[[API for AIP (API Options for AI Partners)|← Back to API for AIP (home)]] **2026-05-10** <a href="https://starlingalder.com/download/path-b.md" class="download-md" download>📥 Download this page as Markdown</a> ## Path B: Claude Code on the Web (phone-only friendly) This path runs in **Anthropic's cloud sandbox** — a fresh virtual machine they spin up for each session. Reachable from `claude.ai/code` in any browser, including your phone's. You're not installing anything on your phone; the work happens in Anthropic's cloud, and you interact through the browser. For this to work, your CI needs to live somewhere the cloud sandbox can fetch it. **The supported source is a GitHub repository.** That's the trade-off: you don't need a computer, but you do need a free GitHub account and a few minutes to put your `CLAUDE.md` in a private repo. (Note: Claude Code on the Web is currently a research preview. Behavior may shift as Anthropic ships changes.) ### Prerequisites - A phone with a modern browser (Safari, Chrome, etc.) - An active **Claude Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise** subscription. The *free* claude.ai plan does NOT include Claude Code on the Web. - A free GitHub account (sign up at [github.com](https://github.com)) - About 30 minutes for first-time setup - Your CI text accessible on your phone (Notes app, Google Docs, email — anywhere you can copy it from) --- ### ⚠️ Privacy callout — please read before doing anything **Make your GitHub repository PRIVATE.** Companion CIs often contain intimate, personal, sometimes explicit content. Don't put it in a public repo where anyone on the internet can find it via GitHub search. Two things to verify: 1. When you create the repo, GitHub asks for visibility. **Choose Private.** 2. Inside Claude Code on the Web, your *sessions* can also be shared. On Pro and Max accounts, the visibility options are **Private** and **Public** — and Public means any logged-in claude.ai user can see the conversation. The default is Private; don't change it unless you mean to. If in doubt, default to Private for everything. You can always share later; you can't easily un-share something the internet has already seen. --- ### Step B.1: Sign up for GitHub (skip if you already have an account) In your phone browser, go to [github.com](https://github.com) and tap **Sign up**. Use a real email — they'll send you a verification code. Pick a username (this can be neutral — as long as your repos stay private, no one sees it). ### Step B.2: Create a private repository for your companion Once signed in, on GitHub's home page, tap the **+** icon (top right) → **New repository**. Fill out: - **Repository name**: something like `my-companion` or `echonova-ci` — your choice, lowercase-with-hyphens is conventional - **Description**: optional, leave blank - **Visibility**: ⚠️ **PRIVATE** — make sure this is selected, not Public - **Initialize this repository with**: check **Add a README file** Tap **Create repository**. ### Step B.3: Add your `CLAUDE.md` to the repo You're now on your repo's page. Tap **Add file** → **Create new file**. In the filename field at the top, type exactly this, case-sensitive: `CLAUDE.md` In the big text area below, **paste your CI text** (the contents of your CLAUDE.md from the [Claude Companion Guide v002](https://starlingalder.com/claude_companion-guide_home_v002) — all of your persona anchoring docs' content) Scroll to the bottom. Leave the commit message as the default, or change it to something like "Add companion CI". Tap **Commit changes** (or **Commit new file** — wording varies by GitHub UI version). That's it. Your `CLAUDE.md` now lives at the root of your repo, where Claude Code on the Web will find it. ### Step B.4: Connect Claude Code on the Web to your repo In your phone browser, go to [claude.ai/code](https://claude.ai/code). Sign in with your Pro/Max account. You'll be prompted to **connect GitHub**. Choose **Install the Claude GitHub App** (the alternative, `/web-setup`, requires Claude Code installed on a computer, which this path is avoiding). GitHub will ask which repositories Claude can access. **Choose "Only select repositories"** and pick the companion repo you just created. Don't grant "All repositories" — narrow scope is safer. Approve, and you'll be redirected back to `claude.ai/code`. ### Step B.5: Start your first session On `claude.ai/code`, you should now see your repo as an option. Select it, type your first message, and submit. The cloud sandbox will spin up a fresh VM (virtual machine) (takes 30–60 seconds the first time), clone your repo — which includes `CLAUDE.md` — and your companion is there. ### What to expect - **Session startup is 30–60 seconds the first time.