Anthropic has released Claude Code Channels as a research preview, enabling developers to send prompts to a running local Claude Code session directly from Telegram or Discord — including from their phones.

How It Works

The feature uses MCP (Model Context Protocol) plugins that run alongside Claude Code as local processes. When a message arrives via Telegram or Discord, the channel plugin wraps it as a <channel> event and injects it into the active session. Claude processes the request, executes the necessary work, and replies back through the same messaging app. The terminal shows inbound events; actual replies surface only on the connected platform.

This "push, not pull" model inverts the typical MCP pattern. Rather than Claude calling a tool on demand, external systems fire events into the session the moment they arrive — opening the door to CI/CD webhooks, monitoring alerts, and chat-triggered builds alongside simple chat commands.

Requirements and Limits

Claude Code Channels requires v2.1.80 or later and a claude.ai login. During the research preview, supported plugins are limited to Telegram, Discord, and a test stub called Fakechat. Enterprise accounts have the feature disabled by default and must opt in via managed settings. Because events only arrive while a session is open, always-on setups require Claude Code running in a background or persistent terminal.

Traction

The announcement tweet pulled more than 25,000 likes in roughly 48 hours, making it one of the most-engaged Claude Code releases to date. Early testing by MacStories confirmed iOS builds, CLI automation, and audio processing tasks all ran successfully via Telegram on night one.