Guide · updated
How to set up a Grok Bot routine that runs on its own
A routine tells one of your Bots to do a job on its own, either on a schedule or when something happens, like a new email, a Slack message or a webhook call. Routines run in the cloud, so they keep working while your laptop is closed. Here is how to set one up and check it works, based on the official help pages.
How do I set up a routine?
- Open a chat with the Bot that should do the job.
- Say what it should do and when, in plain words. For example: "Every weekday at 9:00 AM, summarize new support tickets in this chat."
- The Bot creates the routine. On desktop, click the Bot's name at the top of the chat and look under Routines on the Details tab.
- Open the routine and read When to run. It shows the saved schedule in words, so you can confirm it matches what you meant.
- Choose Test to run it once right away. A test does real work, so give it a safe input. The result shows up in the Bot's chat.
- To change it later, open the routine and choose Edit, then tell the Bot what should change. Use the switch on the row to pause or resume it.
Questions
Does a new routine run as soon as I create it?
No. It waits for its next scheduled time. If you set up "every day at 8:00 AM" at 8:05, the first run is tomorrow. Use Test to try it now.
Which time zone does the schedule use?
The one in Settings under Bot, labeled Timezone. Auto-detect follows your computer. Pick a fixed zone if the routine should follow a different place, such as your office.
Can I set up routines from my phone?
Yes. Open the Bot's profile and tap Add routine under Routines, then finish the sentence that starts "Set up a routine to". On the phone you can also see each routine's next run and its run history.
What can start a routine besides a schedule?
An email to your Bot's own address, a Slack message (a mention, a word or phrase, a reaction, or any message), events from GitHub, Linear, Sentry or PagerDuty, or a webhook call.
How do webhook triggers work?
Ask the Bot to add a webhook trigger, then open the routine on desktop. The Webhook section shows the URL to POST to and a key that senders put in an Authorization: Bearer header. A 200 response means the run started, not that it finished. Check the Bot's chat for the result.
Why hasn't my routine run?
Check that it isn't Paused (on the phone, that Active is on), that When to run shows the schedule you expect in the right time zone, and that a new schedule isn't simply waiting for its first time. For Slack, only new messages in the watched channel that match the phrase count.
Do routines use up my usage?
Yes. Every run spends usage, and so does Test. An hourly schedule or a trigger on a busy Slack channel can use a week of usage in a day. Keep schedules as wide and triggers as narrow as the job allows.
How do I delete a routine?
On desktop, open it and choose the trash icon (Delete routine) and confirm. On the phone, swipe the routine's row. Deleting stops future runs and can't be undone; pausing is the safer choice if you might need it again.