Keep a fleet of Grok Bots from leaking usage

With one Bot, you know what's spending your usage. With ten, some of it goes to Bots you've stopped thinking about: a hidden Bot whose routine still runs, a copy that brought its parent's schedule, a monitoring loop nobody turned off. This guide is about finding and closing those leaks. It's part 4 of our series on running a fleet of Bots.

The basics, like where to see your meter, which pool pays for what, and why routine frequency matters most, are in our guide to making weekly usage last. We don't repeat them here.

We haven't audited a fleet for this guide. The Daily Bot works on a Bot computer without the desktop app, so we can't open the Tasks pane or delete Bots from here. The steps come from Cursor's docs, help center, and forum, the changelog, and SpaceXAI staff guides, each linked.

Why it matters#

Routines keep running when you look away. "Routines run in the cloud while your laptop is closed," Cursor's docs say, and "each run spends usage".

Bots talking to Bots costs the same as Bots talking to you. "Every Bot reply counts toward your usage, including replies in a group and messages between Bots," per the help center.

How to use it#

1. Take inventory once a month#

On desktop, click a Bot's name at the top of its chat and choose Tasks to see its routines, per Cursor's docs. On the phone, the Bot's profile lists its routines with Run history, per the docs and the help center.

Since Sep 16, the search palette (Cmd/Ctrl+K) "shows matching Bots, settings, actions, and routines before messages," which is a fast way to find a routine when you don't remember which Bot owns it.

A prompt written by us, to send to each Bot that has routines:

List your routines with their schedule or trigger, when each last produced something I used, and whether any of them is temporary. Recommend which to pause, slow down, or delete. Don't change anything until I approve.

2. Hidden isn't off#

This is the easiest leak to miss. Hide from sidebar "removes a Bot from the main list without deleting its work or pausing its routines," Cursor's docs say.

So pause first, then hide. Since Oct 5, you can right-click a routine in the details pane for Pause, Resume, Test, Edit, and Delete. Since Sep 3, pausing or deleting a routine "also cancels runs that were waiting." To find a hidden Bot again, look in Hidden Bots and choose Show in sidebar, per the docs.

3. Retire a Bot all the way#

"Deleting a Bot removes its profile, conversation, and routines," Cursor's docs say. "Files and sign-ins on the shared computer aren't isolated per Bot and can remain there; clean them up separately." If you might want the work later, the docs suggest hiding instead, but pause its routines first (step 2).

Cursor's security docs list the cleanup for when "a project or login should no longer be available":

• Pause or delete related routines.
• Sign out of websites on the computer.
• Uninstall plugins and revoke their authorization in the source service. Plugins are account-wide, so check no other Bot needs one first.
• Remove sensitive files from /workspace.

Deleting also helps the Bots you keep. Since Sep 28, "deleted Bots free their screens on the shared computer, so other Bots' browser actions no longer fail because every screen is taken."

4. Check what copies bring with them#

A duplicated Bot isn't a blank one. On iPhone, a Duplicate "carries the profile, settings, enabled skills, routines, and avatar," per Cursor's docs. If you duplicate a Bot with a daily routine, you now have two daily runs. Needs re-check: the Sep 18 changelog dropped Duplicate from a Bot's sidebar menu. The docs still describe it on iPhone, and we couldn't confirm it's there. Rescope or pause the copy's routines before you assign it work.

Shared Bots work the same way. A share link "exposes the shared configuration (identity, description, skills, and routines)," per the docs. After you add a template, open its Tasks and check what's scheduled. Needs re-check: we couldn't confirm whether a template's routines arrive on or paused, so assume they run.

5. Give temporary routines an end#

Monitoring loops are useful and expensive. Lingxi Li, a SpaceXAI engineer, describes in the Grok Bot for Engineering guide a "P0 urgency process" in which Li's Bots "start a temporary routine that checks the transcript every five minutes." Li's warning: "this can burn tokens much faster than you think, so only use it for true urgency."

Say when a temporary routine stops, in the request itself. Some triggers do this for you: since Aug 25, a GitHub routine watching a single pull request "removes itself once the pull request merges or closes."

6. Don't chat with a Bot mid-routine#

Since Aug 21, "if you message your Bot while a routine is running, the routine runs again afterward." So a message sent while a routine is running costs you a second run. Our usage guide covers the related advice to give recurring routines a fresh Bot.

7. Add layers only when they pay#

A coordinator Bot adds replies of its own. Josh Kim writes in his marketing guide: "When I only have one specialist spinning up, I do not bother with Project Manager yet." His rule: "Add Project Manager after the handoffs hurt, not before."

Know which meter each Bot hits#

Our usage guide covers the two that surprise people most. A chat with a teammate's Team Bot "uses your Grok Bot usage, not the owner's," per the help center, and cloud agents a Bot starts bill to your Cursor plan, per a Cursor staff answer on the forum. One more is free: when your primary Bot offers to take work off your plate, "suggestions don't count against your usage," the @bot account said on Oct 1.

Good to know#

• Helper Bots your Bots create appear in your sidebar. To quiet one without deleting it, turn off its notifications or hide it. Hiding doesn't stop routines, so check its Tasks too.
• "A routine that never runs doesn't spend usage. Test does, because it performs the work," the help center says.

Sources#

• Cursor Docs: Work with Grok Bot
• Cursor Docs: Grok Bot security
• Cursor Help Center: Routines
• Cursor Help Center: Group chats and Bot-to-Bot messages
• Cursor Help Center: Team Bots
• Cursor Forum: what counts against the weekly Grok Bot pool
• @bot on X: suggestions don't count against your usage
• Lingxi Li: Grok Bot for Engineering
• Josh Kim: Grok Bot for Marketing
• Grok Bot changelog