Guide

Grok Bot troubleshooting: what to try first, and what not to reset

By Atlas AI Resources · Published November 9, 2026

When a Bot goes quiet or the computer won’t connect, the tempting move is the biggest button. Usually that’s the wrong one. This page starts with our own order of fixes, then summarizes what SpaceXSI’s docs page Troubleshooting says for each common problem.

1. Our advice: go from least to most destructive

Sections 1 to 3 are our own advice, not SpaceXSI’s. The docs open with the same principle: start with the least destructive step.

1. Read the Bot’s last message and the computer card. A stuck Bot is often waiting on you: a question, an approval, a login, a CAPTCHA, or a secret.
2. Check the status page. If status.cursor.com shows a Grok Bot incident, wait it out. Nothing on your side fixes a service problem.
3. Fully quit and reopen the app. On a Mac that means Quit from the menu bar, not closing the window. Your Bots’ cloud work can keep going while the app is closed.
4. Retry once with a fresh message. If the same prompt fails again, copy the request ID before you do anything else.
5. Update, then Recover, then Reset, in that order. Only when the computer itself is the problem, and never during an incident.

2. Our advice: what not to reach for

• Don’t Reset to find missing chats or Bots. Chats are stored separately from the computer. Check Hidden Bots and your other devices first.
• Don’t Reset because a website times out. Per the docs, Update, Recover, and Reset don’t change how sites treat the computer’s network.
• Don’t reinstall to fix a sign-in loop. The docs say it usually doesn’t help.
• Don’t paste a password or code into chat, and don’t put secrets in a support email. Use Vault or a Secure Form for passwords and codes, and take over the computer only for SSO, passkeys, or a CAPTCHA.
• Don’t stack fixes. Never start a second Update or Reset while one is running; the docs warn that repeated resets can interrupt a restore.

3. Our advice: make routines easy to debug

• Give each routine a clear name and one job. When one fails, you can tell which Bot and which source system to check.
• Turn on notifications for Bots that run routines. Approvals from unattended work expire, so a missed card means a skipped action.
• Test with safe input only. A test run can do real work, so point it at something harmless.
• Keep a short log. Ask the Bot to note each run’s result in a file, so a silent week stands out. See scheduling AI agent routines.

4. Per the docs: sign-in doesn’t complete

Per Troubleshooting:

• Keep Grok Bot open while the browser signs you in, confirm the Cursor sign-in succeeded, and return to the app yourself if it doesn’t regain focus.
• With SSO, finish your organization’s login rather than using a personal account. A seat on a self-serve Grok Business plan uses Sign in with Grok.
• For a loop or persistent error: update the app, sign out and back in, clear cookies for cursor.com and x.ai and try a private window, and try signing in at x.ai/bot on desktop. If the error is new, waiting 30 to 60 minutes can clear it.
• Some failures, including looped sign-in flows and phone verification blocks, can’t be fixed from your side. Contact support with the exact error and what you tried.

5. Per the docs: the computer can’t be reached or is still setting up

• Setup and updates take minutes. If progress is still changing, wait. Keep waiting is the safe choice on a slow update unless it looks stuck.
• Recovery order. Wait and choose Retry while it says Reconnecting; fully quit and reopen; run Update Bot’s Computer under Settings → Computer if one is offered; choose Recover computer; use Reset only after those steps. Updating and recovering need the desktop app.
• What each one keeps. A software update keeps everything. A full computer update, Recover, and Reset keep your Bots, files, and logins but remove installed apps and packages, and Recover and Reset can lose very recent changes. Folders like node_modules or a Python virtual environment aren’t saved.
• If Recover or Reset fails, retry once, then stop and contact support. If Bots recently disappeared or saving failed, contact support before using either one.

6. Per the docs: a Bot seems stuck or won’t reply

• Check the status in the sidebar and conversation, open the computer to see if it’s waiting on a page, and look for a pending question, approval, login, CAPTCHA, or secret request.
• Send a short redirect if the approach is wrong, or a direct “Stop now” if the work should end.
• “Bot failed to respond” or “Model provider is overloaded” with no incident: wait a moment and resend.
• If the Bot says you hit your usage limit, it isn’t broken. Weekly usage resets each week; see Grok Bot usage limits and cost.

7. Per the docs: chats, Bots, or files look missing

• Fully quit and reopen, check the same account on another device, open Hidden Bots (Show Hidden Bots on the phone), and confirm you’re in the same Cursor account.
• Deleting files on the computer doesn’t delete chats. Synced files usually come back when the computer reopens. Files only on your own Mac or PC aren’t covered, so keep your own backups.
• When the cloud computer is low on disk, the Bot tells you once, names the biggest files, and deletes nothing unless you say yes.

8. Per the docs: websites and apps

• Site keeps asking for login. Take over the computer, sign in, finish two-factor or the CAPTCHA, then tell the Bot to continue. Passkeys, Face ID, and fingerprint on your own device don’t work on the Bot’s computer. More in Grok Bot Vault and secure sign-in.
• Site times out. Some sites drop connections from the shared network. Settings → Computer → Your computer has Route traffic through this computer and Execution on this computer, which send the work through your own desktop.
• Plugin won’t authenticate. Added means installed, not signed in. Open Connect apps, choose Authenticate, and finish within about 10 minutes. If that fails, Remove and add it again.
• Attachment can’t be read. Limits are 25 MB per image, 250 MB per document or audio file, and 1 GB per video, with no more than 20 files per message on desktop. Encrypted files won’t open.

9. Per the docs: routines and approvals

• Routine didn’t run. Check it’s enabled, the schedule and time zone are right, the owning Bot still exists, its plugins are still authenticated, the computer can reach the source, and usage isn’t paused. Then read its run history. For event triggers, confirm the channel, repository, and matching rule still exist.
• Approval expired. An approval from work that started without you, like a routine or a message from another Bot, expires after about 30 minutes and the action doesn’t run. Ask the Bot to try again.
• An action keeps asking. Look for a matching Ask first rule in Custom Rules, under the Auto-review switch in Settings → General (on the phone, Settings → Bot → Custom Rules), including team rules. Ask first wins over Allow automatically.

10. Per the docs: before you contact support

Send feedback from the account menu under Support → Send Feedback, or email [email protected] from your account’s email. Bring:

• Your account email, Grok Bot version, and platform (Support → About → Copy version info)
• What you were doing, and the Bot or routine name
• The exact error or a screenshot, the approximate time and time zone, and the request ID (right-click the message, then Copy request ID)
• What you already tried

Never include passwords, one-time codes, private keys, or secret values.

Useful public resources

Related: Complete Grok Bot setup guide · Grok Bot usage limits and cost · Grok Bot Vault and secure sign-in · Scheduling AI agent routines · Small AI fleets and the shared computer · Grok Bot mobile app