Grok Bot Routines: Set Up Your First One In 6 Steps (2026)

Grok Bot routines tell one Bot to run a saved workflow by itself, on a clock or when an event fires, and you build them by typing a plain request in chat.

The official skills and routines docs list the starting events: a schedule, Slack, email, a webhook call, GitHub, Linear, Sentry and PagerDuty.

Each Bot holds up to 50 routines, and scheduled runs sit at least five minutes apart.

This is the exact order I'd follow to get the first one live without burning usage or firing off anything you didn't approve.

If you want my team to map which jobs in your business should become routines, book a free SEO strategy session and we'll go through it with you.

The two building blocks: a skill first, then a routine

Grok Bot splits repeat work into two parts.

A skill is the method: the steps, the decision rules, the output format and the safety lines.

A routine is the timing: which Bot runs that method, and when.

The Grok Bot FAQ says to test the skill on a real one-time task before you turn it into a routine.

Skip that and you end up automating a process that never worked by hand.

Step 1: run the job once in a normal chat

Open a one-to-one chat with the Bot that will own the job.

Ask it to do the task once, right now, with real but harmless inputs.

Correct it until the output is exactly what you'd accept every morning.

Note where it needed a login, an app connection or a judgement call from you.

Those notes become the rules in your skill.

Step 2: save the method as a named skill

Once the run is clean, tell the Bot to save what you just did as a skill and give it a clear name.

The docs list six things a useful skill states: when to use it, the inputs and access it needs, the sequence of work, how to check the result, what to return, and what needs approval.

Private skills sit in one library that all your Bots share.

If a Bot can't see one, open Connect apps in the sidebar, select the connected count and switch the skill on under Private skills.

Where Teach a task shows up, you can demonstrate a browser workflow for up to ten minutes instead of writing it out.

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Step 3: write the routine request with six answers in it

Ask the owning Bot for the routine in one message.

The docs tell you to confirm six things before it saves: the owning Bot, the schedule and time zone, the input source, the expected result, the approval boundary, and what happens if a source is missing.

Here's the shape I'd use for a reporting job:

Every weekday at 8:00 AM, run the "Daily pipeline check" skill
against the current deals sheet. Post a linked summary in this chat.
Do not email anyone. If the sheet can't be opened, report the
failure instead of using yesterday's data.

Since v0.70.2 on 11 October 2026, the Grok Bot changelog says the Bot sums up what a routine does and who receives the result after you save it.

Read that summary line by line.

If any of the six answers is missing, fix it before the first run.

Step 4: pick the trigger that matches the job

Choose the narrowest trigger that still catches the work.

Trigger	What starts a run	Setup note
Schedule	A time you describe, like every weekday at 8:00 AM or every 2 hours	Uses the Bot time zone in Settings
Slack	A Bot mention, a word or phrase, a reaction, or any message	Watch one channel, not all of Slack
Email	Mail to the Bot's own address or an alias	Filter by sender or domain
Webhook	An HTTP POST with the routine's key	Optional JSON body is passed in
GitHub, Linear, Sentry, PagerDuty	A new event in that service	Account integration may need its own connection

Event triggers only count new activity.

Anything that happened before the trigger existed never starts a run.

Step 5: set the time zone and read When to run

Schedules follow the Timezone setting under Bot in Settings.

Auto-detect follows the computer you're on, so pick a fixed zone if the job belongs to an office somewhere else.

After the Bot saves the routine, open it and check When to run, which shows the saved schedule in words.

If it reads wrong, press Edit and tell the Bot what to change.

The v0.78.1 release on 27 October 2026 fixed routines made in a new Bot's first chat so they run in your time zone instead of UTC.

Step 6: press Test before you trust it

A new scheduled routine waits for its next slot.

Set a daily 8:00 AM job at 8:05 and the first run lands tomorrow.

Press Test on desktop to run it now; the button reads Running… and the result appears in the Bot's chat.

Treat that test as live: it can browse sites, change files and call connected tools.

Feed it safe inputs and keep every write action behind approval.

Some routines don't show Test at all, so run the same work once in chat and then watch the first scheduled run.

Wiring a webhook trigger from your own stack

Ask the Bot to add a webhook trigger, then open the routine on desktop.

The Webhook section gives you three fields: POST to, key and header.

Senders pass the key as a bearer token in the Authorization header.

Here's a minimal call you can drop into a form handler or a script:

curl -X POST "<POST to URL>" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <key>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"lead":"Jane","source":"contact form"}'

A 200 response means Grok Bot accepted the call and started a run.

It doesn't mean the job finished, so check the Bot's chat for the result.

Any other response means no run started: confirm the routine isn't paused and that the key is current.

Since v0.75.2, the webhook menu shows the URL and key, with the key hidden until you reveal it.

📞 Not sure which of your processes should run on a webhook? Book a free SEO strategy session and my team will walk through your lead flow and the jobs worth automating first. → Get your free strategy session

Slack and email triggers: keep the filter tight

A Slack trigger belongs to the routine, not to the Slack app.

