Shortcuts stay out of the way while you are typing a note.
The written version of this session, with the commands and templates to copy.
Optional alternative. This academy teaches Claude Code by default. Take this path if you already work in xAI's tools and would rather not add a second subscription.
Grok Build is xAI's coding agent. It has one shape you can pick today, and that shape is a terminal. There is no Grok Build desktop app to install and no web build surface to sign into, and this lesson is going to say so plainly instead of sending you hunting for a download that does not exist.
Same three first prompts as every other path in this course, so a fair comparison is one install away.
xAI's own line: "Grok Build is a powerful and extensible coding agent." The announcement calls it "a powerful new coding agent for professional software engineering and complex coding work," in "an early beta." (docs.x.ai/build/overview, x.ai/news/grok-build-cli)
Suits you if: you already subscribe to SuperGrok or X Premium Plus, you are comfortable in a terminal, and you want a second agent to compare against the one you already installed. Not for you if you need a graphical window with Accept and Reject buttons. Grok Build does not ship one. Path A or Path C in this course is where you go for that.
What you will use
Before you install anything, here is the honest map, from the official overview page (docs.x.ai/build/overview). Grok Build documents three interfaces, and all three are the same command-line program wearing different hats:
grok with no arguments and you get a fullscreen terminal session. This is the one you will use.grok -p with a prompt to use it inside scripts and automations, with no interface at all.No desktop application, no IDE extension, and no web build surface is documented on xAI's Grok Build pages today. The terminal support page reinforces it: everything there is about configuring terminals.
Caution: treat any "Grok Build desktop app" you find on a download site as somebody else's software until xAI documents one. Check docs.x.ai/build/overview yourself before you believe a second surface exists. This is an early beta, so that page is the one that will change first.
Mac: press Command + Space, type Terminal, press Enter.
Windows: click Start, type PowerShell, and open Windows PowerShell, not Command Prompt. The prompt should read PS C:\Users\....
Do this now: read the install line for your system in Step 3, and check the domain with your own eyes: it should fetch a script from x.ai. This is the one command you run before Grok Build exists to explain itself; every command after this one runs through the agent, and it asks before it changes anything. Keep those permission prompts on, read what it is about to do, and ask Grok Build itself if a step is ever unclear.
Caution: every install command in this academy points at claude.ai, chatgpt.com, or x.ai. Nowhere else, ever. If a command you were handed points somewhere else, do not run it.
Copy only the line for your system. Paste, press Enter, and wait for the scrolling to stop.
macOS and Linux:
curl -fsSL https://x.ai/cli/install.sh | bash
Windows PowerShell:
irm https://x.ai/cli/install.ps1 | iex
Both are from docs.x.ai/build/overview.
Now close the terminal window completely and open a fresh one. Then check the command exists:
grok --version
If a brand new window still cannot find it, the installer's PATH change did not reach your shell. Open one more fresh window before you start changing anything by hand.
There is no separate login command to find. Run grok and the documented behaviour takes over: "On first launch, Grok opens a browser for authentication."
If you are on a machine with no browser (a server, a container), xAI documents the other route: "In non-browser environments, use an API key":
export XAI_API_KEY="xai-..."
Source: docs.x.ai/build/overview
Caution: an API key in a shell profile is a password sitting in a plain text file. On your own laptop, use the browser sign-in and skip the key entirely.
One small folder, nothing you would miss.
Mac:
mkdir ~/Desktop/pick-test
cd ~/Desktop/pick-test
Windows:
mkdir $HOME\Desktop\pick-test
cd $HOME\Desktop\pick-test
Then start the session:
grok
Caution: the folder you are standing in is the folder the agent works in. Not your home directory, not on day one.
Useful on day one, and documented: grok inspect "shows what Grok discovered in the current directory," including config sources, instructions, skills, plugins, hooks, and MCP servers. Run it once in pick-test so you can see how little it is picking up, then run it again later in a real project and watch the difference.
One at a time, Enter after each. Approve the file write when it asks. These three are identical in every path of this course.
Prompt 1
Explain what is in this folder in plain English. Do not change anything.
Prompt 2
Create a file named hello.txt in this folder. The file should contain the sentence: I am set up.
Prompt 3
Add a second line to hello.txt that says: I can change files too. Show me the change before you save it.
