xAI

xAI Auth And Setup

Grok Code is xAI-only in this build. If xAI is not configured, the product still opens, but most real work stays blocked until you connect an API key.

Ways To Provide Credentials

You can authenticate in any of these ways:

  • the TUI wizard with /connect
  • the CLI with grok login
  • environment variables such as XAI_API_KEY
  • config values in ~/.grok/config.toml

Optional management access can come from:

  • XAI_MANAGEMENT_API_KEY
  • the management key field in /connect

Use the TUI:

text
/connect

The guided flow has five user-facing stages:

  1. Setup: current readiness and next step
  2. API Key: paste a new key or keep the existing one
  3. Advanced: optional management key, region, response storage
  4. Model: choose the working model and profile
  5. Ready or Repair: close when ready, or fix auth if validation failed

If your current key is already valid, you can leave the API key field blank and continue.

CLI Setup

If you want a simple terminal prompt instead of the TUI:

bash
grok login

What it does:

  • prompts for the API key
  • validates it against the current xAI endpoint
  • stores it locally
  • keeps your current default model selection

Check the result:

bash
grok whoami

Advanced Settings In /connect

Region

The wizard offers:

  • Auto (global)
  • us-east-1
  • eu-west-1

grok whoami shows the effective endpoint after you save.

Response Storage

You can leave remote response storage on or turn it off.

Practical rule:

  • leave it on unless you have a reason to disable it
  • if you change it, verify the final state with grok whoami

Management Key

The management key is optional. Grok Code will show whether it is:

  • env-managed
  • stored
  • not configured

Model, Profiles, And Reasoning

Grok Code separates model choice from routing profile.

Model Choice

Common xAI models in this build include:

  • grok-code-fast-1
  • Grok 4.20 reasoning and non-reasoning variants
  • Grok 4.1 Fast reasoning and non-reasoning variants
  • grok-4.20-multi-agent

Profile Choice

Profiles are routing presets. The most important user-visible ones are:

  • Balanced
  • Research fast
  • Research deep

Important behavior:

  • grok-code-fast-1 manages reasoning internally
  • xAI multi-agent depth is profile-driven, not controlled by a separate /thinking level
  • some model families expose a reasoning/non-reasoning toggle instead of a free-form effort setting

Inspect Current Auth And Runtime State

Use:

bash
grok whoami

It shows:

  • connection status
  • effective endpoint
  • selected model
  • whether the runtime is using local tools or server-side research behavior
  • response storage
  • region
  • management key presence

Inside the TUI, Control and /status give the same kind of readiness context.

Common Auth States

Not Connected

What it means:

  • Grok Code cannot find a usable xAI key

What to do:

  • use /connect
  • or run grok login
  • or set XAI_API_KEY

Invalid

What it means:

  • a stored or provided key failed validation

What to do:

  • reopen /connect
  • follow the repair flow
  • paste a fresh key

Rate-Limited

What it means:

  • one or more stored xAI accounts are temporarily blocked

What to do:

  • run grok wait to inspect or wait for recovery
  • if you rotate between local keys, Grok Code can sometimes stay usable through another ready account

Unsupported Auth Paths

  • OAuth is unavailable in the xAI-only build
  • voice input is disabled and does not provide an alternate auth path

If setup still feels wrong after all of this, start with Troubleshooting.

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