Grok Bot skills: how to add one and write your own
Updated on
Grok Bot skills are saved instructions for how to do one task, which any of your Bots can reuse. This guide covers where skills live, how to save or share one, what a good skill spells out, and why one can seem to go missing. It opens with a skill we actually run.
Status: partly our own use. We run one private skill, a keyword-evidence check. Our site Bot used it on 2026-10-28 in the daily signal job and again before writing this page. We have not tested the save, Teach a task, publish or enable steps, so those come from the official Grok Bot docs and changelog. Sources checked on 2026-10-28.
Our skill, part by part
Our skill is called keyword-evidence. Before we write a page or pass on a trending phrase, it answers one question: does anyone actually search for this, and how crowded is it? We keep it in our Grok Bot private skill library, and our site Bot used it in the 2026-10-28 daily signal check and again for this page. Below is its structure, with internal details left out.
| What the docs say to state | What our skill says |
|---|---|
| When to use it | When a trending phrase or topic idea needs proof of search demand before it becomes a page or a video, and before writing any outline. In the daily job, at most five phrases. |
| Required inputs and access | One English phrase. The two YouTube checks need no login. The search-volume check needs a login for a keyword data service and is skipped when there isn't one. |
| The sequence of work | Three checks, in order: YouTube search suggestions (does anyone search for it), the top 10 YouTube results in the US (how crowded it is), then Google US monthly volume and keyword difficulty. |
| How to validate the result | Read the suggestions literally: an empty list means almost nobody searches. Compare two phrases only from the same network location, because results shift by region. |
| What to return | One line of JSON per phrase. Any field it couldn't get is null, never an estimate. |
| What requires approval | A cost cap: at most 10 phrases per paid request. It does not yet name who approves going past that. |
Here is the line for this page's own keyword, run on 2026-10-28 in the skill's output format. The volume check ran later that day, once we found the data-service login:
{"phrase": "grok bot skills", "yt_suggest": ["grok bot skills"], "yt_suggest_raw": ["grok bot skills", "grok exp", "grok game", "grok tutorial"], "yt_serp_gap": "top 10 are general Grok Bot tutorials from the last month; none has skills in the title", "dfs_volume_us": 30, "dfs_kd": null, "checked_at": "2026-10-28"}
Two lessons. First, the null rule is the most useful line in the skill. That morning's run had no login for the volume service, so the three keyword entries it produced came back with null volume fields. The entries said plainly that volume was unknown instead of carrying a guess. Second, a skill is only as good as its access section. Ours said to run the volume check when credentials are available, but not where to find them, so the morning run missed a login that already existed. The fix belongs in the skill text, not in a reminder.
What a Grok Bot skill is (and what it is not)
The docs define a skill as a reusable set of instructions for how to do a task, and a routine as what tells one Bot when to run a workflow. Plugins are the third piece people mix up with skills.
| Piece | What it does | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Skill | The method: steps, decision rules, expected output and safety boundaries. | Private skills, one library shared by all your Bots, plus skills packaged with plugins. |
| Plugin | The access: a structured connection to an app such as Gmail or Slack. | Installed from Connect apps. |
| Routine | The timing: a schedule or an event that starts work for one Bot. | On the Bot that owns it. |
The docs give a clear order: start with a one-time task, make it reliable, save the method as a skill, and only then automate it. Skills are available across your Bots, but a Bot may still need the relevant app or login to use one. For the timing side, see how Grok Bot routines run.
Where skills live
Private skills. The docs say private skills are one library shared by all your Bots. To see them, open Connect apps in the sidebar and select the connected count next to the title. Private skills is where you enable a skill for the current Bot.
Skills from plugins. Connect apps lists packaged skills next to supported apps. The changelog says Bots can use up to 200 skills from installed plugins, up from 24 (2026-10-14), and that a Bot that installs a plugin mid-task can use that plugin's skills right away (2026-10-24). For installing plugins, see the Grok Bot plugins guide.
Skills from a template. A Bot added from a template can carry skills. The 2026-10-26 changelog says those now show under Private skills, labeled From template. The x.ai template guide says first-party plugins and skills are included in a template, but personal or private skills are not shared. The Cursor docs add that a shared Bot link exposes its skills, so remove API keys, internal URLs and customer data first.
How to save, import or share a skill
Save a skill from a finished task
The main path: finish the task once, then ask the Bot to save the process as a named skill, listing what it must include. The docs' own example names the source systems, the risk definitions, the output format, and a rule that contacting customers always needs approval.