Connect Slack on the account that owns the Bot before you rely on it.

Pair one channel with one phrase, like #support plus "needs repro".

An every-message listener in a lively channel fires constantly, and each of those runs costs usage for chatter the Bot had no reason to touch.

Since v0.77.0, Slack routines that listen for messages can see images on the message that started them.

For email, the computer and apps docs say a routine can watch mail from anyone, from named addresses, or from a whole domain such as *@example.com.

By default it only fires for senders that pass standard email authentication checks.

Routines can't filter by subject, so use an alias instead: a routine on an alias runs only for mail sent to it.

An alias is a label, not a lock, so keep a sender filter on any routine that acts for specific people.

The limits I design around

Limit	Value	Source
Routines per Bot	50	Skills and routines docs
Gap between scheduled runs	At least 5 minutes	Skills and routines docs
Run records kept per routine	20 most recent	Skills and routines docs
All routines together	300 runs an hour	v0.75.5, 23 Oct 2026 (was 100)
One routine	200 runs an hour	v0.75.5, 23 Oct 2026

A run past either hourly cap fails with Automation run rate limit exceeded.

That failed run isn't retried for you, so rerun it with Test or resend the webhook call.

The docs also flag a known issue: a shared limit across all Grok Bot routines can trip this error even when yours run less often.

Every run spends usage, and the docs say an hourly schedule or a busy Slack trigger can use a week of usage in a day.

Managing routines on desktop and phone

On desktop, click the Bot's name at the top of the chat and open the Details tab.

Each row shows the routine name and its timing, or Paused, with a switch to pause or resume.

Open one to see its Instruction and When to run, plus Pause, Test, Edit and the trash icon for Delete routine.

Right-clicking a routine gives you the same actions.

On the phone, the Bot's profile lists Routines with Active, Schedule, Next run, Instruction and Run history.

Deleting a routine can't be undone, and deleting a Bot removes every routine it owns.

When a routine doesn't fire

Run down this list in order:

The routine isn't paused, or Active is on in the phone app.
When to run shows the trigger you expect, in the right time zone.
A brand-new schedule is still waiting for its first slot.
For Slack, the message is new, in the watched channel, and matches the phrase.
For a webhook, the call returned 200 and used the current key.

Since v0.75.2, a routine that hits a signed-out connector shows a Reconnect card in chat at most once a day.

Since v0.71.2, a routine that needs a site login asks you in chat at that step.

Guardrails before anything runs unattended

Automate preparation before execution: drafts, reconciliations and recommendations first.

Require approval for sending, buying, deleting, publishing and changes to production systems.

Per the approvals docs, email from a routine waits as a draft until you press Send.

An approval card raised by a routine expires after 30 minutes, so answer it fast or rerun the job.

Add a no-data rule, make retries safe to repeat, and re-test after any source changes format.

🔥 Run scheduled agent jobs on a stack you control too Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get the Agent OS installer, video walkthroughs for scheduled and event-driven jobs, four live coaching calls a week and a community of 3,400+ operators. → Get inside the AI Profit Boardroom

Which plans include routines

Under The X Subscription, Grok Bot is included on Premium, Super and Ultra.

Plus doesn't include Grok Bot.

Super and Ultra give larger shared weekly allowances, which matters once several routines run every day.

On a plan without routines, the v0.77.0 release has the Bot point you to the one that has them.

If you'd like help scoping which routines are worth that usage, book a free call with my team.

Also On Our Network

FAQ: Grok Bot Routines

Why does my new Grok Bot routine not run straight away?

A new scheduled routine waits for its next slot, so a daily 8:00 AM job created at 8:05 first runs tomorrow. Press Test to run it now with safe inputs.

What does a 200 response from a routine webhook mean?

It means Grok Bot accepted the call and started a run. It does not mean the work is finished, so check the Bot's chat for the result.

How do I pass data into a webhook routine?

Send an HTTP POST to the POST to URL with the Authorization: Bearer key header and an optional JSON body. The Bot receives the body together with the routine instruction.

Can I edit a routine without rebuilding it?

Yes. Open the routine and choose Edit, which starts a chat message beginning "Edit your routine:". Type the change and send it.

What happens when a routine hits the hourly cap?

The run fails with Automation run rate limit exceeded and is not retried automatically. Rerun it with Test or resend the webhook call, and widen the schedule or narrow the trigger.

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About Julian

I'm Julian Goldie, an SEO entrepreneur, author and founder of the AI Profit Boardroom, which has 3,400+ members.

I help business owners scale with AI agents, automation and SEO.

I've built a 7-figure SEO and link building agency, Goldie Agency, with a team of 70+ SEO experts.
I've grown a YouTube channel to 400,000+ subscribers.
I wrote "Link Building Mastery".
My Udemy courses have taught over 29,000 students.

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Prove the job once, save the skill, test the routine, then switch it on: that is the whole method for Grok Bot routines, and you can book a free SEO strategy session if you want us to pick your first three.