Routines
A routine tells one Bot when to run a workflow. 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. Routines run in the cloud while your laptop is closed.
How do I set up or change a routine?
Ask the Bot in chat. Say what it should do and when. For example: "Every weekday at 9:00 AM, summarize new support tickets in this chat." The Bot creates the routine, and it appears in the Bot's routines.
To change a routine on desktop, open it and choose Edit. Grok Bot starts a message to the Bot that begins "Edit your routine:" with the routine's name. Add what should change, then send it.
On the phone, open the Bot's profile and tap Add routine under Routines. Grok Bot starts a message that begins "Set up a routine to ". Finish the sentence and send it.
Where do I see a Bot's routines?
On desktop:
- Click the Bot's name at the top of the chat to open its details.
- Choose Tasks. Routines are under Routines.
Each row shows the routine's name and when it runs, or Paused. Use the switch on the row to pause or resume it. If the Bot has no routines, you see Ask in chat to set a routine.
Click a routine to open it:
- Instruction is what the Bot does on each run.
- When to run lists the schedule and the events that start it.
- Webhook shows the URL and key, for a routine that a webhook call starts.
The buttons at the bottom are Pause or Resume, Test, Edit, and Delete routine (the trash icon). Deleting asks you to confirm. It stops future runs and can't be undone.
On the phone, open the Bot's profile and find Routines. Tap a routine to see Active, Schedule, Next run, Instruction, and Run history. Turn off Active to pause the routine. To delete one, swipe the routine's row.
How do schedules and time zones work?
Schedules use the time zone in Settings, under Bot, labeled Timezone. Auto-detect follows this computer. Pick a zone when the routine should follow a different one, such as the office where the work belongs.
Ask for a schedule in plain words, like "every weekday at 8:00 AM" or "every 2 hours". Then open the routine and check When to run. It shows the saved schedule in words, so you can confirm it matches what you meant. If it doesn't, choose Edit and tell the Bot what to fix.
A new routine waits for its next scheduled time. It doesn't run when it's created. If you set up "every day at 8:00 AM" at 8:05, the first run is tomorrow at 8:00 AM. To try it right away, use Test.
How do I test a routine?
Open the routine on desktop and choose Test. The button says Running… until the run finishes. The result shows up in the Bot's chat.
A test does real work. It can change files and use connected plugins. Use a safe input. If the test can't start, you see Couldn't start a test run, or a message that explains why.
Some routines don't show Test. They still run on their schedule or trigger.
What should I change if usage drops quickly?
Start with how often your routines run. Each run spends usage, so a routine that runs often spends more than one that runs rarely. An hourly schedule, a short interval, or a Slack trigger on a busy channel can use a week of usage in a day.
If Weekly usage is falling faster than you expect, pause routines you don't need. Then ask the Bot to widen schedules and narrow Slack triggers before you raise a plan or an on-demand limit. A routine that never runs doesn't spend usage. Test does, because it performs the work.
See Plans and billing for weekly usage and the on-demand monthly limit.
How do Slack triggers work?
A Slack trigger is part of a routine, not the Slack plugin. The plugin lets a Bot post and read as the Slack user you connected. A trigger starts the routine when something happens in Slack. Connect Slack on the Cherri Code account that owns the Bot before you rely on it. See Connect plugins.
Ask the Bot for the trigger you want. 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. It can watch one channel or all of Slack. When to run shows the trigger in words, such as a phrase and a channel.
Keep the channel and phrase narrow. A trigger on any message in a busy channel runs often and spends usage on messages that don't need the Bot. Only new activity counts. Messages from before the trigger existed don't start a run.
Where do the webhook URL and key live, and what does a 200 mean?
Ask the Bot to add a webhook trigger to the routine. Then open the routine on desktop. The Webhook section shows three fields:
- POST to is the URL.
- key is the secret. Senders include it as
Authorization: Bearer <key>. - header is that full header, ready to copy.
Click a field to copy it. Send an HTTP POST to that URL with the header. You can send a JSON body. The Bot receives that body with the routine instruction.
A response of 200 means Grok Bot accepted the call and started a run. It does not mean the Bot has finished the instruction. Check the Bot's chat for the result. Any other response means a run did not start. Confirm the routine isn't paused and that the request uses the current key.
Why hasn't my routine run?
Check these first:
- The routine isn't Paused. On the phone, Active is on.
- When to run shows the schedule or trigger you expect, in the right time zone.
- A new schedule waits for its next time. Use Test to run it now.
- For Slack, the message is new, in the channel the trigger watches, and matches its phrase.
- For a webhook, the call returned 200 and used the current key.
On the phone, Run history shows each recent run as Running, Succeeded, or Failed. A failed run shows its reason. No runs yet means nothing has started the routine yet.