# Grok Bot glossary: Bots, routines, skills and more

Every Grok Bot term in one plain line: Bot, Main Bot, routine, skill, Teach a task, plugin, Auto-review, weekly usage, Team Bot. With the older names too.

*From Learn Grok Bot, an independent guide (not affiliated with SpaceXAI or Cursor). Web version: https://learngrokbot.com/glossary Last verified: 2026-10-06.*

Every Grok Bot term in one line, grouped by the part of the app it belongs to, with a link to the page that teaches it. Where the app has renamed something, the entry is today's name and the older name is in the same line.

**In short**

- Type a word to find it. Older names work too, so Marketplace, Agent and Tasks lead to what the app calls them today.
- The terms sit in nine groups: Bots, jobs that repeat, apps, the computer, approvals, usage, teams, the app's screens, and names that get mixed up.
- A term in capitals, such as **Custom Rules**, is written the way the app shows it.
- Each line ends with the page that teaches the term.

## Look up a term

Type the word you met, or pick a part of the app. **Has another name** shows only the terms that older videos and the official docs call something else.

**Interactive: Grok Bot glossary: find a term**

Open it: https://learngrokbot.com/widgets/glossary-filter.html

What it does: Type a Grok Bot term, or an older name for one such as Marketplace, Agent or Tasks, or pick a part of the app, and the 63 entries narrow to the ones that match. Each entry is one line with a link to the page that teaches it. With scripts off it is the whole list in nine groups.

Its content as text:

### Which word did you meet?

Type it, or pick a part of the app. Older names work too: try Marketplace, Agent or Tasks.

Every term is listed below, grouped by the part of the app it belongs to.

#### Bots

Who does the work.

- **Grok Bot:** The app: Bots with names and jobs, working on a computer in the cloud. Some cards and older billing rows call it “sand”, its internal name. [What is Grok Bot?](https://learngrokbot.com/what-is-grok-bot)
- **Bot:** One AI teammate with a name, a job and a chat of its own. Called an Agent before 14 August 2026, and “assistant” in some Settings text today. [What a Bot is made of](https://learngrokbot.com/what-is-grok-bot#made-of)
- **Main Bot:** The one Bot marked with a star and pinned at the top. It offers to take work on and coordinates your other Bots. Called Primary Bot in the window that introduces it. [Your Main Bot](https://learngrokbot.com/multiple-bots#main-bot)
- **standing job:** What a Bot is for, every time. You send it to the Bot as a message. Earlier versions had a Description box for it, and the phone app calls it Instructions. [Tell the Bot its standing job](https://learngrokbot.com/first-bot#standing-job)
- **label:** A short tag shown beside a Bot’s name in the sidebar. Called Title, then Label (optional), in earlier versions. [Open the Bot’s details](https://learngrokbot.com/first-bot#details)
- **memory:** What a Bot keeps from its work with you, such as preferences and facts. Each Bot has its own. The app has no screen for it, so ask the Bot what it remembers. [What two Bots share](https://learngrokbot.com/shared-computer#whats-shared)
- **New chat:** The + button at the top of the sidebar, for a new Bot, a group chat or a fresh chat. Called New in the official docs. [Click New chat](https://learngrokbot.com/first-bot#new-chat)
- **fresh chat:** A second, empty conversation with a Bot you already have. The first chat keeps its history. [Start a fresh chat for each task](https://learngrokbot.com/usage-running-out#fresh-chat)
- **group chat:** One conversation with two to six of your Bots. Called a channel in earlier versions. [Put Bots in a group chat](https://learngrokbot.com/multiple-bots#group-chats)
- **Bot-to-Bot message:** A message one Bot sends another to hand off work. It shows as a grey **Messaged** line, and it counts toward your usage. [When Bots message each other](https://learngrokbot.com/multiple-bots#bot-to-bot)
- **chief of staff:** A common name for a Bot that coordinates your other Bots. [The chief of staff pattern](https://learngrokbot.com/chief-of-staff)
- **template:** A copy of someone’s Bot that you add from a link. Its instructions, routines and skills come with it. Logins, files and chat history don’t. To share your own, the share button reads **Create a copy**, called Share as template in earlier versions. [Start from a template](https://learngrokbot.com/use-cases#templates)

#### Jobs that repeat

Routines and skills.

