Most AI tools work the same way. You open them, you type something, you wait for the response. It is a conversation — useful, but fundamentally reactive. You have to be there for it to do anything.
Claude Dispatch changes that. It is a feature built into Claude Cowork that lets you fire tasks from your phone and have Claude execute them on your desktop, in the background, while you get on with your day. No babysitting. No waiting. Just results when you get back.
If you have wondered what the shift from “AI as a chatbot” to “AI as a colleague that actually does things” looks like in practice, this is a good place to start.
What is Claude Dispatch?
Claude Dispatch is a feature inside Claude Cowork — Anthropic’s desktop AI application — that allows you to delegate tasks to Claude from your mobile phone and have Claude carry them out autonomously on your computer.
The core idea is simple: instead of sitting at your desk and supervising Claude through a task step by step, you send a message from wherever you are. Claude gets to work on your desktop machine. When the task is done, it is done. You come back to the output rather than the process.
It launched in March 2026 and quickly drew attention for making agentic AI genuinely accessible — not just for developers, but for anyone who wants Claude to handle real work without constant input.
How it works
The setup requires Claude Cowork to be running on a desktop or laptop computer. Once it is configured, the Claude mobile app on your phone becomes a remote control for your desktop agent.
You open the Claude app on your phone, describe what you want done, and send it. Claude Cowork picks up the instruction on your computer and begins working — autonomously, in the background. It can browse the web, read and write files, run research, compile data, and complete multi-step tasks that would normally take hours of your time.
You do not need to watch it happen. You can be in a meeting, out for a walk, or yes — arguing with a printer — while Claude handles the task. When it finishes, the output is waiting for you.
The technical requirement is a computer that stays on and connected. Many Dispatch users keep a Mac mini or a laptop running at their desk for exactly this reason.
What you can use it for
The range of tasks Dispatch can handle is broader than it might first appear. Some of the most useful applications people are finding include:
Research and intelligence gathering. Send Dispatch to pull together a competitive analysis, summarise recent news on a topic, or compile background on a prospect before a meeting. You get the brief; Claude does the legwork.
Data organisation and processing. If you have information spread across multiple files or sources, Dispatch can consolidate it, cross-reference it, and produce a clean output. Tasks that would take a full afternoon can come back in an hour.
Drafting and content preparation. Ask Dispatch to produce a first draft of a report, summarise a set of documents, or pull together talking points for a presentation. You review and refine rather than starting from nothing.
Recurring background tasks. Dispatch can be used to run regular jobs — a weekly competitive scan, a summary of incoming enquiries, an update on a project status. Set them running as a matter of routine rather than scrambling to do them manually.
Code and automation tasks. For teams using Claude’s coding capabilities, Dispatch allows you to kick off longer development or scripting tasks and collect the output when you return.
The common thread is time. These are all things that were possible before — but they required you to sit there and do them. Dispatch removes that constraint.
Who is it for?
Dispatch is not just a developer feature. It was designed for the Claude Cowork programme, which is aimed squarely at professionals and business teams who want to use AI as a genuine work tool — not just as something to play with.
The people getting the most from it tend to be those who already have a sense of where their time goes and can clearly identify the tasks that eat hours without requiring much creative judgement. Research. Data work. Summarising. Compiling. All the things that need doing but do not necessarily need you specifically to do them.
If you have ever thought “I wish I had someone who could just get on with this while I focus elsewhere” — that is exactly who Dispatch is for.
It is also worth knowing that you do not need to be technical to use it. The interface is conversational: you describe the task in plain English, and Claude interprets and acts on it. The skill is in knowing what to ask and how to ask it clearly — which is a learnable skill, and one that ivee’s programmes are designed to help with.
Dispatch vs just chatting with Claude
The standard Claude experience — whether on claude.ai, in the desktop app, or through the API — is synchronous. You send a message, you wait for a response, you reply. It is highly capable, but you are always in the loop, steering the conversation.
Dispatch is asynchronous. You set the task and step away. Claude continues working without you. This is a fundamentally different relationship with the tool — and a much more powerful one for anything that involves multiple steps or takes more than a few minutes to complete.
Think of it this way. Regular Claude is like working alongside a knowledgeable colleague on a problem together. Claude’s general capabilities make it excellent for that kind of collaborative back and forth. Dispatch is like handing that colleague a clear brief, going to your next meeting, and finding the work done when you return.
Both are useful. They serve different moments in your workflow.
Getting started with Claude Dispatch
To use Dispatch, you need:
A Claude Cowork subscription (available through ivee’s programme)
Claude Cowork installed and running on a desktop or laptop machine
The Claude mobile app installed on your phone
A computer that can stay on and connected while tasks run
Once set up, the workflow is straightforward. Open the Claude app, describe your task clearly, send it. The more specific your brief, the better the output — this is true of all AI work, but especially important when you are not going to be there to course-correct in real time.
If you want structured help getting set up and learning how to use Dispatch effectively as part of a broader AI workflow, ivee’s Claude Cowork Programme covers the practical side in full.
Explore the Claude Cowork Programme →
FAQs: Claude Dispatch
Is Claude Dispatch available on all Claude plans? Dispatch is a feature of Claude Cowork, which is a specific programme and desktop application. It is not available on the standard claude.ai free or Pro plans. Access to Cowork and Dispatch comes through dedicated training and access programmes.
Does my computer need to stay on for Dispatch to work? Yes. Because Dispatch runs tasks on your desktop machine, the computer needs to be on and connected for Claude to do anything. Many users keep a dedicated machine — often a Mac mini or a laptop — running at their desk for this reason.
What kinds of tasks can Dispatch handle? Research, data consolidation, content drafting, file processing, competitive analysis, and multi-step coding or automation tasks are among the most common. If the task involves gathering, organising, or processing information, Dispatch is likely a good fit. Tasks that require significant human judgement at each step are less suited to fully autonomous execution.
How is Dispatch different from just leaving a long prompt running? Standard Claude interactions happen in a session that requires you to be present. Dispatch is specifically designed for autonomous, background execution — Claude carries out multi-step tasks over time without you needing to respond at each stage. It also runs on your local machine, which gives it access to your files and applications in a way that a web-based conversation does not.
Is it secure? Claude Cowork and Dispatch operate within the same security standards as Anthropic’s enterprise tools. As with any agentic AI setup, you should be thoughtful about what information and system access you give Claude, and review outputs before using them in sensitive contexts.
How do I learn to use it properly? The biggest variable in how useful Dispatch is comes down to how clearly you brief it. People who know how to write effective, specific instructions get dramatically better results. ivee’s Claude Cowork Programme is designed specifically for this — practical training that takes you from understanding the tool to using it as part of a real working routine.
Ready to put Claude to work?
Dispatch is one of the more significant shifts in how people are using AI — not as a tool you talk to, but as one that gets on with things while you focus elsewhere. Getting the most from it takes some learning, but the return on that investment is genuinely substantial.
ivee’s Claude Cowork Programme is the structured way to get there — practical, hands-on, and built around real working situations rather than abstract demos.
