Grok Bot plugins: connect apps, add MCP servers and set up Slack
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Grok Bot plugins are how a Bot gets a structured connection to a service such as Gmail, Notion or Slack. You install them from Connect apps, sign in once, and every Bot on your account can use them. This guide covers the official install steps, where plugin logins are kept, what the docs say about custom MCP servers, and the three different ways Slack connects to Grok Bot.
Status: Not tested yet. We have not run a logged test of installing plugins or MCP servers, so everything below comes from the official Grok Bot docs, help pages and changelog. Sources checked on 2026-10-26.
What a Grok Bot plugin is
The docs say apps give a Bot a structured way to work with services like Gmail, Notion and Slack, and that apps are installed as plugins from Connect apps. Connect apps also lists packaged skills. Plugins are not a section in Settings. To manage the ones you have, select the connected count next to the Connect apps title.
The docs recommend a plugin when one exists, because it is often more reliable than clicking through a website. The Bot uses its browser for services without a plugin, or for visual workflows a plugin does not expose. Public X is a special case: Bots can search and read public posts without any X plugin. The X plugin is only for private data such as your DMs, bookmarks and home timeline, and the help page says it needs X API credits on your own X developer account.
The plugin catalog used to be called Marketplace. The 2026-10-02 changelog says it became Connect Apps, with category chips under the search and Recommended for you first.
How to install a Grok Bot plugin
These are the steps on the official help page:
Open Connect apps
Select Connect apps in the sidebar, or follow an in-chat Connect card. In the mobile app, tap your avatar on the top left and select Connect apps.
Find the plugin and add it
Browse or search for the app, then add it.
Finish the sign-in
When Grok Bot asks you to Authorize or Authenticate, finish the provider login in your browser. If sign-in doesn't finish, choose Reconnect on the app, or Reopen on the in-chat card, to bring the sign-in page back.
Confirm it is installed
Confirm the app appears under Installed.
Then, in a chat, type @ to attach the app to a task. On desktop, Connect apps also opens with Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+M or Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+W.
You don't always have to start from Connect apps. The changelog says that when you name a service, the Bot shows that connector's connect card in its first reply (2026-10-22), and that when you give a Bot a connector link, it installs the matching plugin from the catalog when there is one (2026-10-11).
Where plugin logins live
The docs and help pages make five points about access:
- A plugin uses the account you authorize. It can do only what that account can already do in that service. It cannot raise your access or change sharing.
- Plugins are account-wide. A connected app is available to every Bot you run. The help page says to disconnect Gmail if a Bot should not use that mailbox.
- Logins stay off the computer. OAuth tokens are held on Cursor's connector backend, and the Bot invokes tools without receiving them.
- Individual tools can be switched off. The settings docs say individual plugin tools can be enabled or disabled.
- Team policy applies. On a Cursor team, an app blocked by the connector policy shows Disabled by team admin, and the settings docs say an admin can restrict team-provided plugins.
A teammate's Team Bot uses your own connectors without asking only in your 1:1 chat with it. In a shared conversation, such as a Slack thread or a group chat, it asks first, and the Team Bots docs list the card's choices as Allow once, Always allow for this Bot, Always allow for all Team Bots or Skip. To undo remembered answers, go to Settings → General → Team Bots and choose Clear.
When a plugin won't install or sign in
The help page says Added means installed, not signed in. If a plugin shows Needs auth or Disconnected, open it and choose Authenticate (Authorize on the phone). The troubleshooting page gives this order:
- Open Connect apps, select the connected count next to the title, and confirm the plugin is listed as installed.
- Reopen its detail page and choose the authentication action.
- Complete authorization with the intended account in the browser.
- Return to Grok Bot and retry the task.
- Check whether the connector needs an organization-provided variable or administrator configuration.
If authentication was revoked in the source service, remove and reconnect the plugin. The help page also lists two known issues on 2026-10-26: Zoom authorization from the desktop app fails with error 4700 and has no workaround yet, and SharePoint Application-level admin consent fails with AADSTS50011, with Delegated permissions as the workaround. A company Google account may need its admin to trust the app named Grok before Gmail, Calendar or Drive can connect.
Custom MCP servers
Plugins and MCP servers are closely tied in the docs. The security page calls connected apps MCP servers, and says Bots reach remote MCP servers from Cursor's servers, not from the Bot's computer. Here is what the official pages say about custom ones.
| Point | What the official pages say |
|---|---|
| Two kinds of custom server | The Team Bots page lists Custom MCP server, Remote HTTPS, which uses the Bot's own credential or each person's sign-in if the server uses OAuth, and Custom MCP server, Command, which runs on the computer each conversation uses. |
| Secrets | Never put a credential in a Command server's command or arguments, because teammates can read them. A Command server that needs environment variables runs only in the owner's own chat. For a custom server that needs secrets, choose Remote HTTPS. (Team Bots page) |
| Private networks | Adding an MCP server on a private Tailscale network explains that Grok Bot can't reach it yet and suggests exposing it with Tailscale Funnel. (changelog, 2026-10-11) |
| Server URL | Adding Glean asks for your Glean MCP URL and connects it after you sign in to Glean in your browser. (changelog, 2026-10-11) |
| Your own OAuth client | Setting up a plugin with your own OAuth client lists the callback URLs to register. (changelog, 2026-10-22) |
| Team blocks | A team's connector policy can block a server. The MCP allowlist is Enterprise only, and an admin can turn on Apply to MCP servers so remote servers must also match the network allowlist. It is off by default. (security and teams pages) |
| Templates | MCP servers, scripts and custom code are not included when a Bot is shared as a template. (x.ai template guide) |
The pages we read do not give a click-by-click path for adding a custom MCP server to a personal Bot. The overview's general rule is that setup is a message: you describe the job and grant access as the Bot asks. We have not checked how that works for a custom server. For what a shared Bot does and doesn't carry, see what a Grok Bot template is.