Diagram: Teach a task saves a skill. A skill holds how a job is done. A routine says when a Bot does a job, and it can run a skill.

saves
can run
Teach a task
skill
routine
how
when

A skill holds how a job is done. A routine says when a Bot does it.

- **routine:** Tells one Bot when to do a job: on a schedule, or when something happens. You ask for one in chat. Listed under Tasks in an earlier version, and called an automation in the official docs. [Routines](https://learngrokbot.com/routines)
- **trigger:** The event that starts a routine in place of a schedule, such as a Slack message, an email or a webhook call. [Pick how often it runs](https://learngrokbot.com/routines#how-often)
- **Instruction and When to run:** The two parts of a routine’s page: what the Bot does, and the schedule or event that starts it. [Check Instruction and When to run](https://learngrokbot.com/routines#check-schedule)
- **Test run:** A button on a routine’s page in earlier versions, called Test in the help center. The app has no such button today: ask the Bot to run the routine now. [Where is the Test button?](https://learngrokbot.com/routines#where-is-the-test-button)
- **skill:** Saved instructions for how to do a task, shared by all your Bots. Type `/` in the message box to use one. The app lists yours as **Private skills**. [Skills](https://learngrokbot.com/skills)
- **Teach a task:** Showing a Bot a task once on its computer. It records what you do, for up to ten minutes, and saves a draft skill. On desktop only. [Teach the task, then run the skill](https://learngrokbot.com/skills#teach)

#### Apps

Plugins, and where you add them.

- **plugin:** A connection that signs a Bot in to an app such as Gmail or Slack, so the Bot works there directly. The official docs, and the badge on a plugin’s own page, say connector. [What a plugin gives a Bot](https://learngrokbot.com/plugins#what)
- **Connect Apps:** The window where you add plugins. The **Connect apps** button at the bottom of the sidebar opens it. Called Plugins, then Marketplace, in earlier versions. [Connect a plugin](https://learngrokbot.com/plugins#connect)
- **Manage plugins and skills:** The list of plugins you’ve added. Click the **connected** count in Connect Apps. Older guides point to a Plugins page in Settings, which the app doesn’t have. [Check that the plugin says Connected](https://learngrokbot.com/plugins#connected)
- **Added, Needs auth, Connected:** A plugin’s three states: installed, waiting for your sign-in, and signed in. [Fix Needs auth](https://learngrokbot.com/plugins#needs-auth)
- **Tools:** The row on a connected plugin’s page with one switch for each action the plugin can take. [Keep a plugin working](https://learngrokbot.com/plugins#manage)
- **MCP server:** A connection some apps and companies offer for AI tools. You add one by sending its address to a Bot. [Add a custom MCP server](https://learngrokbot.com/plugins#custom-mcp)
- **draft card:** The card that holds an email or a Slack message a Bot has written. Nothing goes out until you click **Send email** or **Send message**. [Keep every send in your hands](https://learngrokbot.com/gmail#drafts)

#### The computer

Where your Bots do their work.

Diagram: Two Bots, each with an arrow to the same computer in the middle.

Bot
the computer
Bot

Every Bot on your account works on the same one.

