grok-build

The coding assistant is the orchestrator: it plans, writes self-contained task specs, dispatches them to Grok Build headlessly, reviews every diff, and owns the final result. Grok is the fast, cheap executor. Full CLI details and verified behaviors: references/cli.md.

When to delegate vs keep with the orchestrator

Delegate to Grok	Keep with the orchestrator
Plan tasks with clear acceptance criteria	Ambiguous requirements, architecture decisions
Boilerplate, scaffolding, CRUD	Deep cross-file debugging
Mechanical refactors	Security-sensitive code
Test writing from clear specs	Anything touching production infrastructure
UI components from mockups/specs	Tasks where writing the spec ≈ doing the work

When in doubt, keep it with the orchestrator.

Session preflight (once, before the first dispatch)

1. grok update --check --json — if updateAvailable is true, run grok update and confirm with grok --version.
2. grok models — if it errors or reports logged out, STOP and ask the user to run grok login.

Per-task loop (sequential — the default)

1. Spec. Write a self-contained task file (template below) to a temp directory OUTSIDE the target repo — the harness scratchpad if one is available, else the OS temp dir. Never write it inside the target repo. Grok has zero conversation context: no one-liner prompts, ever.

   • POSIX: mkdir -p "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/grok-specs", then write task.md there.
   • Windows (PowerShell): New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$env:TEMP\grok-specs", then write task.md there.

2. Clean state. No uncommitted source changes — commit or stash first, so the post-run diff is exactly Grok's work. Ignore build artifacts (__pycache__, dist/, etc.); if they show in git status, they're usually just un-gitignored, not your concern. Never dispatch on a dirty source tree.

3. Dispatch.

   POSIX:

   grok --prompt-file <task-file> \
     --output-format json \
     --always-approve \
     --max-turns 30 \
     --cwd <repo>
   

   Windows (PowerShell) — backtick line-continuation:

   grok --prompt-file <task-file> `
     --output-format json `
     --always-approve `
     --max-turns 30 `
     --cwd <repo>
   

   Parse the JSON output and save sessionId. (--always-approve is required for headless runs — --permission-mode acceptEdits silently cancels edits with no interactive approver. See references/cli.md.) For a high-stakes task, add --check so Grok self-verifies before you review; skip it otherwise (it ~doubles latency).

4. Review gate — non-negotiable.

   • Read the diff yourself (git diff -- <files from the spec> to skip artifact noise): does it do the task, only the task, and match repo conventions?
   • Run the acceptance commands from the spec.
   • Pass → commit with a clear message following the repo's convention → next task.
   • Fail → fix-up: grok --resume <sessionId> -p "<specific feedback>" --always-approve --output-format json. Max 2 fix-up rounds. Still failing → revert Grok's changes (git checkout -- .; git clean -fd for new files), do the task yourself, and tell the user Grok couldn't complete it.

Task spec template

# Task: <one-line title>

## Context
- Repo: <path> — <one line on what the project is>
- Conventions: <test runner, formatter, a good example file to imitate>

## Files
- Modify: <path>
- Create: <path>

## Task
<precise description of the change>

## Constraints
- Do not modify any files other than those listed above.
- <other constraints>

## Acceptance criteria
- `<exact command>` <expected result>

Executing a Markdown implementation plan

• One plan task per dispatch, in order.
• Check off the plan's task checkboxes (- [ ] → - [x]) as each task lands and passes the review gate.
• If the plan explicitly marks tasks as independent, see Parallel dispatch below; otherwise stay sequential.

Parallel dispatch (opt-in exception, not the default)

Only when a plan explicitly marks tasks independent: dispatch each with --worktree=<task-slug>, run concurrently, then review and merge one worktree at a time through the same review gate. Merge conflicts usually eat the savings — prefer sequential.

Failure handling

Failure	Action
stopReason: "Cancelled", empty text, no diff	Missing --always-approve — retry with it
CLI error / timeout	Retry once; then do the task yourself and note the fallback
Auth expired	Stop; ask the user to run grok login
2 fix-up rounds exhausted	Revert Grok's diff; the orchestrator finishes the task
Dirty tree at dispatch	Refuse; commit/stash first

Models

Default grok-4.5. Add -m grok-composer-2.5-fast only for trivial mechanical tasks.