The short version

To start using Grok Bot, install the desktop app from x.ai/bot, sign in with the account that holds an eligible plan, rename the first Bot setup creates and give it one job, then ask for one small task you can check. Connect a plugin only when a task needs it, set approvals, and add a routine last.

Each step below follows the official documentation from docs.x.ai and Cursor's docs and help pages, checked on October 11, 2026. Where the two disagree, we say so. We have not recorded our own run of these steps; the example briefs are original templates you should adapt.

Documentation: Get started ↗ Cursor help: onboarding ↗

StepWhere in the appDone when
1. Install and sign inx.ai/bot → Download, then Sign inThe browser confirms sign-in and the app shows your plan
2. Set up your first BotClick the Bot's name at the top of its chat, or New chat (+) → Create new BotThe Bot has a short name and you have told it one job
3. Give it a bounded taskThe chat composerYou can check the result against the source
4. Connect a plugin or sign inConnect Apps in the sidebar, or the Bot's computerThe plugin shows as installed and authorized
5. Set approvalsApproval cards, and Settings → General → Auto-reviewSends, purchases and deletes stop for you
6. Save a skill, then a routineAsk the Bot; manage under the Bot's routinesA test run produced the result you expected
7. Watch usageSettings → Usage & BillingYou know your weekly usage and on-demand setting

Before you begin

You need an eligible plan. Since October 12, 2026, new customers buy The X Subscription, where Grok Bot is included on Premium ($30 a month), Super and Ultra and on team seats, but not on Free or Plus. Existing plans still work: any paid individual Cursor plan, Cursor Teams, an individual SuperGrok, SuperGrok Plus, SuperGrok Heavy or X Premium+ subscription linked to your Cursor account, or an assigned seat on a self-serve Grok Business plan. Our plan and pricing guide compares them and explains switching.

Grok Bot requires cloud data storage. The getting-started page says accounts using Legacy Privacy Mode must move to a supported Cursor data setting before Grok Bot can start; on a team, an administrator changes it.

Documentation: Get started ↗ SpaceXSI: Introducing The X Subscription (October 12, 2026) ↗ x.ai pricing: The X Subscription plans ↗ The X Subscription docs: Grok Bot on The X Subscription ↗ Cursor help: plans and billing ↗ Cursor help: link SuperGrok or a Grok Business seat ↗

1. Install the app and sign in

The desktop app runs on macOS (Apple silicon and Intel), Windows and Linux (x64 and Arm64). Linux builds and the other platforms are under More downloads on x.ai/bot and on Cursor's download page; Cursor's docs add that the installer is also on the Grok Bot page of the Cursor dashboard. Our platforms guide shows how to tell which build you need. There is no separate Grok Bot login. SpaceXSI's X Subscription docs say Grok Bot uses the shared xAI sign-in path, which may show Grok or xAI branding, and that signing in does not link or combine your X, Grok or Cursor accounts or switch your plan.

Documentation: Get started ↗ Cursor help: onboarding ↗ Grok Bot downloads (x.ai/bot) ↗ Cursor help: link SuperGrok or a Grok Business seat ↗ Cursor docs: get started with Grok Bot ↗ The X Subscription docs: Grok Bot sign-in ↗

  1. Download the app for your computer from x.ai/bot and install it. On a Mac, drag Grok Bot to Applications; on Windows, run the installer.
  2. Open Grok Bot and choose Sign in, then finish authentication in the browser window that opens. If your organization uses single sign-on, complete that sign-in.
  3. Return to Grok Bot after the browser confirms the sign-in.
  4. If your access comes from SuperGrok or X Premium+, first check that you signed in with the Cursor account that should keep it, because a link is permanent. Then choose Link Grok Account: Cursor's help says the access screen opens Get Started with Grok Bot in your browser, and X Premium+ links through the same button by signing in to Grok with that X account.
  5. If your company assigned you a seat on a self-serve Grok Business plan, there is nothing to buy or link: sign out, sign back in, and choose Sign in with Grok with the Grok account that holds the seat.
  6. Click through the short introduction. The docs say it asks which tools you use to shape suggestions; the answers do not connect anything by themselves.