- **the computer:** One computer in the cloud, with a browser, files and a terminal, shared by every Bot on your account. Settings calls it **Grok Bot’s Computer**, the official docs Agent Computer and the phone app Bot Computer. [One computer, shared by every Bot](https://learngrokbot.com/shared-computer#one-computer)
- **Computer:** The tab in a Bot’s details panel that shows the Bot’s screen. Click the tile to open it. [Open the Bot’s computer](https://learngrokbot.com/shared-computer#open)
- **Take over:** The button on a **Computer** card marked **Action needed**. You do one step in the Bot’s browser, such as a sign-in, then hand the computer back. [Click Take over when a Bot asks](https://learngrokbot.com/shared-computer#take-over)
- **Secure Form:** A card that reads **Sign in to** and a site’s name. It opens the site’s sign-in fields inside the app and fills what you type into the site’s page. [Fill in a Secure Form](https://learngrokbot.com/shared-computer#secure-form)
- **Update, Recover, Reset:** Three ways to rebuild the computer, from the gentlest to the last resort. Your Bots, files and saved logins survive all three. Installed apps and packages may not. [Update or reset the computer](https://learngrokbot.com/shared-computer#update-reset)
- **`/workspace`:** The folder on the computer where your Bots keep files that should last. [Three mistakes with the shared computer](https://learngrokbot.com/shared-computer#mistakes)
- **Disk Saver:** A Bot that suggests what to clean up when the app says **Computer is low on disk space**. [How big is Grok Bot’s computer?](https://learngrokbot.com/shared-computer#how-big-is-grok-bots-computer)
- **Execution on this computer:** The setting that lets Bots open files and run tasks on your own computer. Called Execution on Local Computer in earlier versions. [Your own computer has a separate setting](https://learngrokbot.com/approvals#own-computer)
- **Route traffic through this computer:** The setting that sends a Bot’s browsing out through your own desktop, for sites that turn a cloud computer away. Called Route egress through this desktop in the official docs. [Route the Bot’s browsing](https://learngrokbot.com/logins-and-captchas#route)

#### Approvals

What a Bot asks before it acts.

- **Auto-review:** The switch that has Grok Bot check each action before it runs and ask you first when needed. Written Auto Review in the official docs. [What a Bot does without asking](https://learngrokbot.com/approvals#default)
- **approval card:** The card a Bot posts when an action needs your OK, tagged **Needs approval**. The official docs call it Review an action, and earlier versions headed it Auto-review Paused This Action. [Answer an approval card](https://learngrokbot.com/approvals#card)
- **Allow once, Always allow, Deny:** The three answers on an approval card. **Always allow** can also save a rule. [Choose Deny, Allow once or Always allow](https://learngrokbot.com/approvals#choose)
- **Custom Rules:** The rules you write under Auto-review, one short sentence for each action. Called Auto-review Rules in earlier versions, the help center and the phone app. [Write a rule of your own](https://learngrokbot.com/approvals#write-a-rule)
- **Allow automatically:** One of the two kinds of rule. The action runs without a card, unless Auto-review finds another reason to stop it. [Describe the action](https://learngrokbot.com/approvals#add-rule)
- **Ask first:** The other kind of rule. The Bot stops for your approval before that action. When both kinds match, Ask first wins. [Describe the action and choose Ask first](https://learngrokbot.com/approvals#add-rule)
- **Expired:** What an approval card reads when nobody answers it for about 10 minutes. The action doesn’t run. [Approvals that arrive while you’re away](https://learngrokbot.com/approvals#expired)
- **question card:** A card with lettered answers and **Type your own answer**, which a Bot uses to ask you something. It approves nothing. [Answer the Bot’s first question](https://learngrokbot.com/first-bot#first-question)

#### Usage and plans

What you pay for, and how it’s counted.

Diagram: Weekly usage comes with your plan. When the week runs out, on-demand usage takes over, if you have turned it on.

when the week runs out
weekly usage
on-demand usage
comes with your plan
billed through Cursor

On-demand usage starts only after the week runs out, and only if you’ve turned it on.

