Claude Remote Approve (Telegram)

Approve Claude Code permission prompts from your phone over Telegram — with Allow, Deny, and Always buttons.

Hands-free in both the VS Code panel and the terminal CLI, on macOS, Windows & Linux.

How it works

When Claude Code wants to run a shell command, edit a file, or call a web endpoint, it pauses and sends a Telegram message to your phone. You tap Allow, Deny, or Always (auto-approve this command forever) — and Claude continues.

It works two ways automatically, depending on how you run Claude Code:

• VS Code extension panel — your tap injects a keystroke that answers the native prompt (macOS / Windows / Linux backends).
• Terminal CLI — the hook simply waits for your tap (up to 20s) and returns the decision directly, so no keystroke injection is needed and there's nothing to set up per-OS.

Either way: one tap on your phone, Claude continues, you never sat back down.

Quick start (about 2 minutes)

Step 1 — Install and run Setup

1. Install this extension.
2. Open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P) and run "Telegram Approve: Setup / Connect bot". (Or click the $(rocket) Telegram: setup item in the status bar.)

Step 2 — Create your bot (one click from the wizard)

The wizard opens with an "Open @BotFather" button — click it (no need to go hunting in Telegram), then:

1. Send /newbot and follow the two prompts (a name and a username).
2. Copy the bot token BotFather gives you — it looks like 1234567890:AAH....
3. Paste it back into the VS Code input box.

(Already have a token? Pick "I already have a token" to skip straight to pasting.)

Step 3 — Connect your phone

The setup wizard will ask you to send your bot a message so it can learn your chat ID. You have two options:

Option A — Auto detect (easier)

The wizard opens your bot for you. Send it any message (e.g. "hi"), then click Continue. The extension detects your chat ID automatically.

Option B — Enter manually (always works)

Click "Enter ID manually", then open @userinfobot in Telegram and send it any message. It replies with your numeric ID — paste that into the VS Code input box.

After setup, your phone receives a confirmation message. Reload the VS Code window when prompted, and you are done.

Updates are automatic. You only do setup once. When the extension updates, it refreshes the hook scripts on the next launch by itself — your bot stays connected, no re-setup needed.

What you will see on your phone

Every time Claude Code needs a permission, your phone gets a message like:

🔔 Claude needs permission

`Bash: rm -rf ./dist`

✅ Allow   ⛔ Deny   ♾️ Always

Tap a button — the response is instant.

Status bar

The Telegram item in the bottom-right status bar shows the current state:

Click the status bar item for quick actions:

• Enable / Disable — pause phone notifications without uninstalling.
• Manage 'Always' list — review and remove saved auto-approve rules.
• Reconnect / change bot — re-run setup with a different bot token.
• Open log — view the hook activity log.
• Uninstall hooks — cleanly remove our settings.json entries (optionally wipe scripts and token too).

Requirements

Platform & Claude Code mode support

There are two ways to run Claude Code: the VS Code extension (panel inside VS Code) and the CLI (claude in a terminal). The extension detects which one you're using (via CLAUDE_CODE_ENTRYPOINT) and picks the right strategy automatically — both are fully hands-free.

The CLI "blocking" strategy means Claude simply pauses until you tap — no keystroke injection involved, so it works identically on macOS, Windows, and Linux with no extra dependency.

Commands gated: Bash, PowerShell (native Windows), Write, Edit, MultiEdit, NotebookEdit, and WebFetch. On Windows, Claude Code's PowerShell tool is a separate tool from Bash — both are covered, so shell commands trigger a notification regardless of which shell Claude uses.

Keystroke injection (VS Code extension mode only)

CLI mode does not use injection, so it needs no Accessibility permission and no xdotool — it works everywhere out of the box.

CLI blocking window

In CLI mode the hook waits up to 20 seconds for your tap, then falls back to the normal terminal prompt (you can still answer there). Fresh installs register a matching Claude Code hook timeout so the block isn't cut short — if you upgraded from an older version, re-run "Telegram Approve: Setup" to apply it.

Disable it instantly on the CLI

Set an environment variable in the shell that runs claude — the hook steps aside immediately and you get normal local prompts, no file edits or restart needed:

export TG_APPROVE_OFF=1     # disable for this shell session
claude                      # runs with normal local prompts

unset TG_APPROVE_OFF        # re-enable

To disable permanently (all sessions, both CLI and the VS Code panel), flip the config flag:

python3 -c "import json,os;p=os.path.expanduser('~/.claude/hooks/tg-approve/config.json');c=json.load(open(p));c['enabled']=False;json.dump(c,open(p,'w'),indent=2);print('tg-approve disabled')"

Set enabled back to true (or use the status bar Enable action in VS Code) to turn it on again.

Finding your chat ID manually

If auto-detection does not work, open @userinfobot in Telegram and send it any message. It replies immediately with something like:

Your user ID: 987654321
First name: Mrinal
...

Copy the number next to "Your user ID" and paste it into the setup input box.

Permissions & system footprint

This extension is intentionally minimal. Here is every permission it needs and every file it touches — nothing hidden.

Permissions required

These are only needed for keystroke injection in VS Code extension mode. Windows uses built-in PowerShell (nothing to install). CLI mode needs none of them — it waits for your tap and answers directly, on every OS.

Network access

What is stored and where

What changes on your machine

Uninstall cleanly: run "Telegram Approve: Uninstall hooks" from the Command Palette. It removes our entries from settings.json and optionally deletes all scripts, config, and logs.

Troubleshooting

Setup says "Could not auto-detect" Use the manual path: open @userinfobot, send any message, paste the number.

Prompts stopped appearing on my phone Check the status bar item — it should say Telegram: on. If not, click it and choose Enable. Also check ~/.claude/hooks/tg-approve/tg-approve.log.

"Accessibility permission" warning Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, find VS Code (or "Electron"), and toggle it on.

I want to use a different bot Run "Telegram Approve: Reconnect / change bot" from the Command Palette.

Source & architecture

github.com/Mrinal-Sahai/claude-remote-approve — see IMPLEMENTATION.md for the technical design (single-dispatcher model, rate limiting, per-host offset, graceful expiry).

License

MIT