Issue 2026-11-04: GrokBot's cloud computer and connected apps

#What this issue covers

The first three issues covered splitting up work, running it on a schedule, and saving methods as skills. All of that ends up running in one place: your Bots' cloud computer.

According to the official docs, your Bots work from a persistent cloud computer with a browser, command line, and filesystem. Work continues while your laptop is closed, and files, sign-ins, and browser sessions persist between tasks. Once you understand how the computer is shared, when to use a connected app versus the browser, and how sensitive steps get handed off, a lot of "why is my Bot stuck again" moments go away.

#Five tips you can use today

Each tip comes with an example prompt. Replace the parts in brackets with your own and send it to your Bot.

#Tip 1: Treat "one shared computer" as a given

The official docs are clear: every Bot on your account uses the same computer.

Browser

Cookies and signed-in sessions are shared

Files

Visible to every Bot

Command-line credentials

Shared too

Handoffs

One Bot can continue from work another Bot saved

The upside is that handoffs need no repeated setup. Notes Research Bot saved are right there for Writer Bot. The trade-off is that the computer belongs to your account, not to one Bot. The docs advise: don't put a credential or file on it if another Bot on your account shouldn't be able to use it.

Each Bot gets its own screen on the shared computer, so several Bots can use browser and desktop tools in parallel, though one Bot can run only one computer-use task on its screen at a time. The screens are separate work surfaces, not separate security boundaries.

For files, the docs recommend keeping durable project files in the shared workspace, in clear project folders. Treat temporary directories and manually installed packages as replaceable, and copy important results into the workspace or attach them to the conversation.

Please tidy up the files on your computer related to [project name]:
1. List files sitting in temporary directories that look like they should be kept;
2. Suggest a clear project folder structure and where each one goes;
3. If you find keys, credentials, or anything else that shouldn't sit on a shared computer, tell me where it is without opening it.
Show me the plan first. Move things only after I confirm.

#Tip 2: Use an app when there is one, the browser when there isn't

Connected apps give a Bot a structured way to work with services like Gmail, Notion, and Slack. The docs say they're more reliable than clicking through a website when one exists. Use the browser for services without an app, or for visual workflows an app doesn't expose.

Connecting one starts from the sidebar:

1. Open Connect apps
   Open Connect apps from the sidebar, or follow an in-chat Connect card. On mobile, tap your avatar at the top left and choose Connect apps.
2. Find and add it
   Browse or search for the app, then add it.
3. Finish signing in
   When Grok Bot asks you to Authorize or Authenticate, finish the provider login in your browser.
4. Stuck? Try again
   If sign-in doesn't finish, choose Reconnect on the app, or Reopen on the in-chat card.
5. Confirm it's installed
   Check that the app appears under Installed.

Two things trip people up. First, Added means the app is installed, not that you're signed in. If a Bot says an app is missing, open the app and choose Authenticate if it shows Needs auth or Disconnected. Second, a connected app is available to every Bot you run, and in chat you can type @ to attach the app to a task.

You can also ask a Bot to do it, for example "Add the Linear app." It searches the catalog, installs the app on your account, shows a Connect card when you need to sign in, and the app's tools are ready from your next message.

The next piece of work needs [service name]. Before starting, please check:
1. Is there a connected app for it? If so, add it and show me a card if I need to sign in;
2. If there's no app, tell me which steps you plan to do in the browser;
3. List what the app can and can't do.
Don't write or send anything to this service until I confirm.

#Tip 3: Let sign-ins go through the secure flow, and take over only the blocked step

Per the official docs, a Bot signs in to a website in a set order. It uses a login saved in Vault first, then a connected password manager such as 1Password, then asks you with a Secure Form. Values from Vault and the Secure Form are filled into the page without the Bot seeing them.

When a form can't do the step, the Bot hands the computer to you:

Single sign-on or a passkey

Needs you in person

A CAPTCHA it couldn't get past

The Bot tried and failed

An approval on another device or a QR code

Such as tapping approve on your phone

A bank card verification

An extra check at payment

A site that explicitly requires a human

Follow the site's rules

Open the computer, take control, complete only the blocked step, and tell the Bot to continue. Browser sessions persist and are shared across your Bots, so once you've signed in for one Bot, the others usually won't need to sign in again.

Next you'll sign in to [site name] to do [task]. Please:
1. Use a saved login or the connected password manager first. If there isn't one, ask me with a Secure Form; never ask me to send a password in chat;
2. If you hit single sign-on, a passkey, a QR code, or a CAPTCHA you can't get past, stop and tell me exactly which step is blocked so I can take over;
3. If a session expires or asks for verification again, pause and notify me instead of trying to work around it.

#Tip 4: Give your Bots their own email address

You can claim one address at mail.grokbot.com for your Bots to use. With it, a Bot can sign up for services with its own address and pick up the verification code or link with your OK, collect receipts, newsletters, and reports and summarize them, draft email for you, and run a routine when email arrives.

The easiest way to claim one is to say "Get yourself an email address." The Bot asks what name you want, checks that it's free, and shows an approval card; nothing is claimed until you approve. A few rules worth knowing:

Only one

One address per account. You can't rename or delete it, and addresses are never reissued

Plus aliases

Mail to name+label lands in the same inbox, so each service can get its own alias. A routine watching an alias runs only for mail sent to that alias

No inbox view

There are no new-mail notifications either. Ask a Bot, "What arrived in your inbox today?"

