Guide

How do I write a good Grok Bot routine prompt?

Updated · by Rosh Perera

xAI says to confirm six things when you create a routine: which Bot owns it, the schedule and time zone, the input source, the expected result, the approval boundary, and what happens when a source is missing. Write each one into the prompt, then use Test with a safe input before the first scheduled run. Checked 20 Oct 2026 against docs.x.ai and Cursor help. We're an independent site, not part of xAI.

What goes in a good Grok Bot routine prompt?

  • The six fields

    Owning Bot: Weak (our example): "someone check reviews"; Strong (our example): Ask your Reviews Bot, in its own chat. Schedule and time zone: Weak (our example): "every morning"; Strong (our example): "Every weekday at 8:00 AM". Input source: Weak (our example): "my reviews"; Strong (our example): "New reviews from the last 24 hours, from [where your reviews live]". Expected result: Weak (our example): "handle them"; Strong (our example): "A list with a draft reply for each, posted here". Approval boundary: Weak (our example): (nothing); Strong (our example): "Do not post replies". Missing source: Weak (our example): (nothing); Strong (our example): "If you can't reach reviews, tell me. Don't use old data.".

  • xAI's own example

    From xAI's docs: "Every weekday at 8:00 AM, run the Daily customer-risk skill against the current account list. Post a linked watch list in this conversation. Do not contact customers. If the source data is unavailable, report the failure instead of using old data." That one sentence set covers schedule, input, result, boundary and the missing-data rule. The owning Bot is the one you ask.

  • A fill-in template

    "Every [day/time], [job] using [source]. Post [result] in this conversation. Do not [send / post / pay / delete] anything. If [source] is unavailable, tell me instead of using old data."

  • Get the schedule right

    Ask in plain words, like "every weekday at 8:00 AM" or "every 2 hours". Schedules use the Timezone in Settings under Bot. Auto-detect follows your computer. After saving, open the routine and check When to run. If it's wrong, choose Edit. Schedules must be at least five minutes apart.

  • Say where the result goes

    After you save, the Bot sums up what the routine does and who receives the result. Each run delivers there. Test results show in the Bot's chat.

  • Event triggers

    For Slack, keep the channel and phrase narrow. For email, a routine can filter by sender or domain, but not by subject.

  • Test before it runs

    Test does real work and can use connected apps, so give it a safe input first.

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4 copy-paste agent prompts, a business brief template and a 7-day plan, as a PDF. Plus this guide's templates.

Ready-made use cases

  1. 01CEO morning brief in 5 minutes
    One message each morning: calendar, urgent emails, money in/out, and the 3 things that move the business today.
    ~3h/week · estimate
  2. 02Inbox triage with drafted replies
    The agent sorts your inbox into reply / FYI / ignore and drafts replies in your voice for you to approve.
    ~5h/week · estimate
  3. 03One daily list of drafts to approve
    Your bots hold every email, message and post they write as a draft. Once a day (or once a week) you get one numbered list and answer approve, edit or reject for each. Nothing goes out unapproved.
    ~1h/week · estimate

Example: Grok Bot setup

Grok Bot routine: CEO morning brief in 5 minutes
Schedule: Daily 7:30

Every morning, read my calendar for today, my unread emails from the last 24h and yesterday's revenue. Send me a brief: (1) meetings with one prep note each, (2) emails that need my reply with a suggested one-line answer, (3) money in/out, (4) the 3 highest-leverage tasks for today. Keep it under 200 words.

Rules: draft first, never send or post anything external without my approval. Keep summaries short.

Grok Bot, ChatGPT, Claude and n8n versions: all templates

Email me this template + the Starter Kit

Set the approval boundary twice

  • Put "do not send" in the prompt and add an Ask first rule in Settings > General > Auto-review. Approvals from routines expire after about 10 minutes, so turn on that Bot's Notifications.

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4 copy-paste agent prompts, a business brief template and a 7-day plan, as a PDF. Plus this guide's templates.

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Built by Rosh Perera, who has set up AI automations for more than 40 businesses over about 3 years.

FAQ

Why does my routine use so much usage?

Frequency. Each run spends usage. Pause what you don't need and widen schedules first.

Why didn't my new routine run right away?

A new routine waits for its next scheduled time. Use Test to run it now.

Does special wording make routines work better?

We found no official guidance on that. Clear fields matter more than clever wording.

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