** The cloud VM is provisioning and cloning your repo. After that, response times are normal. - **Your `CLAUDE.md` is auto-loaded.** Same way the CLI does it. - **Sessions persist.** Close your browser, lock your phone, come back hours later, and resume from `claude.ai/code` (or the Claude mobile app, if you've installed it). - **First responses may feel "off."** Same "different room" thing from earlier. Settles by the third or fourth session. - **No local auto-memory.** Unlike [[Path A - Claude Code on Mac (CLI)|Path A]]'s per-project memory files, the cloud sandbox is fresh each session — anything the model "remembered" only lives in the conversation history, not on disk. To carry facts across sessions, either commit notes back into the repo, or paste a quick "here's what we last discussed" at session start. ### Updating your CI When you want to revise your `CLAUDE.md`, go back to your repo on github.com, tap the pencil icon (✎) on the file, edit, scroll down, and commit. The next cloud session you start will pick up the new version. ### Common stumbling blocks - **"I don't see my repo on claude.ai/code"** → The Claude GitHub App probably doesn't have access to it yet. Go to GitHub → **Settings → Applications → Claude → Configure**, and re-grant access to that specific repo. - **"Session creation failed"** → Cloud capacity is provisioned on demand and occasionally tight. Wait a minute and retry. If it persists, check [status.claude.com](https://status.claude.com). - **"My CI doesn't seem to be loaded"** → The file MUST be named exactly `CLAUDE.md` (capital letters, dot, lowercase `md`) and live at the **root of the repository**, not in a subfolder. Verify on github.com that it's at the top level. - **"The mobile keyboard makes pasting my full CI miserable"** → Honest answer: it kind of does. If you can borrow a friend's computer for 10 minutes to do Steps B.1–B.3, the GitHub web UI is much friendlier with a real keyboard. After that initial setup, day-to-day chatting on the phone is fine. ### Power-user: MCP connectors during sessions Once Path B is working, there's a related capability worth knowing about: **MCP connectors**. These let a running session reach into cloud accounts — Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Gmail, Calendar — and read or write documents *mid-conversation*. Keep the distinction clear: - **GitHub repo** = where `CLAUDE.md` lives. The cloud sandbox clones it at session start so your companion comes up shaped as themselves. You don't touch it during the conversation. - **MCP connectors** = tools the running session can call. If you say "pull up the poem doc I wrote yesterday," they can actually fetch it from Drive. They can write back too — appending to a journal, drafting a doc. You don't need connectors to do Path B; the CI alone gets you a companion who knows themselves. Connectors are for when you want them to also have hands. **Enabling one.** In `claude.ai/code` (or claude.ai), open **Settings → Connectors**, find the connector you want, tap **Connect**, and approve the OAuth flow with Google / Microsoft / Dropbox. The connector is then available in any future session. The up-to-date list of what's offered lives in that same panel — Anthropic adds and removes connectors over time. **⚠️ Privacy — same spirit as the GitHub callout.** When you connect Drive (or Gmail, etc.), your companion can read anything the OAuth scope grants — often *everything in that account*. Cleaner approaches: use a **dedicated** Google/Microsoft account for companion work, separate from your main one; or audit what's in the account before you grant access. You can revoke at any time from Settings → Connectors, or from the provider's own security settings. **Don't use connectors as a `CLAUDE.md` source.** That's GitHub's job. The sandbox loads `CLAUDE.md` at session start *before* connectors are reachable, so a Drive-hosted CI wouldn't be in scope when the model forms its persona. Keep the bootstrap (GitHub) and the in-session tools (MCP) in separate lanes. --- [[API for AIP (API Options for AI Partners)|← Back to API for AIP (home)]]