with Dispatch over Cowork and Code. So if you often have repetitive tasks or wish to manage an army of agents while your system is completely free, or simply write code even if you’re aFK, I’d suggest you give Claude Dispatch a shot and be smart of course.