How to build a Grok Bot from a written spec
No share link, just a setup guide. Paste the pieces into a new Bot in the right order and test before you trust it.
Last reviewed August 30, 2026
A Grok Bot template can arrive two ways. One is a share link you open and add in a click (covered in how to install a Grok Bot template). The other is a written spec: a block of instructions, one or more skills, a routine or two, and a note on what to connect. This is how you turn that spec into a working Bot.
It takes longer than a link, but you end up understanding every part of the Bot, which matters when something needs adjusting later.
What you need
The Grok Bot desktop app (macOS or Windows) or the iOS companion, on an eligible plan. The spec itself: the instructions text, the skill text, the routine text, and the list of connectors with the access level each one needs. If the template is a paid bundle, that is the SETUP.md plus any scripts and MCP configuration.
Step 1 — Create the Bot and paste its instructions
In the app, create a new Bot and name it what the spec calls it. Open its settings and paste the instructions block as the Bot's instructions verbatim. This is its job description: the lane it owns and the work it refuses.
Step 2 — Add the connectors
Go through the spec's connector list. For each one, add it from Settings and grant only the access level listed (read, draft-only, write). Sign in to the account the Bot will use. Where a service supports it, use a dedicated account with the smallest useful role, and prefer read-only while you are still testing.
Step 3 — Save each skill
For every skill in the spec, send the Bot the "Save this as a skill called …" text exactly as written. A good skill states when to use it, the inputs and access it needs, the sequence of steps, how to validate the result, what to return, and what needs approval. Confirm the skill was saved before moving on.
Step 4 — Create the routines
For each routine, send the "Create a routine: …" text. Confirm the owning Bot, the schedule and time zone, the input source, the expected output, the approval boundary, and what should happen when a source is missing. The routine runs in the background even when your devices are off, so the approval boundary is doing real work.
Step 5 — Install the parts that don't paste
If the bundle includes scripts or a custom MCP server, put them on the Bot's cloud computer following the bundle's notes. The Bot cannot run a routine that depends on a script that isn't there.
Step 6 — First run, together
Do one real task with the Bot end to end. Correct it as it goes, and each time you steer it, have it write the correction into the relevant skill rather than just fixing the one output. Give it two or three examples of work you'd accept and one you'd reject. Keep approval on for anything that sends, buys, deletes, publishes, or changes a production system until you trust it.
Frequently asked
- Why not just paste one giant prompt?
- Skills and routines are separate objects in Grok Bot. Pasting them individually is what makes them reusable across your Bots and editable later. One giant prompt gives you none of that.
- The spec lists a connector I don't use. Skip it?
- Only if the skill that needs it isn't one you'll run. Otherwise the Bot will stall when that skill fires. Swap in an equivalent connector and update the skill's steps to match.
- Can I share the Bot I built this way?
- Yes. Once it works, open its settings and Share as template, then publish it privately to your team or publicly and copy the link.