A web project may need a bug investigation, an interface change and new tests at the same time. Claude Desktop’s Code tab can run separate sessions, but opening more conversations is only the start. First decide which assignments are independent and which files they may change.
Give each task a small working map
Record the intended result, working folder and verification method. An investigation might deliver a diagnosis; an interface task might change specified screens; a testing task might check the resulting behaviour. If two assignments touch the same file, record that dependency before they begin.
Use a session for an independent job
Each Code session has its own history and project folder. Sessions can be opened side by side or in separate windows. That display arrangement does not itself isolate file changes.
In a Git repository, a session can start in its own worktree, a separate working copy of the project. This creates a place to develop changes before integrating them. Overlapping changes still need review at the merge stage. A useful division of work therefore includes file responsibility, not merely a different chat window.
Use a side chat for understanding
A side chat uses the main session’s context up to that point without adding its own conversation back. The desktop documentation lists it for local, SSH and WSL sessions. It is not saved as a conversation to revisit after closing the app.
If a side discussion produces a decision that should affect the job, send that decision to the main session explicitly. Asking why an approach was chosen and asking to replace that approach are different instructions.
Manage context around the task boundary
Context includes files and tool results as well as messages. An unrelated task can start in a new session; continuing work may use /compact to summarise history. A brief note of decisions, unfinished work and verification results makes the continuation easier to follow without treating every old detail as equally important.
Remote control is not a move to the cloud
Remote Control provides another device with access to the local session. The work still runs on the original machine. A job that must continue after that machine shuts down needs an actual cloud environment. Claude’s redesigned projects use a coordinator, shared memory and cloud threads with separate working copies. Changes to the same code are still resolved when their work is brought together.
Ask for a consistent handoff
Each task can report changed files, checked behaviours and remaining issues. Review those results against the common goal before combining them. This distinguishes a session returning an answer from the project meeting its requirements.
Oliver’s assessment
Is that the behaviour we intended? Parallel work becomes useful when the boundaries are clear: sessions organise context, worktrees separate file changes, and environment selection determines where execution happens. Keeping those decisions explicit makes the final review easier than relying on the number of open conversations.
