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Building blocks
A Grok Bot gets better at a job through four building blocks: skills (how to do a task), apps and plugins (what it can reach), MCP servers (custom connections a Bot can add), and routines (when it works without being asked). Templates bundle some of these and leave others behind.
This page explains each one in plain English, shows real public listings that lean on them, and lists the checks worth doing before you trust any of them. Product facts come from xAI's documentation, read on 5 November 2026.
| Item | What it is | Where it lives | Comes with a template? | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skill | Reusable instructions for how to do a task | One private library shared by all your Bots | Meant to, but often missing on import (see below) | Instructions you haven't read doing things you didn't expect |
| App or plugin | A structured connection to a service such as Gmail, Slack or GitHub | Your account; every Bot can use it | First-party plugins are listed, but you reinstall and sign in yourself | Write access: sending, posting, editing |
| MCP server | A custom tool connection added by URL or by a command on the Bot's computer | Your account; a command-started server is available to your other Bots too | No; custom MCP servers, scripts and code are left out | Code and keys from someone you don't know |
| Routine | Tells one Bot when to run a workflow: on a schedule or after an event | The Bot that owns it | Yes, and users report they arrive paused | Usage spent unattended; actions while you're away |
Sources: Skills and routinesUse the computer and appsTemplates for Grok Bot (Grok Bot Guides)Bug report: template previews show skills, but the export ships none (Cursor Community Forum)Create and manage Bots
A skill captures how you do a task: the steps, the decision rules, the expected output and the safety boundaries. Skills are shared by all your Bots, although a Bot may still need the relevant app or login to use one. To use a skill, ask the Bot for it by name.
xAI's docs say a useful skill states six things: when to use it, the inputs and access it needs, the sequence of work, how to check the result, what to return, and what requires approval. If a template's skill text doesn't cover the last one, add it.
Run a real one-off task with a safe input until the result is right. A skill built on a task that never worked just repeats the mistake.
For example: "Save the process we just used as a skill called Weekly account health. Include the sources, the output format, and the rule that contacting customers always needs my approval."
Where Teach a task is available, open a one-to-one chat and its computer view, choose Teach a task, describe the result, and do the browser workflow once. Recording stops at ten minutes and doesn't capture microphone audio. The skill it produces is a draft: add the decision rules and approval boundaries one example can't show.
Run the skill on a safe example and check the output. Only then put it on a routine.
Sources: Grok Bot FAQSkills and routines
On a team, you can publish a private skill so teammates can use it: open Connect apps, select the connected count, open the skill and choose Publish. A skill needs a description first, because teammates' Bots use it to decide when the skill applies. Skills that came with the app or with a template can't be published.
Source: Skills and routines
Source: Skills and routines
Apps (xAI's docs also call them plugins and connectors) give a Bot a structured way into a service, which is more reliable than clicking through a website. Add one from Connect apps, or just ask: "Add the Linear app." The Bot installs it and shows a Connect card when you need to sign in.
An app can only do what the account you authorise can already do, and its login tokens stay on Cursor's connector backend. But it's account-wide: once connected, every Bot on your account can use it.
A Bot can also add an MCP server (Model Context Protocol, a standard way to plug tools into AI agents) that isn't in the catalog, by URL or by a command it runs on its computer. A server started by a command is available to your other Bots too. Adding one on a private network asks for your approval first.
Sources: Use the computer and appsTemplates for Grok Bot (Grok Bot Guides)Approvals, security, and privacy
A routine assigns a workflow to one Bot and says when to run it: on a schedule ("every weekday at 8:00 AM") or when something happens. Events include a Slack message, a GitHub, Linear, Sentry or PagerDuty event, an email to the Bot's own address, or a webhook call. A new routine waits for its next scheduled time; Test runs it immediately and does real work.
Each Bot can own up to 50 routines, schedules must be at least five minutes apart, and all your routines together can run at most 300 times an hour. More important for most people: every run spends usage. An hourly schedule, a short interval or a Slack trigger on a busy channel can use a week of usage in a day.
These are public templates from our catalog, described from their creators' own listings. We haven't tested their instructions; open each one and read what it asks for before adding it.
Sources: Approvals, security, and privacyUse the computer and appsSkills and routines
A skill describes how to perform a task. A routine assigns a workflow to one Bot and tells it when to run, on a schedule or after an event. xAI suggests testing a skill on a real one-time task before turning it into a routine, so the automation repeats something that already works.
Source: Grok Bot FAQ
They're meant to: xAI says first-party plugins and skills are included in a template, while private skills and secrets aren't. Users have reported since August that skills shown in a preview often don't arrive with the copy. Cursor staff acknowledged it in October. Ask a new Bot to list its skills.
Sources: Templates for Grok Bot (Grok Bot Guides)Bug report: template previews show skills, but the export ships none (Cursor Community Forum)
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard way to connect tools to an AI agent. Besides catalog apps, a Bot can add an MCP server by URL or by running a command on its computer; a command-started server is then available to your other Bots too. Templates never include custom MCP servers.
Sources: Use the computer and appsTemplates for Grok Bot (Grok Bot Guides)
Not as a separate fee, but every run draws from your weekly usage pool, including test runs and runs that find nothing to do. A routine that never runs costs nothing. An hourly schedule or a busy Slack trigger can use a week of usage in a day, so start daily or weekly.
Checked
Product facts on this page come from these pages, each read on the date shown. Pages marked first-party are published by xAI or Cursor; we quote community reports only for known bugs.
The listings named in this guide, described from their creators' own text. Read what each asks for before adding it.
Goes looking on your machine for skills worth having, judges whether each one earns its place, and strips out the overlaps and contradictions between them. It then keeps the survivin…
Inspects Grok Bot templates and existing teammates for malicious intent, hidden instructions, dangerous skills, and unattended routines. Issues a pass, warn, or fail verdict. Read-on…
A maintenance audit for the shared machine and memory your bot team works from.
Keeps your Grok Bot plugins and connectors lean and working. Audits what's installed, catches broken or signed-out connectors, flags duplicates and risky tools, and sends a short wee…
Designs, reviews and grades MCP servers against the current MCP spec, and plans polite, budgeted live tests that respect bot-protected sites. For teams building read-only MCP tools f…
Research what people actually say about any topic in the last 30 days. Installs the latest last30days skill from GitHub, walks first-run setup (ScrapeCreators via GitHub for the full…
Every week it audits all your bots' routines, flags the zombies, and keeps one dashboard of what to keep, kill, or review. It never deletes anything.
Keeps your Grok Bots inside your weekly usage budget and audits your bots and routines for things to cut, merge, or slow down. Read-only: it never changes anything without your yes.
Explains that Grok Bot can set up webhook routines and walks you through triggering them step by step. Asks which platform you want to connect.