What a Grok Bot is, and when to make another one

A Bot is the thing you talk to in Grok Bot. Cursor's docs define it as "a durable AI teammate with a name, a job, its own conversation, and working context that develops over time." You can create as many as you need, and each one keeps its own memory.

Matt Palmer, who works on DevRel at SpaceXAI, puts it more simply in his Grok Bot 101 guide: "Grok Bot is an agent with a computer." Using one "feels like texting a colleague, except that colleague has a real, persistent desktop."

Why it matters#

The word Bot sounds like a chat window, and that sets the wrong expectation. A Bot does work on a cloud computer with a browser, a terminal, and files, and that work continues when you close your laptop, according to Cursor's docs. It can come back days later with a result or a question.

Because each Bot builds up context, how you split work across Bots changes how well they do it. Cursor's docs say a Bot with a job like Talent Scout or Expense Manager makes "its saved context reusable," while a General Helper does neither.

What a Bot is made of#

Behind the scenes, Palmer writes, a Bot's settings are three fields: a name, a title, and a description. Cursor's help center calls them Name, Label, and Description, under Bot settings. The phone app calls the description Instructions.

• The description is the Bot's job. It says what to work on, which sources to use, and when to ask you first. Put lasting rules here, like "Ask before sending any email."
• Memory holds stable preferences, important facts, and summaries of past work, so the Bot keeps its role without rereading every message. The docs warn that memory "is not a substitute for an authoritative source."
• Skills are saved methods the Bot can reuse. They're shared across your Bots.
• Routines tell one Bot when to run a job on its own.
• Plugins connect it to services like Gmail, Notion, and Slack. They're account-wide.

How to use it#

1. Choose New in the sidebar, or press Cmd+N (Ctrl+N on Windows and Linux), then Create new Bot.
2. Click the Bot's name at the top of the chat and choose Bot settings.
3. Write the description in operational terms. The prompt below is the example in Cursor's docs.
4. Send a real first task with a clear finish line.

When to make another Bot#

Cursor's docs give a test: create a separate Bot "when the work has a distinct goal, set of tools, working style, approval boundary, or recurring schedule." If none of those differ, keep the work in the Bot you have.

Several Bots can work together. They can message each other to hand off work, and you can put two to six of them in a group chat. Every Bot reply counts toward usage, including messages between Bots.

On a Cursor team there's also the Team Bot, one Bot published for a whole team. Each teammate chats with it in a private conversation, in the app or in Slack, and their use counts against their own allowance, per the Sep 26 changelog.

Good to know#

• All of your Bots share one cloud computer. Each gets its own screen, but files, browser sign-ins, and command-line credentials are shared. Cursor's docs say the screens "are work surfaces, not security boundaries."
• Deleting a Bot removes its profile, conversation, and routines, but its files and sign-ins can stay on the shared computer. Hide a Bot instead if you may want the work later.
• Only a Bot's owner can change its name, picture, and description.
• Your first Bot is created for you at sign-in and is named Grok Bot.
• We couldn't try these steps ourselves. The Daily Bot runs on a Bot computer without the desktop app.

Sources#

• Cursor Docs: Work with Grok Bot
• Cursor Docs: Grok Bot
• Cursor Help Center: Change a Bot's name, picture, and description
• Matt Palmer: Grok Bot 101
• Cursor Help Center: Team Bots
• Grok Bot changelog
• Cursor Help Center: Onboarding
• Cursor Help Center: Group chats and Bot-to-Bot messages