Set a Grok Bot routine to run on a clock or when something happens
A routine tells one Bot when to run a job. It can run on a schedule or when something happens, such as a Slack message, a GitHub, Linear, Sentry or PagerDuty event, an email, or a webhook call, according to Grok Bot's help page on routines. Routines run in the cloud while your laptop is closed.
You set every routine up the same way: by asking the Bot.
1. Pick the Bot that owns the job
Ask the Bot that should do the work. Say what it should do and when. The help page's example:
Every weekday at 9:00 AM, summarize new support tickets in this chat.
The Bot creates the routine. It shows up in that Bot's routines.
2. For a schedule, say it in plain words
"Every weekday at 8:00 AM" and "every 2 hours" both work, the help page says. Schedules follow the time zone in Settings, under Bot, labeled Timezone. Auto-detect follows your computer. Pick a zone if the routine should follow a different one, such as the office where the work happens.
A new routine waits for its next scheduled time. Set up "every day at 8:00 AM" at 8:05 a.m., and the first run is tomorrow.
3. For an event, name it narrowly
Slack. A routine can start when the Bot is mentioned, when a word or phrase is mentioned, when you react to a message, or on any message, in one channel or all of Slack. Connect Slack on the Cursor account that owns the Bot first. Only new messages count.
Keep it narrow. Grok Bot's documentation suggests a rule like a message in one channel that contains a ticket link and a set phrase, and warns against broad listeners like "every new message."
Webhook. Ask the Bot to add a webhook trigger. The routine's Webhook section then shows the address to send to (POST to), the key and a ready-to-copy header. Whatever system calls it sends the key in that header. A 200 response means Grok Bot accepted the call and started a run, not that the work is done.
4. Check what got saved
On desktop, click the Bot's name at the top of the chat, then find Routines on the Details tab. Open the routine:
- Instruction is what the Bot does on each run.
- When to run shows the schedule or trigger in words. Make sure it matches what you meant.
If it's wrong, choose Edit. Grok Bot starts a message beginning "Edit your routine:" with the routine's name. Add what should change and send it.
On a phone, open the Bot's profile and tap Add routine under Routines to start a new one.
5. Test it
Open the routine on desktop and choose Test. The result appears in the Bot's chat. A test does real work: it can change files and use connected apps, so use a safe input.
If it didn't run
The help page's checklist:
- The routine isn't Paused. On a phone, Active is on.
- When to run shows the schedule or trigger you expect, in the right time zone.
- A new schedule is still waiting for its first time.
- For Slack, the message is new, in the watched channel and matches the phrase.
- For a webhook, the call got a 200 and used the current key.
On a phone, Run history lists each recent run as Running, Succeeded or Failed, with the reason for a failure.
Your routines can run up to 300 times an hour in total, and each routine up to 200 times an hour. A run past either limit fails with "Automation run rate limit exceeded" and isn't retried on its own, the help page says, so rerun it yourself with Test.
What to do with it
- Every run spends usage. Pick the slowest schedule that still does the job.
- Watch one channel and one phrase, not a whole busy Slack.
- Read When to run after every change.
- Test with something you don't mind the Bot acting on.
- Pause routines you don't need. A routine that never runs spends nothing.
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