README.md
August 30, 2026 · View on GitHub
Grok App
Modern Desktop Workbench for Local Grok Build CLI
Multi-Project Spaces · Real-time Agent Streaming · Integrated File & Code Loop · Omnichannel Remote IM · Desktop Companion & Personalization
Note
About Grok App: Grok App is an open-source desktop client and workbench for the local Grok Build CLI (grok agent stdio). It is not an official xAI product. The application does not bundle proprietary model backends; all chat reasoning, tool execution, and permissions run directly through your installed grok CLI.
Full agent capabilities require an installed and signed-in Grok Build CLI. The first-run setup wizard can assist with CLI installation, and UI-only development can be run with GROK_APP_ACP=mock.
Contents
- ✨ Key Highlights
- 🛠️ Features Overview
- 📸 Screenshots
- 🚀 Quick Start & Installation
- 💡 Platform Notes & Troubleshooting
- 📂 Configuration & Data Paths
- 💻 Building from Source & Development
- 🤝 Community & Contributing
- 👥 Contributors
- 📄 License & Author
✨ Key Highlights
- ⚡ Native Build Sessions — Deep integration with
grok agent stdiovia the ACP protocol. Granular permission tiers (Ask, Allow Once, Allow for Session, and YOLO mode) with Grok 4.6 Extra High (xhigh) enabled by default. - 🗂️ Multi-Project Workbench — Isolated project workspaces, agent status Kanban, one-click Git Worktree switching, session forking from any assistant reply, and cross-session context attachment.
- 📝 Files & Creation Loop — Embedded CodeMirror 6 editor with instant disk synchronization, visual Git Diff review, comprehensive media preview (images, video, audio, PDF, Office documents), and AI image/video generation via Imagine.
- 📲 Omnichannel Remote IM — Unified bridge connecting your local agent to Feishu/Lark, Telegram, Discord, Slack, DingTalk, WeCom, WeChat personal, QQ, Matrix, LINE, and Weibo; token-gated mobile web mirror and loopback REST session API.
- 🐾 Desktop Companion & Status Feedback — Interactive always-on-top desktop pet companion with live agent status awareness, responsive reactions, and notification bubbles.
- 🔐 Privacy & Custom Relays — API keys securely stored in your OS keychain. SuperGrok quota bar and heatmap tracking, custom provider relays (OpenRouter, DeepSeek, AI98PRO, etc.), and 15 built-in UI languages.
🛠️ Features Overview
1. Modern Workbench & Session Management
- Projects & Workspaces: Folder trust system, workspace isolation, virtualized high-performance sidebar, chat archiving, cross-project migration, and CLI session import.
- Parallel Workflows: Multi-session concurrent execution with continuous background streaming; intelligent process management and idle resource recycling; Kanban board (Needs Input / Working / Done).
- Git Worktree Integration: Automatically discovers linked Git worktrees for seamless working directory switching within sessions.
- Session Forking & Attachment: Branch off from any assistant turn with aligned context history; attach up to 3 reference sessions via
/attach-chator drag-and-drop.
2. Agent Interaction & Live Streaming
- Structured Timeline: Thought reasoning, tool executions, and final responses streamed in real-time order with live activity indicators.
- Power Composer: Queue follow-up prompts while the agent is busy;
Ctrl+Enterto steer the active turn; type-to-focus; prompt history; selection quotes and inline annotations. - Granular Permissions: Interactive Ask confirmation by default; allow once, allow for session, per-project defaults, or unattended YOLO mode; workspace sandbox support.
- Plan & Goal Tracking: Sticky multi-step plan progress with full Markdown execution details and structured milestones in the resources panel.
3. Files, Media & Creation Center
- In-App Code & Text Editor: CodeMirror 6 multi-tab editor with live two-way file synchronization and instant disk reload after agent modifications.
- Visual Changes & Diffs: Inspect session modifications and workspace Git diffs with granular single-file or batch accept/reject/revert controls.
- Rich Media Viewer: Native rendering and preview for images, video, audio, PDF, and Word/Excel/PowerPoint documents; high-quality share-card image export.
- AI Asset Generation: Generate images and videos directly from the composer using the Imagine skill; integrated side-browser with Design Mode for local web development previews.
4. Extensions, Plugins & Automations
- Slash Commands & Skills: Fully aligned with Grok Build slash command palette, inline skill chips, and custom automated workflows (
/workflow). - Extensions Hub: Manage Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, plugins catalog (OpenAI plugin compatible), skills, agents, and hooks with full user control.
- ChatCut Integration: Native integration for the recommended Codex plugin with automated OAuth refresh and external editor workflows.
- Scheduled Automations: Schedule recurring or one-off tasks with natural-language prompt creation and visual execution logs.
