Grok CLI

A conversational AI CLI tool powered by Grok with intelligent text editor capabilities and tool usage.

Features

• 🤖 Conversational AI: Natural language interface powered by Grok-3
• 📝 Smart File Operations: AI automatically uses tools to view, create, and edit files
• ⚡ Bash Integration: Execute shell commands through natural conversation
• 🔧 Automatic Tool Selection: AI intelligently chooses the right tools for your requests
• 💬 Interactive UI: Beautiful terminal interface built with Ink
• 🌍 Global Installation: Install and use anywhere with npm i -g @vibe-kit/grok-cli

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 16+
• Grok API key from X.AI

Global Installation (Recommended)

npm install -g @vibe-kit/grok-cli

Local Development

git clone <repository>
cd grok-cli
npm install
npm run build
npm link

Setup

1. Get your Grok API key from X.AI

2. Set up your API key (choose one method):

Method 1: Environment Variable

export GROK_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

Method 2: .env File

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env and add your API key

Method 3: Command Line Flag

grok --api-key your_api_key_here

Method 4: User Settings File Create ~/.grok/user-settings.json:

{
  "apiKey": "your_api_key_here"
}

Custom Base URL (Optional)

You can configure a custom Grok API endpoint (choose one method):

Method 1: Environment Variable

export GROK_BASE_URL=https://your-custom-endpoint.com/v1

Method 2: Command Line Flag

grok --api-key your_api_key_here --baseurl https://your-custom-endpoint.com/v1

Method 3: User Settings File Add to ~/.grok/user-settings.json:

{
  "apiKey": "your_api_key_here",
  "baseURL": "https://your-custom-endpoint.com/v1"
}

Usage

Interactive Mode

Start the conversational AI assistant:

grok

Or specify a working directory:

grok -d /path/to/project

Headless Mode

Process a single prompt and exit (useful for scripting and automation):

grok --prompt "show me the package.json file"
grok -p "create a new file called example.js with a hello world function"
grok --prompt "run npm test and show me the results" --directory /path/to/project

This mode is particularly useful for:

• CI/CD pipelines: Automate code analysis and file operations
• Scripting: Integrate AI assistance into shell scripts
• Terminal benchmarks: Perfect for tools like Terminal Bench that need non-interactive execution
• Batch processing: Process multiple prompts programmatically

Model Selection

You can specify which AI model to use with the --model parameter:

# Use Grok models
grok --model grok-4-latest
grok --model grok-3-latest
grok --model grok-3-fast

# Use other models (with appropriate API endpoint)
grok --model gemini-2.5-pro --base-url https://api-endpoint.com/v1
grok --model claude-sonnet-4-20250514 --base-url https://api-endpoint.com/v1

Command Line Options

grok [options]

Options:
  -V, --version          output the version number
  -d, --directory <dir>  set working directory
  -k, --api-key <key>    Grok API key (or set GROK_API_KEY env var)
  -u, --base-url <url>   Grok API base URL (or set GROK_BASE_URL env var)
  -m, --model <model>    AI model to use (e.g., grok-4-latest, grok-3-latest)
  -p, --prompt <prompt>  process a single prompt and exit (headless mode)
  -h, --help             display help for command

Custom Instructions

You can provide custom instructions to tailor Grok's behavior to your project by creating a .grok/GROK.md file in your project directory:

mkdir .grok

Create .grok/GROK.md with your custom instructions:

# Custom Instructions for Grok CLI

Always use TypeScript for any new code files.
When creating React components, use functional components with hooks.
Prefer const assertions and explicit typing over inference where it improves clarity.
Always add JSDoc comments for public functions and interfaces.
Follow the existing code style and patterns in this project.

Grok will automatically load and follow these instructions when working in your project directory. The custom instructions are added to Grok's system prompt and take priority over default behavior.

Example Conversations

Instead of typing commands, just tell Grok what you want to do:

💬 "Show me the contents of package.json"
💬 "Create a new file called hello.js with a simple console.log"
💬 "Find all TypeScript files in the src directory"
💬 "Replace 'oldFunction' with 'newFunction' in all JS files"
💬 "Run the tests and show me the results"
💬 "What's the current directory structure?"

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Development mode
npm run dev

# Build project
npm run build

# Run linter
npm run lint

# Type check
npm run typecheck

Architecture

• Agent: Core command processing and execution logic
• Tools: Text editor and bash tool implementations
• UI: Ink-based terminal interface components
• Types: TypeScript definitions for the entire system

License

MIT