- **weekly usage:** The usage that comes with your plan, shown as a percent that resets every week. Earlier versions showed the plan’s name or Trial usage on the same row. [Usage limits](https://learngrokbot.com/usage-limits)
- **on-demand usage:** Extra usage after the week runs out, billed through Cursor. On an individual plan it stays off until you turn it on. [Turn on on-demand usage, with a cap](https://learngrokbot.com/usage-limits#on-demand)
- **On-demand monthly limit:** The cap on on-demand usage for the month: **None**, **Fixed** or **Unlimited**. On the web the same cap is **Spending**, **Monthly Limit**. [Turn on on-demand usage](https://learngrokbot.com/usage-limits#on-demand)
- **Usage & Billing:** The page in Settings that shows both meters. [Where to see your usage](https://learngrokbot.com/usage-limits#see)
- **SuperGrok and X Premium+:** Subscriptions on the Grok and X side that include Grok Bot once you link one to a Cursor account. SuperGrok Lite doesn’t. [What does each plan cost?](https://learngrokbot.com/pricing#plans)
- **link:** Joining a SuperGrok or X Premium+ subscription to a Cursor account, with **Link Grok Account** or **Link X Account**. A link can’t be undone. [A link is permanent](https://learngrokbot.com/pricing#link)
- **free trial:** A credit of usage for an account with no plan, with a 7-day window. It never turns into a paid plan. [What the free trial is](https://learngrokbot.com/free-trial#trial)
- **Cloud Agent:** Cursor’s coding agent. A Bot can hand coding work to one, and that work is counted on your Cursor plan. [What spends which meter?](https://learngrokbot.com/usage-limits#meter)

#### Teams

For a company on Cursor Teams or Enterprise.

- **Team Bot:** One Bot a whole team talks to. Its owner sets it up and publishes it, and each teammate gets a chat of their own. [What a Team Bot is](https://learngrokbot.com/teams#team-bots)
- **Publish to team:** The button that makes a Team Bot show up for teammates. [Click Publish to team](https://learngrokbot.com/teams#publish-to-team)
- **Managers:** Teammates the owner lets change a Team Bot’s setup. [Who can change a Team Bot](https://learngrokbot.com/teams#who-can-change)
- **Disabled by team admin and Required by your admin:** What a plugin, the Auto-review switch or a rule reads when your Cursor team’s admin has blocked or locked it. [What an admin controls](https://learngrokbot.com/teams#admin)

#### Around the app

Screens and buttons you’ll be sent to.

- **details panel:** The panel that opens on the right when you click a Bot’s name at the top of its chat. Earlier versions had a Bot settings panel here, with a Description box. [Open the Bot’s details](https://learngrokbot.com/first-bot#details)
- **Details:** The first tab of the details panel. It lists the Bot’s routines, each with a switch. Called Tasks in an earlier version. [Pause or delete a routine](https://learngrokbot.com/routines#pause)
- **Library:** The tab that lists the pages, files and apps a Bot has made. Called Media in earlier versions. [Open the Bot’s details](https://learngrokbot.com/first-bot#details)
- **Settings:** Four pages: **General**, **Computer**, **Usage & Billing** and **Updates**. Plugins have no page here. [Open Settings and find the Bot section](https://learngrokbot.com/approvals#open-settings)
- **voice input and voice chat:** Two buttons in the message box. The microphone types what you say, and the waveform starts a spoken conversation with the Bot. [Type, dictate or talk](https://learngrokbot.com/first-bot#voice)

#### Names that get mixed up

Close to Grok Bot, and different things.

- **Grok:** SpaceXAI’s chat app. A different app from Grok Bot, with limits of its own. [Which is which](https://learngrokbot.com/what-is-grok-bot#names)
- **Cursor:** An app for writing code with AI, and the company behind it. Grok Bot runs on Cursor’s accounts, billing and cloud computers. [Is Grok Bot just Cursor?](https://learngrokbot.com/what-is-grok-bot#just-cursor)
- **SpaceXAI:** The company that announces Grok Bot and writes its documentation. Cursor’s help center still writes xAI. [Is Grok Bot just Cursor?](https://learngrokbot.com/what-is-grok-bot#just-cursor)
- **@bot and @grok:** @bot is Grok Bot’s own account on X. @grok is an account that replies to posts, and it isn’t Grok Bot. [Which is which](https://learngrokbot.com/what-is-grok-bot#names)

## Check: which word is it today?

Videos from August and September use names the app has since changed. File each of these six under what it's called now.