5. Remote Connectivity & Cross-Device Access
- 11+ IM Channel Bridges: Connect to your preferred messaging apps to monitor, resume, and steer your local desktop agent on the go (
/pproject switch,/rresume). - Mobile Web Mirror: Lightweight token-gated web app for mobile browsers; compatible with Cloudflare Quick Tunnel for secure remote access.
- Local Session API: Loopback REST endpoints (
GET /v1/sessions,POST /v1/sessions/{id}/turns) for scripting, CI, or third-party tool integrations.
6. Accounts, Relays & Personalization
- Multi-Account & Quota Tracking: Instant account switcher, official login, SuperGrok quota progress bar, cost heatmaps, and local tracking for custom providers.
- Flexible Relay Modes: Independent configuration mode or non-destructive shared mode (protects existing
~/.grokconfigurations); one-click presets for OpenRouter, DeepSeek, AI98PRO, etc. - Visual Customization: Light, dark, and system-adaptive themes; custom skins, wallpapers, UI fonts, terminal fonts, and share card styling.
- Internationalization: 15 built-in languages (EN, ZH, JA, KO, DE, FR, RU, ES, PT-BR, IT, ID, TA, UK, FIL, ZH-TW) with automatic OS locale detection.
📸 Screenshots
| 🖥️ Workbench & Sessions | 📊 Account & Quota Heatmap |
|---|---|
![]() | ![]() |
| ☀️ Light Theme Mode | 💬 Media Preview & Interaction |
|---|---|
![]() | ![]() |
🚀 Quick Start & Installation
1. Download Prebuilt Packages
Download installers directly from the official website grok-app.com or GitHub Releases:
| Platform | Package Format | Details |
|---|---|---|
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | Grok_*_aarch64.dmg | Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) Macs |
| macOS (Intel) | Grok_*_x64.dmg | Intel-based Macs |
| Windows (x64) | *-setup.exe / *-portable.zip | Setup installer and portable archive |
| Linux (x64) | AppImage / .deb / .rpm | Universal AppImage, Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora/RHEL |
💡 Note: The application bundle name is Grok. Prebuilt packages do not require Node.js, pnpm, or Rust installed on your system.
Checksum Verification
Each release includes a SHA256SUMS file. Verify your download with:
# macOS / Linux
shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing
# Windows (PowerShell)
Get-FileHash .\Grok_*_x64-setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256
2. First Run & Setup
- Launch: Open Grok App. The setup wizard will automatically verify that the Grok Build CLI is installed (with multi-mirror fast install support).
- Account / Relays (Optional): Sign in with your official account, provide an API key, or configure a custom relay. If your local
grokCLI is already authenticated, simply choose Use existing CLI sign-in. - Add Project: Select and trust your project working directory.
- Connect Agent: Choose Ask or YOLO permission mode, and start building with your desktop agent!
Requirements
- Local Grok Build CLI (
grok) 0.2.112 or newer (rungrok updatein terminal to upgrade). - Windows: Requires WebView2 Runtime (pre-installed on Windows 11; bootstrapped by the installer if missing).
- Linux AppImage: host
libEGL.so.1plus WebKitGTK 4.1 / Ayatana — see Linux runtime libraries.
Network & Proxy Configuration
In restricted network environments where Grok services cannot be reached directly:
- Navigate to Settings → Runtime → Network and configure your HTTP/SOCKS proxy (e.g.,
http://127.0.0.1:7890). - Click Test connection to verify connectivity to endpoints (
auth.x.ai,grok.com, etc.). The proxy is automatically injected into all agent processes.
💡 Platform Notes & Troubleshooting
macOS Gatekeeper / "App is damaged"
Official releases starting from v0.2.19 are signed with an Apple Developer ID and Apple-notarized. If Gatekeeper blocks launching (e.g., on unsigned custom builds or due to quarantine metadata):
xattr -cr /Applications/Grok.app
open /Applications/Grok.app
Or go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.
Windows SmartScreen Notice
For unsigned community packages, Windows SmartScreen may display a warning on initial launch. Click More info → Run anyway. You can verify the file hash against SHA256SUMS for integrity.
Linux runtime libraries (AppImage)
The official AppImage does not bundle host EGL / WebKit / tray libraries. On a clean Debian / Ubuntu install the binary can exit immediately:
error while loading shared libraries: libEGL.so.1: cannot open shared object file
Install the runtime packages the .deb already expects, plus EGL/GLES (confirmed on Debian 13 (trixie) x86_64 with official Grok_0.2.26_amd64.AppImage):
sudo apt-get install -y libegl1 libgles2 libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0 libayatana-appindicator3-1
Then chmod +x and run the AppImage (or the extracted usr/bin/grok-app). The .deb already lists libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0 and libgtk-3-0.