Mail doesn't wake a Bot

To act on it, set up a routine that watches for mail. By default it runs only for senders that pass standard email authentication checks

Sending has a gate

Email from a routine, or from a turn you didn't start with that request, waits as a draft until you press Send. There's no option for unattended sending

An alias is a label, not a lock: anyone can write to it. Keep a sender filter on a routine that should act only for certain senders. Bots also treat email from other people as information, not instructions.

Please help me plan how to use your email address:
1. I'll use it to sign up for [service one] and [service two]. Give each one a plus alias and show me a table;
2. Set up a routine for [service one]'s billing emails that only handles mail from [sender or domain] and sends me a one-line summary of each;
3. Any reply or outgoing email stays a draft until I confirm.
Show me the plan first. Start only after I confirm.

#Tip 5: When the computer can't be reached, start with the gentlest fix

Computer controls live under Settings → Computer, with three actions: Update, Recover, and Reset. The official order is to start with the least destructive option:

1. Wait, then retry
   If it says Reconnecting or Couldn't Reach Grok Bot's Computer, wait, then choose Retry or reopen the conversation. Bots, files, and logins are safe while it reconnects. Don't Reset now.
2. Quit and reopen
   Fully quit Grok Bot, reopen it, and check for an app update. On a Mac, choose Quit from the menu bar rather than just closing the window.
3. Update
   Use Update Bot's Computer in Settings if an update is offered.
4. Recover
   If it still can't reconnect, or an update looks stuck, use Recover. It saves what it can, then builds a new computer from your saved data.
5. Reset last
   Use Reset only after all of the above.

Don't start a second Update or Reset while one is already running; repeated resets can interrupt a restore that is still finishing. Conversations are stored outside the computer, so they survive even a reset, but installed apps and packages may need reinstalling. If Bots recently disappeared or saving failed, the docs say to contact support before you use Recover or Reset.

Your computer couldn't be reached for a while and it's back now. Please check:
1. Are the files for [project or task] still there?
2. Which tools or dependencies you installed earlier need to be reinstalled?
3. Which websites I need to sign in to again?
Just give me a list and suggestions. Ask me before reinstalling anything or signing in again.

#Limits you should know

1. Apps don't raise access
   A connected app uses the account you authorized. It can do only what that account can already do, can't raise your access, and can't change sharing.
2. App tokens stay off the computer
   OAuth tokens are held on the connector backend, and the Bot invokes tools without receiving them.
3. Team policy wins
   An app blocked by your team's policy shows Disabled by team admin. Ask your admin to enable it.
4. Public X needs no connection
   Bots can search and read what's public on X, read-only. Your DMs, bookmarks, and home timeline need the X plugin and an X sign-in.
5. Your local computer is separate
   The cloud computer is separate from the one in front of you. A Bot runs commands on your local computer only when that's enabled and you approve it, with Ask every time as the default.

#Case study: a newsletter team on one shared computer

Continuing the fictional lineup from earlier issues (not anyone's real setup): a small team publishes a weekly newsletter and maintains a side-project app. This time they sorted out which apps and sign-ins each Bot needs:

#Highlight: sign in once, the whole team benefits

A research site Reviewer Bot checks sources on can only be used through the browser. It asked you once with a Secure Form, the signed-in session stayed in the shared browser, and later, when Research Bot needed the same site, it could open it without asking you again.

It cuts both ways: because sign-ins are shared, don't sign in on this computer to any account you don't want every Bot to use.

You're this team's Planner Bot. Please take stock of the services Research Bot, Writer Bot, Reviewer Bot, and Builder Bot each use.
Give me a table: service, whether a connected app exists, whether it's used through the app or the browser today, how it signs in, and whether it's fine for every Bot to share.
Mark where the browser could be replaced by a connected app. Plan only; don't install or sign in to anything.

#Community picks: common ways to use the computer and apps

Here are a few common, easy-to-start ideas. They're general, so swap in your own details.

#One Bot downloads, another processes

Because files live on the shared computer, one Bot can download a report into the project folder and another can pick it up to clean and chart it, with no handoff through you.

#One email alias per service

Sign up for each service with its own plus alias, then put a routine with a sender filter on the alias you care about. Receipts and bills get summarized by category.

#Ask "is there an app?" first

Before new work starts, have the Bot check whether each service it needs has a connected app. The app parts are steadier, and the browser is saved for where it's really needed.

#Spell out the takeover steps

In a skill or routine, say: on single sign-on, a CAPTCHA, or a QR code, stop and notify me instead of retrying. When it gets stuck, you'll know at a glance what to do.

#A checklist for after the computer acts up

After a Recover or Update, have the Bot check project files, dependencies to reinstall, and sites to sign in to again. It beats finding out when the next task fails.

#Further reading

Share your own setups on X (remove anything private first) with #StudyGrokBot. The best ones will be featured in future issues.

#Exercise for this issue

Spend 15 minutes sorting out the apps and sign-ins your Bots use.

1. Take stock
   Ask a Bot to list the services used by the work you've given it lately.
2. Switch to apps
   For services with a connected app, add it and authenticate as in Tip 2.
3. Check sign-ins
   Make sure no password went through chat; use the secure secret card wherever a secret is needed.
4. Clean up
   Move off the computer any credentials and files that shouldn't be shared by every Bot.
5. Remember the order
   Save the order from Tip 5 so you know what to do next time the computer can't be reached.

#Past issues and what's next

Past issues

Issue 2026-11-03: Turning your work into reusable GrokBot skills

Tomorrow

Stay tuned for the next issue

Repository

https://github.com/Licoy/study-grokbot

Study GrokBot: GrokBot teaches you how to use GrokBot, updating daily with various GrokBot tips and tricks, as well as creations and gameplay shared by experts.