Three ways to use Grok Bot with Slack
"Grok Bot Slack" can mean three different setups in the docs. They don't replace each other.
| Setup | What it does | Who it posts as |
|---|---|---|
| Slack plugin, from Connect apps | Lets a Bot read and post in Slack. It can post only in channels your connected user can post in. To use another workspace, connect that workspace. | The Slack user you connected |
| Slack trigger on a routine | Starts a routine when the Bot is mentioned, a word or phrase is mentioned, you react to a message, or on any message, in one channel or all of Slack. | Not a posting method. It only starts the routine |
| Team Bot in Slack | Once the owner adds a published Team Bot to Slack, it gets its own Slack app. Teammates DM it or @mention it in channels it was invited to. | The Team Bot itself |
When a Bot drafts a Slack message for you, the conversation can show an editable draft, with Send message in the desktop app or Discard. The help page on routines says a Slack trigger on a busy channel can use a week of usage in a day, so keep the matching rule narrow. See how routines run for the rest.
Add a Team Bot to Slack
The Team Bots page gives these steps. The Bot must be published first. The owner or a manager can add it, and the setup uses the owner's Slack connection, so the owner connects Slack first.
- In the Bot's details, choose Bring to your team's Slack.
- Choose Connect Slack workspace and approve Cursor in the Slack page that opens.
- Pick a workspace you can install apps in and choose Connect.
- Grok Bot creates and installs the Slack app, and the Bot sends you a welcome DM in Slack when it is ready.
- Invite the Bot to the channels where it should work, for example with
/invite @BotName.
If the workspace needs approval for new apps, the setup shows Awaiting admin approval. Every teammate links their Slack account once under Settings → General → Team Bots, because the Bot answers only linked people. In channels it answers when @mentioned and then follows the thread. Team Bots need a Cursor team; the help page says that if Create new Team Bot isn't in the command palette, you aren't on a Cursor team or the app needs an update.
What we don't know yet
- The exact steps to add a custom MCP server to a personal Bot. The docs describe the server types but not the personal path.
- How to set up a personal Bot in your own Slack DM. The messaging docs say a personal Bot can hand off work from there, but the pages we read do not give the setup steps.
- How many plugins one account can install. We found no limit in the docs. The changelog only says Bots can use up to 200 skills from installed plugins (2026-10-14).
- Whether the plugin catalog is the same in every region and plan. For plans, see the official plans page.
FAQ
Where do I find Grok Bot plugins?
Open Connect apps in the sidebar. The changelog says Marketplace was renamed Connect Apps on 2026-10-02. On desktop the shortcut is Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+M or Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+W. In the mobile app, tap your avatar on the top left and select Connect apps.
I added a plugin but the Bot says it's missing. Why?
The help page says Added means the plugin is installed, not that you are signed in. Open it and choose Authenticate, or Authorize on the phone, if it shows Needs auth or Disconnected.
Can a Bot see my plugin passwords or tokens?
The docs say app logins stay off the computer. OAuth tokens are held on Cursor's connector backend, and the Bot invokes tools without receiving them.
Can I connect my own MCP server to Grok Bot?
The docs describe custom MCP servers of two kinds, Remote HTTPS and Command, in the Team Bots setup, and the changelog mentions adding MCP servers. The pages we read do not give a step-by-step path for adding one to a personal Bot, so ask your Bot or check the help center.
Does the Slack plugin post as a bot?
No. The help page says the Slack app posts as the Slack user you connected, not as a separate bot that has to be invited. A Team Bot added to Slack is different: it gets its own Slack app and posts as itself.
Do plugins come with a Bot template?
The x.ai template guide says first-party plugins are included, and a new copy has to reinstall them. Non-standard plugins such as MCP servers, and other scripts or code, are not included.
Related on bests.one
- What is Grok Bot?
- How to create a Grok Bot
- How Grok Bot routines run — Slack triggers belong to routines, not to the Slack plugin.
- What is a Grok Bot template? — templates carry first-party plugins but not MCP servers.
- Grok Bot template safety checklist
Sources: Use the computer and apps (Grok Bot docs), Connect apps (Grok Bot help), Settings and notifications (Grok Bot docs), Troubleshooting (Grok Bot docs), Team Bots (Grok Bot docs), Grok Bot security (docs), Teams and enterprises (Grok Bot docs), Routines (Grok Bot help), Message and collaborate (Grok Bot docs), Grok Bot overview (docs), Templates for Grok Bot (x.ai guide), Grok Bot changelog. Checked on 2026-10-26.