This is a missing shared library at process start. It is not the Wayland black-window / EGL_BAD_PARAMETER case in Linux Display Notes. See issue #899.
Linux Display Notes (WebKitGTK / Wayland)
If the process never starts and you see libEGL.so.1: cannot open shared object file, that is a missing host library — see Linux runtime libraries.
On certain Wayland desktop setups (such as Hyprland with AMD GPUs), the universal AppImage may encounter rendering conflicts with the host Mesa/DRI stack:
- Recommended: Use system-integrated
.debor.rpmpackages which link against your distribution's native WebKitGTK. - When running the AppImage, you can try disabling hardware compositing:
WEBKIT_DISABLE_DMABUF_RENDERER=1 ./Grok_*.AppImage
Linux Workspace Sandbox (Ubuntu 24.04+)
Modern distributions such as Ubuntu 24.04+ restrict unprivileged user namespaces by default, which can prevent the bubblewrap agent sandbox from launching:
- Option 1 (Recommended, preserves sandbox isolation): Enable unprivileged user namespaces
sudo sysctl -w kernel.apparmor_restrict_unprivileged_userns=0
echo 'kernel.apparmor_restrict_unprivileged_userns=0' | sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/99-userns.conf
- Option 2: In Settings → Runtime → Sandbox, switch the sandbox mode to off.
📂 Configuration & Data Paths
Default application data directory (override via the GROK_APP_HOME environment variable):
| Operating System | Default Path |
|---|---|
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/com.grokapp.grok-app/ |
| Windows | %APPDATA%\grokapp\grok-app\ |
| Linux | ~/.grok-app/ |
Data layout:
<app-data>/
projects.json # Project registry
sessions_index.json # Session metadata index
settings.json # Application preferences
secrets.json # Secure key metadata (OS keychain prioritized, 0600 fallback)
automations.json # Scheduled automations
projects/ # Project-specific metadata
sessions/ # Persistent session history
logs/ # Diagnostic logs
agent-home/ # Independent mode GROK_HOME
💻 Building from Source & Development
To develop or build Grok App from source:
Prerequisites
- Node.js:
v22.0.0or newer - pnpm:
v9.0.0or newer - Rust: Stable Toolchain
- Platform Build Tools: macOS Xcode CLT / Windows MSVC / Linux build-essential & webkit2gtk
Development Workflow
# 1. Install dependencies
pnpm install
# 2. Start desktop development app (Tauri + Vite HMR)
pnpm dev
# 3. Start web frontend only (UI iteration)
pnpm dev:ui
# 4. Start with mock ACP backend (no CLI required)
GROK_APP_ACP=mock pnpm dev
# 5. Type checking and tests
pnpm typecheck && pnpm test
cd src-tauri && cargo test
# 6. Build production package
pnpm build
pnpm dev merges src-tauri/tauri.dev.conf.json (identifier com.grokapp.desktop.dev, product Grok Dev) so it can run beside installed Grok. Sessions still share App data unless GROK_APP_HOME is set. Bare tauri dev without --config uses the official identifier and will steal the installed instance.
Windows (optional): double-click install-latest.cmd to fast-forward origin/main and silently install an unsigned side-by-side grok-app-latest (does not replace official Grok). Needs VS Build Tools + Rust MSVC; details in docs/BUILD.md.
For cross-compilation and packaging instructions, see docs/BUILD.md.
🤝 Community & Contributing
Contributions, bug reports, and suggestions are warmly welcomed!
| Guide | Description |
|---|---|
| 📖 Agent & Product Rules | docs/llm-wiki/ |
| 🛠️ Build & Packaging Guide | docs/BUILD.md |
| 📝 Changelog | CHANGELOG.md |
| 💡 Contributing Guide | CONTRIBUTING.md |
| 🛡️ Code of Conduct | CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md |
| 🔒 Security Policy | SECURITY.md |
👥 Contributors
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to Grok App. All human GitHub contributors (by commit count, updated 2026-08-31).
📄 License & Author
This project is licensed under the MIT License.
Connect with the Author & Community
| Channel | Link |
|---|---|
| 𝕏 X (Twitter) | @cgnot996 (铁柱AGI) |
| 📢 WeChat Official Account | Search 「铁柱AGI」 or scan top-left QR |
| 💬 WeChat Community | Scan top-right QR code |
| 🐧 Linux.do Community | linux.do — Learn AI on L-Station |
⭐ If Grok App empowers your daily workflow, please consider starring the repository!












