**Sort it: A tutorial from the app's first weeks uses these six words. Which thing does each one mean today?**

Answer:
- Agent → Bot (The app said Agent until 14 August 2026. The thing itself didn't change.)
- assistant → Bot (Some text in Settings still says "your assistants". It means your Bots.)
- Tasks → routine (An earlier version listed a Bot's routines on a tab named Tasks. The tab is now **Details**.)
- automation → routine (The official docs' word for a routine.)
- Marketplace → Connect Apps (The earlier name of the window where you add plugins. On the web, the name now belongs to the gallery of Bot templates.)
- Plugins → Connect Apps (The button's first name, at the bottom of the sidebar. It reads **Connect apps** now.)

New to all of it? Start with what a Bot is.

**Next:** [What is Grok Bot?](https://learngrokbot.com/what-is-grok-bot)

Grok Bot gives you named AI Bots that each keep a job, work on a shared cloud computer and come back when they need you. Made by SpaceXAI, runs on Cursor.

### Is there a Grok Bot marketplace or directory of Bots?

Yes, on the web. Bot templates are listed at x.ai/bot/marketplace, in nine categories, and each one adds a copy of someone's Bot to your app. Inside the app, Marketplace was the earlier name of **Connect Apps**, which lists plugins. [Start from a template](https://learngrokbot.com/use-cases#templates) shows what a template brings with it.

### What is Grok Bot Galaxy?

A 72-hour livestream held from 15 to 17 September 2026 in San Francisco, in which three SpaceXAI engineers set out to build a startup with Bots.

- 2026-10-06: First published.

## Sources

- [SpaceXAI docs: Grok Bot (overview)](https://docs.x.ai/grok-bot/overview)
- [SpaceXAI docs: Create and manage Bots (what a Bot is, memory, templates)](https://docs.x.ai/grok-bot/bots)
- [SpaceXAI docs: Skills and routines](https://docs.x.ai/grok-bot/skills-routines-and-automations)
- [SpaceXAI docs: Use the computer and apps (the computer, plugins and connectors)](https://docs.x.ai/grok-bot/computer-and-apps)
- [SpaceXAI docs: Approvals, security, and privacy](https://docs.x.ai/grok-bot/approvals-security-and-privacy)
- [SpaceXAI docs: Message and collaborate (group chats, drafts, voice)](https://docs.x.ai/grok-bot/chat-and-collaboration)
- [SpaceXAI docs: Team Bots](https://docs.x.ai/grok-bot/team-bots)
- [Cursor Help Center: Plans and billing (the usage names, the trial)](https://cursor.com/help/grok-bot/plans)
- [Cursor Help Center: Link SuperGrok for Grok Bot](https://cursor.com/help/grok-bot/supergrok)
- [Cursor Help Center: Grok Bot How Tos (plugin states, approvals that expire, admin locks)](https://cursor.com/help/grok-bot/how-to)
- [Cursor Help Center: Routines](https://cursor.com/help/grok-bot/routines)
- [Cursor Help Center: Group chats and Bot-to-Bot messages](https://cursor.com/help/grok-bot/group-chats)
- [Cursor Help Center: Grok Bot computer (Update, Recover, Reset)](https://cursor.com/help/grok-bot/computer-recovery)
- [Cursor Help Center: Grok Bot FAQs (Grok and Grok Bot are two apps)](https://cursor.com/help/grok-bot/faqs)
- [Cursor Help Center: Team Bots](https://cursor.com/help/grok-bot/team-bots)
- [SpaceXAI: Grok Bot changelog (the renames: v0.19.0, v0.60.0, v0.63.0, v0.66.0)](https://x.ai/changelog/bot)
- [SpaceXAI: Grok Bot Marketplace (Bot templates)](https://x.ai/bot/marketplace)
- [Parameter: the Grok Bot Galaxy livestream](https://parameter.io/spacexai-team-launches-72-hour-live-startup-challenge-powered-by-grok-bot-agents/)