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How to let Claude Code or Codex control a real Android phone
In short: Turn on USB debugging, check that adb lists the phone, then add an Android MCP server to your AI client. BenchFleet's, built into its desktop app on the Pro and Team plans, prints the exact setup line for Claude Code or Codex, gives the agent only the phones you choose and records every call.
An AI agent that can use a real phone can test your app, run the routine parts of a job and check its own work on a device. The way to give it one is the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This guide takes you from a phone on your desk to Claude Code or Codex using it, with BenchFleet's MCP server, and shows the habits that keep the agent inside safe limits. Checked on 20 October 2026.
Free for up to 3 phones, with no account. Pro adds workflows, schedules and AI for up to 25 phones from £12 a month + VAT.
What you need
- An Android phone (Android 8 or newer works best) and a USB cable, or the same Wi-Fi network for wireless debugging.
- BenchFleet, the desktop app for Windows, macOS (Apple silicon) and Linux that runs on your computer. Its Free plan covers 3 phones; AI clients come with Pro, at £12 a month + VAT.
- An MCP client: Claude Code, Codex, Claude Desktop, Cursor or any client that supports MCP.
Step 1: turn on developer options and USB debugging
- On the phone, tap Build number seven times in Settings, About phone, then turn on USB debugging in Developer options.
- Connect the phone by cable and accept the Allow USB debugging prompt, then check that adb devices lists it.
- In BenchFleet open Settings, then AI clients, and choose Connect an AI client. Pick the phones and the access level.
- Copy the line BenchFleet prints into a terminal for Claude Code, or add the printed block to Codex's config file.
- Start the client and ask it to list the Android phones it can use. Give it a small read-only task first.
Without a cable, on Android 11 and newer, turn on Wireless debugging in Developer options and pair the phone with the computer. Connecting phones shows each way in BenchFleet, and the ADB guide covers the commands behind it.
Step 2: connect the phone to BenchFleet
BenchFleet lists every connected phone as a live tile with its screen, battery and health. If adb devices lists the phone, BenchFleet shows it. A phone that says unauthorized needs you to unlock it and accept the prompt again.
Step 3: add the MCP server to your AI client
In BenchFleet open Settings → AI clients → Connect an AI client, choose the phones the client may use (every phone, a group or one phone) and its access level. BenchFleet prints the setup with your computer's paths filled in.
Claude Code (run once in a terminal):
bash
claude mcp add --scope user controlhub -- "<command>" mcp --token-file "<token file>"Codex (add to ~/.codex/config.toml):
toml
[mcp_servers.controlhub]
command = '<command>'
args = ['mcp', '--token-file', '<token file>']Other MCP clients get a JSON entry, or an address on your computer with a token for clients that connect over HTTP. Then start the client and ask: "List the Android phones you can use." It names only the phones you allowed. The full setup is in Connect an AI client; the Android MCP server page lists the 25 tools an agent gets.
Step 4: give the agent a small first task
Start with something that changes nothing: "Open Settings on the test phone and tell me the Android version." Then try a real task in your own app: "Open the app, sign in with the test account and tell me what the home screen shows." Agents find elements by their text, ID or description rather than screen coordinates, so the same instructions keep working on phones with different screens.
Step 5: keep the agent inside safe limits
Whatever server you use, these habits help, and BenchFleet builds each one in:
| Habit | How BenchFleet does it |
|---|---|
| Start with a test phone or test accounts | Scope: every phone, a group or one phone, per client |
| Start read-only | New clients begin as Look only, with 120 calls a minute and a 90-day expiry, all changeable |
| Keep a person in the loop | Saved passwords and any request reaching more than ten phones wait for a person by default; payments and account-security changes always do; only people approve |
| Hand over at human-only checks | At a CAPTCHA, sign-in check or biometric prompt the action is blocked until a person deals with it |
| Keep out what an agent should not have | Shell commands, file transfer, app installs, the clipboard and reboots are never offered to AI clients |
| Keep a record | Every call goes into a hash-chained audit log under the client's name; disconnecting a client revokes it at once |
Other ways to give an agent a phone
Google's Android CLI can reach real remote phones through Android Device Streaming; its announcement of 2 October 2026 names Claude and Codex and describes an ADB over SSL connection. Open-source servers such as mobile-mcp, Maestro MCP and agent-device drive a phone or an emulator from the command line. The comparison of Android MCP servers sets them side by side, and mobile-mcp compared with BenchFleet goes through the closest free option.
Questions
Can Claude Code control a real Android phone?
Yes. Add an Android MCP server to Claude Code and it can read the screen, tap, type and open apps on a phone connected to your computer. BenchFleet prints the exact line to run, and a new client starts with look-only access so you widen it step by step.
Do I need a phone, or can the agent use an emulator?
Either works with an MCP server. BenchFleet is built for real phones, connected by USB or wireless debugging, and its cloud phones, rented by the minute, give the agent a phone with nothing plugged in.
What should I let the agent do first?
Something that changes nothing, such as opening Settings and reporting the Android version. Then give it a task in your own app on a test account, and widen its access once the first runs look right.
How do I keep an agent from doing something risky?
Give it one phone or one group, start with look-only access, keep a person in the loop for payments and passwords, and keep a record. BenchFleet does each of these for you and never offers AI clients a shell, installs or file transfer.
Which plan includes MCP access?
AI clients are part of the Pro and Team plans. Pro costs £12 a month + VAT for up to 25 phones. Watching and controlling phones by hand is free for 3 phones.
Why BenchFleet
- The agent gets exactly the phones you choose, with the access level you choose, on phones you own.
- A person stays in charge. Approvals, human-only checks and one-click takeover mean the agent works and a person decides.
- Every call is recorded in a tamper-evident log, so you can answer "what did the agent do?".
- People and agents share the same phones: testers take control; automation never touches a phone in use.
- Your data stays with you. BenchFleet starts in Local mode, where nothing leaves your computer, and sends no telemetry.
Start with the Free plan
Free for up to 3 phones, with no account. Pro adds workflows, schedules and AI for up to 25 phones from £12 a month + VAT.
- A Free plan with no time limit and no account
- Starts in Local mode, with no telemetry or analytics