Open pick-test in Finder or File Explorer. hello.txt is there, two lines, neither of them typed by you.
Grok Build ships a self-check for this, which is unusually civilised. Inside a session, run:
/terminal-setup
The documented aliases are /terminal-check and /terminal-info. It reports what it detected and what is wrong, with fixes.
Two known issues from the same page. If colours look wrong, set COLORTERM=truecolor in your shell profile. And: "VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and Zed terminals cannot distinguish Shift+Enter from Enter", so use Alt+Enter for a newline in those, including over SSH.
Source: docs.x.ai/build/cli/terminal-support
Not documented. xAI's Grok Build pages do not describe voice or dictation input for the agent, so this academy is not going to describe one either.
If speaking your prompts is the feature you care about, the documented options in this course are Claude Code's /voice in the terminal (Path B) and ChatGPT Voice in the desktop app (Path C). Check docs.x.ai/build/overview yourself if you want to know whether that has changed since this was written.
~/.grok/config.toml, and on Windows %USERPROFILE%\.grok\config.tomlgrok inspect printsSource: docs.x.ai/build/overview
Grok Build has a documented update subcommand:
grok update
The CLI reference lists its flags: --check, --version, --alpha, and --stable, so you can check without installing, pin a version, or choose a channel (docs.x.ai/build/cli/reference).
Do this now: run grok update --check once, so you know what "there is a newer version" looks like before you need it.
Honest answer: xAI does not publish an uninstall procedure for Grok Build on its documentation pages today, so there is no official command to give you. The two things you can do without guessing are to remove the ~/.grok folder documented in Step 9, which takes your configuration with it, and to check docs.x.ai/build/overview for an uninstall section, since this is an early beta and the docs are still filling in.
For Grok Build itself, there is nowhere else to switch to yet. The move is sideways, to a different tool:
/voice (Path B) or ChatGPT Voice in the desktop app (Path C).grok -p with your prompt, which is the documented route into scripts and automations.And if a Grok Build desktop or web surface does ship, the account and the ~/.grok config you set up today are what it will read. Nothing in this session is wasted work.
A fresh terminal, cd into pick-test, grok, and a reply. hello.txt on disk with two lines. grok inspect run once so you have seen what the agent sees, and grok update --check run once so updates are never a mystery.
Template included: Members get a one-page Grok Build card: the surfaces that actually exist today, both install commands, the two sign-in routes, the three comparison prompts, the terminal self-check, the config path, and the update flags. Find it in your member dashboard under Templates.
Short on time? Agentic Quarks will implement this end to end, wired into your stack, and hand you the keys.
Grok Build is xAI's coding agent, and it has exactly one shape you can pick today. That shape is a terminal. There is no desktop app and no web build surface, and this lesson says so instead of sending you hunting.
Three documented interfaces, and all three are the same command line program wearing different hats. The interactive session is the one you will use. Headless mode is for scripts. The Agent Client Protocol is for other apps to drive it.
Read the line before you paste it, and check what domain it downloads from. It should fetch a script from x dot a i and run it. Confirm that domain with your own eyes. Once it is installed, the agent asks before it changes anything, so keep that permission prompt on.
Copy only the line for your system, paste it, press Enter, and wait for the scrolling to stop. Close the terminal completely, open a brand new one, and check the command exists before you go looking for anything else.
There is no login command to find. Run grok, and on first launch it opens a browser for authentication. Approve it there and come back. You need a SuperGrok or X Premium Plus subscription for any of this to work.
One small folder, nothing you would miss. Make it, go there, and start the session from inside it. Then run grok inspect, which shows exactly what Grok discovered in this directory. Run it again later in a real project.
Three prompts, one at a time, approving the file write when it asks. Explain this folder. Create a file. Then change it and show the change first. Identical in every path of this course, which is the entire point.
Open pick-test and hello dot t x t is there with two lines you did not type. Two honest notes to finish: no voice input is documented for Grok Build, and no uninstall procedure is published. Updates are documented, so run the check once.
Five paths, one file, one honest comparison. You now know which window you want to open tomorrow morning, and why. Pick that one, install it properly, and leave the other four alone until you have a reason to move.
One full walkthrough per tool and per surface, so you install the right one once
5 sessions, 12 min of video, about 1.7 hours to do, 5 free.
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