Grok Build Community Edition

Community VS Code / Cursor host for Grok Build — chat, tools, diffs, and sessions in the editor while the agent runs as grok agent stdio (Rust).

Install

Or search “Grok Build Community Edition” in Extensions (publisher tienpham).

Prerequisites

1. VS Code 1.93+ (Secondary Side Bar chat needs ≥ 1.106)
2. Grok Build CLI (grok) on PATH, or set grok.binaryPath
3. Auth: grok login / ~/.grok, or Grok Build: Login / Set API Key

The VSIX does not bundle the grok binary. Install the CLI on the machine that runs the extension host (local, or the remote side of SSH/WSL).

First run

1. Open a trusted workspace
2. Grok Build: Open Chat (activity bar or secondary sidebar)
3. Sign in if needed, then send a prompt (active file / selection attach by default)

Remote-SSH / WSL

The extension host runs on the remote when you use Remote-SSH or WSL. The CLI must be installed there, not only on your laptop.

1. Open the remote window (SSH host or WSL distro).
2. In a remote terminal, install Grok Build CLI:
   • macOS/Linux remote: curl -fsSL https://x.ai/cli/install.sh | bash
   • Ensure ~/.grok/bin is on the remote PATH (or set grok.binaryPath to the absolute remote path, e.g. /home/you/.grok/bin/grok).
3. Sign in on the remote: grok login, or use Grok Build: Login / Set API Key in the remote VS Code window (credentials land in remote ~/.grok/).
4. Confirm: remote terminal grok --version and Grok Build: Start Agent.

Notes

Troubleshooting

Features

Chat & agent

• Streaming chat in the Activity Bar and Secondary Side Bar (Secondary Side Bar needs VS Code ≥ 1.106)
• Assistant markdown (sanitized) with code copy, collapsible thinking, tool cards / tool groups (e.g. “Read N files”), live shimmer on the latest running tool
• Message actions — copy / edit user messages back into the composer
• Permission popovers — Allow once / Always allow (session) / Deny / Always deny (when offered); auto-deny after grok.permissionTimeoutMs (default 120s)
• Agent questions — multi-question UI for x.ai/ask_user_question (options, multi-select, skip / chat-about-this)
• Plan mode — Shift+Tab Plan arm + plan checklist / exitPlanMode approval when the agent proposes a plan
• Prompt queue — mid-turn Enter queues follow-ups; pane: remove, reorder, edit, clear, send-now (x.ai/queue/*)
• Session notification banners — compact, retry, subagent, interaction hints (x.ai/session_notification)
• Turn status bar — elapsed time, context tokens / window, cost when available
• Virtualized message list — windowed DOM for long threads
• Welcome / empty state — sign-in CTAs, tips; CLI missing install guidance blocks agent use until grok is available
• Status bar — idle / spinning “working…” + badge + tooltip when background work is running

Subagents & background work

• Tasks panel (above composer, /tasks) — running subagents, background tasks/monitors, scheduled loops
• In-chat subagent panel (View on a subagent row):
  • Live stream while running — child session/update timeline (thinking / tools / text), same visual language as main chat
  • Snapshot when done — x.ai/subagent/get transcript (tools used, tokens, worktree path, failure/cancel reason)
  • Kill (x.ai/subagent/cancel) · Refresh · Esc / Done to close
• List bootstrap via x.ai/subagent/list_running + x.ai/task/list; finished rows drop off the list (TUI show_done=false parity)
• Subagent sessions are hidden from the resume picker by default (session_kind starting with subagent)

Context & editor

• Auto-attach active file and/or selection (grok.context.autoAttach*); composer chip toggle; skip secrets via grok.context.excludeGlob
• @ context — sticky chips (file / folder / selection) + inline @ mentions; workspace hits use the agent fuzzy index when the agent is ready (host findFiles fallback)
• Images — paste, drop (Shift+drop if VS Code steals the event), or Attach Image…
• Fix with Grok — diagnostics Hover + Quick Fix → composer with error + file snippet
• Editor title Grok icon → Open Chat; context menu Add Selection to Chat

Edits & review

• Multi-file diff review — pre-write snapshots (grok-diff:), open with vscode.diff
• Accept / Reject via agent hunk-tracker (x.ai/hunk-tracker/*) — per file or accept/reject all
• Host FS capabilities: read prefers open buffers; write via WorkspaceEdit; optional auto-save (grok.fs.*)

Sessions & history

• New session · Home welcome screen · Resume from ~/.grok/sessions via ACP session/load when advertised
• Rewind (x.ai/rewind/*, dry-run preview then execute) · /compact host action with loading feedback
• /fork branch session (x.ai/session/fork) · /rename session title · /context / /session-info
• Worktrees — Grok Build: Worktrees… / /worktrees list · create · open folder · apply to main · remove · GC (x.ai/git/worktree/*)
• Slash registry — host commands, ACP passthrough (skills / agent builtins), TUI-only names listed as unsupported

Extensions

• Extensions panel — hooks, plugins, skills, MCP (enable/disable, install/uninstall where the agent supports it)
• Host slash shortcuts: /hooks, /plugins, /skills, /mcps, /marketplace open the same panel

Auth, model & config

• Browser OAuth / logout via x.ai/auth/*, shared with CLI ~/.grok/auth.json (file watcher keeps empty-state in sync)
• API key in SecretStorage · optional XAI_API_KEY when grok.inheritEnvApiKey is true
• Account / subscription commands · billing usage in the context bar from x.ai/billing (usage %, effective %, auto-topup when present)
• Model + reasoning effort in the chat model popover (in-session setModel / effort — no full agent restart for switches)
• Mode cycle Shift+Tab: Normal → Plan → Auto → Always Approve (permission mode shared with CLI via ~/.grok/config.toml)
• Workspace Trust required to start the agent

Requires

• Grok Build CLI (grok) on the machine that runs the extension host — not bundled in the VSIX
• Shell tools run agent-side (clientCapabilities.terminal: false; incremental bash / hunk-tracker / git-head via client _meta)

Settings

Shared with CLI/TUI via ~/.grok/config.toml (not VS Code settings): [ui].permission_mode, [models].default, [models].default_reasoning_effort.

Commands

Slash commands (chat composer)

Type / in chat. Registry: host wins on name collision, then ACP-advertised commands (src/slash/).

Develop

yarn install
yarn build
yarn typecheck
yarn test
yarn smoke:cli    # needs grok on PATH
yarn package      # → .vsix

F5 → Extension Development Host → open chat and send a prompt.

Design docs: docs/README.md · releases: CHANGELOG.md

License

MIT — see LICENSE.