Grok Bot got worse this week? A retest checklist for business owners while fixes roll out (unofficial guide)

The short answer

If your Bots feel worse this week, you're not alone, but most of what's out there is user reports. Owners on r/GrokBot describe Bots that stopped sending updates, gave weaker answers, used up their weekly usage faster, or refused browser and local-computer jobs they ran last month.

What's official: on Nov 8, 2026 (13:17 UTC), Elon Musk posted on X: "Grok Bot fixes for improved token efficiency and smarter behavior are underway." That's the whole statement. It has no dates, no list of fixes, and no plan or pricing change.

What isn't published yet: release notes for the builds people are running. As of Nov 8, x.ai/changelog/bot still lists v0.78.1 (Oct 27, 2026) as the latest release, while users mention 0.79.x builds.

So the practical move is to measure, not rebuild. Retest a few jobs that matter, write down what you see, and make changes you can undo.

This guide is independent and unofficial. It isn't affiliated with or endorsed by xAI, Grok, X, SpaceXAI, or Cursor.

What owners report (Nov 6–8, 2026)

Quiet Bots: a 24/7 user on a top plan said his lead, chief-of-staff, and pipeline Bots stopped doing their jobs after the update he received, and notifications from his Bots went from a steady stream to sometimes none. Silence was the failure, not an error message.

Usage and quality: another owner said his usage seemed to go less far and reasoning got worse, so he moved to a smaller plan and kept only a few routines that pay. Those are his impressions, not published numbers.

Refusals: several owners said Bots now refuse website or local-computer jobs they used to do (for example a web accounting app, an e-signature tool, or Apple Calendar automation on a Mac). Our connectors vs computer use guide covers the official side of that.

Old work resurfacing: one owner said a Bot suddenly answered a question meant for another Bot weeks earlier, after a week of heavy usage. It's a reminder to check open background work and routines before assuming a leak.

All of the above comes from posts on r/GrokBot. We can't confirm the causes, and results differ by account.

The three-job retest

Pick three real jobs that save you time or make you money. Ideally one uses a connector (like Gmail or your CRM), one uses the Bot's browser, and one is a routine.

1. Use an input you already ran successfully before Nov 6, so you have a good result to compare against.

2. Before you start, note your weekly usage percentage under Settings → Usage & Billing, and your app version (the About dialog under Support shows it, and Copy version info includes the build date).

3. Run each job once in chat. For a routine, open it and choose Test if it offers one. A test does real work, so use a safe input and keep sending, posting, paying, and deleting behind your Allow.

4. Score each job Pass, Partial, or Fail, with one line on what went wrong. Note your usage again afterward.

5. Stop there. Retesting every few hours spends usage and tells you little. Run the same three jobs again after a new release note appears or a week later.

Keep a simple meter log

A five-column note is enough: date, app version, job, result, and usage before and after.

Ask your Bot for a usage breakdown by Bot. The Oct 27 release notes mention these breakdowns, including a catch-all row for deleted Bots, group chats, and other people's Bots. If one Bot dominates, start there.

The log does two things. It shows whether fixes actually helped your jobs, and it gives support something concrete if you report a problem.

Pause what doesn't pay (for now)

The docs say each routine run spends usage, and that an hourly schedule or a busy Slack trigger can use a week of usage in a day. Their advice for usage that runs out fast: pause routines you don't need, then widen schedules and narrow triggers before raising a plan or on-demand limit.

To pause on desktop, click the Bot's name at the top of the chat to open its details. Routines are on the Details tab, and the switch on each row pauses or resumes it. On the phone, turn off Active.

Pausing is reversible. Deleting a routine isn't, so pause first and decide later.

Keep the routines that pass your retest and clearly pay. One owner who downgraded this week did exactly that: fewer routines, only the useful ones.

Make silent failures visible

The scariest report this week wasn't an error. It was Bots going quiet. Add one line to each important routine's instruction: "End every run with a one-line receipt in this chat: done, nothing to do, or failed and why. Never end silently." Then a missing receipt means something broke.

On the phone, a routine's Run history shows recent runs as Running, Succeeded, or Failed, with the reason for a failure. A quick weekly look catches routines that stopped.

If a routine hasn't run, the docs' checklist is: make sure it isn't Paused, check When to run (schedule and time zone), remember a new schedule waits for its next time, and for webhooks confirm the call returned 200 with the current key.

Report it so it gets fixed

Use Send Feedback under Support in the account menu. Include the date, your app version, the job, what you expected, and what happened. Send Feedback lets you ask for a reply.

One clear report with a dated example beats ten angry ones. Your meter log makes that easy.

Should you switch while you wait?

That's your call, and some owners are trying hybrid setups this week. If you're weighing it, our honest fit check covers when other tools fit better and when staying makes sense.

Whatever you decide, keep a copy of what makes your Bots useful: their instructions, the skills you rely on, and a list of routines with their schedules. Ask each Bot to write those into a document you keep.

Be careful with "self-hosted Grok Bot" clones and lookalike Bots being promoted on Reddit this week. Some posters say they're built from leaked code, and other users have asked whether similar tools are legitimate. Don't hand your logins or connected accounts to anything you can't verify.

Official status (as of Nov 8, 2026)

Elon Musk, Nov 8, 2026: "Grok Bot fixes for improved token efficiency and smarter behavior are underway." No timeline or details.

Changelog: x.ai/changelog/bot still shows v0.78.1 (Oct 27, 2026) as the latest release.

Docs: docs.x.ai/grok-bot/skills-routines-and-automations covers routine usage, pausing, Test, Run history, and the "if a routine hasn't run" checklist used above. It also says to retest after a website, app, or source format changes.

Everything else on this page is user reports. We'll update it when release notes are published.