2. Set up your first Bot

The official sources describe this step differently. Cursor's onboarding help and Cursor's own getting-started docs say Grok Bot sets up your first Bot, named Grok Bot, and opens a chat with it, which matches the 0.51.0 changelog entry (September 14): setup now creates your first Bot for you. The docs.x.ai getting-started page, updated October 9, still describes choosing a suggested teammate from Meet a future teammate, or Create your own. Use whichever your app shows.

Either way, give the Bot a short name, then use your first message to tell it its one job, which sources to use and when to ask for approval, and ask it to remember that. Rename it, or add a label for its job, by clicking its name at the top of the chat. Put the job in chat rather than relying on a settings field: Cursor staff said on October 5 and 9 that the redesigned desktop details pane no longer shows a Bot's instructions, and there is no desktop editor for them yet. The docs say focused Bots build more useful context than one catch-all Bot. Add more later from New chat (the + button) → Create new Bot when the work splits into distinct roles. Every Bot on your account shares one cloud computer and its logins, so a separate Bot is a separate role, not a separate security boundary; see the shared-computer guide.

Documentation: Cursor help: onboarding ↗ Cursor docs: get started with Grok Bot ↗ Grok Bot changelog ↗ Get started ↗ Grok Bot FAQ ↗ Forum: desktop details pane no longer shows a Bot's instructions (staff replies, October 5 and 9) ↗

3. Give it a first task you can check

Start with a short task that has a clear result and changes nothing outside the chat. The docs say a strong request names the outcome, the sources, the constraints, the deliverable and a review point. Attach a document you already understand, such as meeting notes, so you can judge the answer without learning a new system first.

Compare the result against the source: one ordinary item, one ambiguous item, and one commitment with no deadline. Then state the lasting preference explicitly, for example the report format you want next time. The brief below is our template; the practice pack on this page has fictional notes and an answer key for it. Our guide to writing a workflow brief goes further.

Documentation: Get started ↗ Cursor help: onboarding ↗

Try this brief

Use the attached [document name/version] to create an action register. Return a table with action, named owner, explicit deadline, source passage, and uncertainty. Include only commitments supported by the document. Mark missing owners or dates as unspecified; do not infer them. Then list ambiguous statements that need a human decision. Preserve the original file. Do not contact anyone or create tasks in another app. Finish with the number of commitments found and anything you could not read.

Original editorial template. Replace placeholders and review access before running.

4. Connect a plugin, or sign in on the computer

When a task needs Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, Notion or another supported service, connect a plugin. Since version 0.67.0 (October 2) the in-app Marketplace is called Connect Apps; follow a Connect card in chat or open it from the sidebar (on the phone, tap your avatar), add the plugin, and finish the provider's sign-in in your browser. Added means installed, not signed in: check that it is authorized. In chat, type @ to attach a connector to a task. Our plugins, connectors and MCP guide covers the details.

For a website without a plugin, the Bot asks you to take over its computer: open Agent Computer from the conversation, choose the takeover control, sign in yourself, and hand control back. The browser session then stays on your shared computer for every Bot. Avoid pasting passwords or codes into chat, and until Cursor confirms a fix for the October 5 snapshot report (none was posted by October 11), type passwords on the screen yourself rather than through the in-chat form.

Documentation: Computer and apps ↗ Cursor help: connect plugins ↗ Grok Bot changelog ↗ Get started ↗ Forum: password filled by the Secure Form shown in a page snapshot (staff reply, October 5) ↗

5. Set approvals before the Bot can change things

When an action needs approval, the chat shows an approval card with the proposed operation. Allow once lets that action continue, Always allow can save a matching rule, and Deny blocks it. The onboarding help suggests Allow once while you learn how a Bot handles a workflow.

With Auto Review on, Grok Bot checks tool calls and computer actions before they run. Add rules in Settings → General → Auto-review: Ask first rules always stop matching actions for you, and if an Ask first rule and an Allow automatically rule both match, Ask first wins. Since 0.68.0 Settings calls saved rules Custom Rules. Running commands on the computer in front of you is a separate setting whose default is Ask every time. Our permission boundaries guide has a worksheet, and Is Grok Bot safe? covers the rest of the security model.

