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Dispatch is a long-running agent in Cowork that takes high-level instructions and carries them out in the background. You describe an outcome in a single conversation; the Dispatch agent breaks it into tasks, runs each one as a separate Cowork or Code session, and surfaces the results in the sidebar when they finish. Unlike a normal Cowork chat, you don’t watch each step. Dispatch is for work you want to start and come back to later.

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Prerequisites

Dispatch requires a Pro or Max plan and the latest Claude Desktop app on macOS or Windows.

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Start a Dispatch task

The Dispatch agent appears as Dispatch in the left sidebar. Selecting it opens a single conversation with the agent.
1

Open Dispatch from the sidebar

Select Dispatch in the left side panel.
2

Describe the outcome

Tell the agent what you want done, the same way you’d brief a colleague. For example: “Summarize the open Linear issues tagged reliability and draft a status update for the team channel.”
3

Let Dispatch plan and run

The agent decides how to split the work and starts one or more child tasks. Each child task appears under the Dispatch group in the sidebar with its own status.
You converse with one Dispatch agent, but it can run many child tasks beneath that conversation. Child tasks don’t spawn further children of their own.

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How Dispatch routes work

The Dispatch agent routes each child task to the surface that fits it. When starting a task, you can tell the agent which Code workspace or Cowork project to use. If you don’t, it lists what’s available and chooses.

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Track task status

Each child task shows its current state in the sidebar. Select any task to open its full transcript, the steps Claude took, and any files it produced.

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Approve actions Dispatch needs

When a child task needs permission to take an action (such as running a command or writing a file outside its workspace), the prompt is forwarded to you. If you don’t respond within ten minutes, the request is automatically denied and the task continues without that action. Permission prompts behave the same as in a normal Cowork session.

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Continue from a finished task

Select any child task in the sidebar to open its session. You can read the transcript, send follow-up messages, or ask the Dispatch agent to start a new task that builds on the result.

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Assign tasks from your phone

When Claude Desktop is running, your computer registers as a Dispatch host. From the Claude mobile app, you can start a Dispatch conversation that runs on your desktop, then check results from either device.
1

Keep your desktop ready

Leave Claude Desktop open with your computer awake and online.
2

Open Dispatch on mobile

In the Claude mobile app, open Dispatch and describe the task. The work runs on your desktop.
3

Review on either device

Progress and results appear in the Dispatch sidebar on desktop and in the mobile app.