Claude Code Projects threads can now run on your machine

Projects in Claude Code was built so work would keep going after you shut your laptop. Now its threads can also run on that laptop: in a post on X, Anthropic's ClaudeDevs account says it has added local support to Projects, so threads can run on your own machine.

At a glance

• Pro and Max subscribers on the Projects waitlist should start getting in, because Anthropic says it is working through the list and giving access to more users on those plans.
• A Project coordinates ongoing work across several threads. Until this change, each thread was a full Claude Code cloud session that kept running after you closed your device.
• The announcement does not explain how local threads behave, and Claude's documentation still describes Project threads as cloud sessions, so we can't yet tell how the two modes differ in practice.

If you haven't been following, the name Projects is older than this feature. According to VentureBeat, Anthropic introduced the original Claude Projects in June 2024 as a workspace for grouping chats, files, instructions and project knowledge, with each chat kept as a separate conversation. VentureBeat also notes that long-running Claude Code work used to mean keeping your own status notes and pasting them into every new session.

Until now, every Project thread lived in the cloud

The beta version of Projects ran in the cloud. Each Project thread is a full Claude Code cloud session, and it keeps working after you close your device, so a task you hand off doesn't stop when you shut the lid. Claude's documentation still describes Project threads that way, even after the post announcing local support.

Anthropic isn't the only company heading this way. According to VentureBeat, OpenAI, GitHub and Google have all moved toward asynchronous, parallel and longer-running agent workflows, as coding agents take on work that goes beyond a single prompt or pull request.

Local support arrives while Projects is still rolling out to Pro and Max users

The post itself is short. Anthropic says it has added local support to Projects in Claude Code, so threads can now run on your own machine. It also says it is working through the waitlist and giving access to more Pro and Max users. If you haven't signed up, it points you to the early access form at claude.com/form/projects.

One group is still waiting for a separate step. If you used Claude projects before, Anthropic says it is still working on migrating you over. According to Unite.AI, the redesigned Projects entered beta on September 17, 2026. It first went to a select group of Pro and Max subscribers who use cloud sessions in Claude Code and have no existing projects on the web or desktop.

According to Anthropic's post on claude.com, existing projects on Pro and Max plans keep working as they do today. The same post says Anthropic will upgrade them as the rollout expands to chat and Cowork, so nothing you set up earlier should break while you wait.

Each thread gets its own branch and its own copy of the repo

When you start a Project, you pick a goal and the repository or context. Claude then suggests work it can pick up right away. You can configure the project's cloud environment, connectors, plugins, instructions and model. A coordinator directs parallel threads, and each thread works on its own branch and its own copy of the repo.

If two threads change the same code, the overlap shows up as a merge conflict and gets resolved like any other PR. Each thread can also split its assignment with subagents, loops and workflows, so large jobs finish faster. Think of a site foreman who gives each crew its own room and its own set of keys, then checks the joins at the end.

According to Anthropic's post on claude.com, threads also add to and draw from a shared memory. Claude can remember that the release moved to Friday, why the export was dropped, or who to check with before touching the billing service. The same post says a thread with a connected repository opens pull requests and runs the project's tests. With documents, it reads them and drafts.

The post doesn't explain what a local thread actually is. It doesn't say whether a local thread keeps working after you close the lid, draws on the same shared memory, or still needs the configured cloud environment. In our view, shipping local support before the documentation catches up leaves early users guessing about the most basic difference between the two modes.

When old Claude projects move over

Anthropic has not given a date for finishing the migration for people who used Claude projects before. The post also doesn't say whether every account with Projects access gets local threads at once. Team and Enterprise users will wait longer. Updated projects reach those plans only after the Claude Code rollout, and no date has been given for that step.