Documentation: Approvals, security and privacy ↗ Cursor help: onboarding ↗ Grok Bot changelog ↗

  • Sending email or messages, purchases, deletions and publishing are behind Ask first rules.
  • Email and Slack drafts stay on, so you review a draft card before anything is sent.
  • Execution on Local Computer is Ask every time or Never allow.
  • Nothing signed into the shared computer would be a problem if any of your Bots used it.

6. Save a skill, then add a routine

Once a task produces the result you expect, ask the Bot to save the method as a skill: when to use it, the inputs and access it needs, the steps, how to check the result, what to return, and what needs approval. Private skills are one library shared by all your Bots; type / in the composer to use one. Where Teach a task is available, you can instead record up to ten minutes of your own browser work.

Only then ask the owning Bot for a routine, with the schedule, time zone, input, expected result and what to do when a source is missing. A test run performs real work, so use safe inputs. A new routine waits for its next scheduled time rather than running when created. An approval requested by a routine, a trigger or another Bot expires after about 10 minutes and the action does not run, so turn on notifications for Bots that run routines, or choose Always allow for actions you trust. Cursor's routines help warns that an hourly schedule, a short interval or a Slack trigger on a busy channel can use a week of usage in a day. Our guides to skills and routines and routines that do not run go deeper.

Documentation: Skills and routines ↗ Cursor help: routines ↗ Cursor help: how-tos (approvals, notifications) ↗

Try this brief

Every weekday at 8:00 AM in [time zone], run the [skill name] skill on [source]. Post a short result in this conversation with source links. Do not send, edit or delete anything outside this chat. If the source is unavailable, empty or unchanged since the last run, say so in one line and do not reuse an earlier result.

Original editorial template. Replace placeholders and review access before running.

7. Keep an eye on usage

Every plan includes weekly usage, measured in agent steps and tokens rather than messages. Settings → Usage & Billing shows your included usage and, since 0.63.0, when it resets. When it runs out, work stops unless on-demand usage is enabled, and the On-demand monthly limit is not a hard stop for a run already in progress. Start one Bot on one task, read the meter, and add Bots and routines from there. On The X Subscription the weekly pool is shared with your Grok and Cursor use, extra use is paid from prepaid top-ups, and usage is shown under Usage at grok.com/dashboard. See why the weekly limit runs out.

Documentation: Cursor help: plans and billing ↗ Grok Bot changelog ↗ Settings: usage and billing ↗ The X Subscription docs: usage limits ↗ The X Subscription docs: Grok Bot on The X Subscription ↗

Quick answers

Do I need to keep my computer on for Grok Bot to work?

No. Bots work on a persistent cloud computer, and the FAQ says closing the app, laptop or phone does not stop a background turn or a routine. The desktop and mobile apps are clients for that computer.

Why does my account already have a Bot called Grok Bot?

Setup creates one. Cursor's onboarding help says Grok Bot sets up your first Bot, named Grok Bot, and opens a chat with it, and the changelog for 0.51.0 (September 14) says setup now creates your first Bot for you. Rename it by clicking its name at the top of the chat and give it one job, or add a new Bot from New chat (the + button) → Create new Bot.

Can I set up Grok Bot on my phone?

Yes, on iPhone, iPad and Android, with the same Cursor account. You can message Bots, create Bots, install plugins and approve drafts from a phone, but editing a routine's schedule or instructions and running a test need the desktop app. See our platforms guide.

What should my first task be?

Something small with an answer you can check, that changes nothing outside the chat. The official docs suggest attaching a document and asking for a five-bullet summary that lists every date, decision and open question with a citation. The practice pack on this page gives you notes and an answer key for the same idea.

Bots for this job

Directory listings that match this guide, read from each creator's public share page. They are not tested picks: check what a Bot can reach before you add it.

Browse: Bots for personal assistants

  • Daili by ℙ𝕒𝕦𝕝 𝕃. 𝕄𝕔ℕ𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕪 🇺🇸: Morning briefs with calendar, weather, important mail, live connectors, and a weekly outlook
  • Lumos by Md H: Technical educator using the Feynman technique with examples and daily-life analogies
  • Post Call Assistant by Priya Patel: Drops your to-dos and a draft follow-up after every meeting
  • Research Bot by Arthur MacWaters: Deep research that returns concise answers with verified citations

Sources & next steps

Capabilities are grounded in the documentation below. The workflow design and acceptance checks are editorial suggestions.

Build your own workflow brief ↗