Teach a task by demonstration
When Teach a task is available, you can record a browser workflow instead of describing it. Open a one-to-one Bot conversation and its computer view, choose Teach a task, describe the result, do the workflow once, stop, and review the skill the Bot creates. Recording covers visible computer interaction for up to ten minutes and no microphone audio. The result is a draft: add decision rules, failure handling and approval boundaries, and test it on a safe example. It is rolling out gradually.
Import a skill you already have
The official pages we read give no import steps: no skill-file upload, no GitHub option. What they do say: if Teach a task isn't visible, ask the Bot to create a skill from written instructions and the completed task. One third-party install guide suggests the same idea for an existing SKILL.md file: paste its text into a Bot chat and ask the Bot to save it as a private skill. We have not tried that.
Share a skill with your team
On a team, you can publish a private skill. On desktop, open Connect apps, select the connected count, open the skill and choose Publish in its header. If you are on more than one team, pick one under Publish to. A skill needs a description first, because teammates' Bots use it to decide when the skill applies. Afterwards its menu offers Sync, Copy link and Unpublish. Skills that came with the app or with a template can't be published, and a team admin can turn off publishing for members.
What a good skill spells out
The docs list six things a useful skill states: when to use it, required inputs and access, the sequence of work, how to validate the result, what to return, and what requires approval. Our table above follows that list. Three habits we would keep from ours:
- Name the trigger narrowly. "Before any outline" is easier for a Bot to apply than "for SEO work."
- Say where access comes from. A skill that just says "if you have credentials" fails quietly, as ours did once.
- Define missing data. Write what the output looks like when a source fails. Null beats a plausible number.
Writing skills for Claude Code too? The structure carries over, the install path doesn't. See our guide to Claude skills in Claude Code.
When a skill doesn't show up or doesn't run
- You typed / and saw nothing. Expected: the 2026-10-07 changelog says / no longer opens a menu of skills and actions, though some third-party guides still describe it. Ask the Bot for the skill by name; @ is for Bots, groups, routines and apps.
- The Bot says it can't find the skill. Open Connect apps, select the connected count, and enable it for that Bot under Private skills.
- It finds the skill but can't finish. The skill may need an app or login this Bot doesn't have. Check its access section and the plugin's sign-in.
- Plugin skills seem to be missing. The cap is 200 plugin skills, per the 2026-10-14 changelog.
- Publish is refused. Join a team first, or ask an admin if publishing is turned off for members.
What we haven't tested yet
We have not saved a skill through chat, recorded a Teach a task demo, published a skill to a team, imported a SKILL.md file, or hit the plugin-skill cap. Each would need its own test card under how we test before we mark it tested. Plan access is on the official Grok Bot plans page. If you are setting up your first Bot, start with how to create a Grok Bot.
FAQ
Are Grok Skills and Grok Bot skills the same thing?
No. Grok Skills is a feature of the Grok chat app on grok.com, iOS and Android, announced by xAI as persistent expertise that Grok remembers across conversations. Grok Bot skills belong to Grok Bot, the agent app, and live in a private library your Bots share. Grok Build, the coding CLI, reads a third kind from skill folders on disk.
How many skills can a Grok Bot use?
The 2026-10-14 changelog says Bots can use up to 200 skills from installed plugins, up from 24. We found no stated limit for private skills.
Can I share a Grok Bot skill with my team?
Yes, if you are on a team. Open Connect apps, select the connected count next to the title, open the skill and choose Publish. The skill needs a description first. Skills that came with the app or with a Bot's template can't be published.
Why doesn't my skill appear when I type /?
The 2026-10-07 changelog says typing / in the composer no longer opens a menu of skills and actions. The current docs say to ask the Bot for a skill by name. If it still can't find a private skill, enable it for that Bot under Private skills.
Related on bests.one
- How Grok Bot routines run — a routine decides when a skill runs.
- Grok Bot plugins: connect apps, MCP and Slack — plugins bring their own packaged skills.
- How to create a Grok Bot
- Claude skills in Claude Code
- What is a Grok Bot template?
Sources: Skills and routines (Grok Bot docs), Work with Grok Bot (Cursor docs), Shared Bots (Grok Bot docs), Grok Bot FAQ, Grok Bot changelog, Templates for Grok Bot (x.ai guide), Skills in web, iOS, and Android (x.ai news), Skills, plugins and marketplaces (Grok Build docs), Social Media Skills: install guide for Grok Bot (third party). Checked on 2026-10-28.