Why this matters
grok.com is a website. You type. It answers. The files on your computer stay on your computer. That is the right desk for an email draft. It is the wrong desk for this pathway.
Grok Build is a program you install. You start it in a folder. It can read the files in that folder, run commands on your machine, and — if you allow it — change those files. Until it is installed and sitting in a folder you chose, you do not have a practice surface. A screenshot of a chat does not count.
You do not need to be a software person to take this step. You need a computer you control, a Grok account that can use Build, and a small pile of your own files — letters, a price list, a meeting note. You do not need Git. You do not need GitHub. You do not need a programming language.
This module is official install, first launch, and a read-only look at a folder you already own. The artifact is a version string, the path you launched in, and proof you refused a write.
Teach
Two products, one name
People say “Grok” for both. They are not the same job.
- grok.com — a browser tab. Good for writing, search, images, everyday questions. It does not sit inside your Documents folder.
- Grok Build — a terminal program named
grok. It runs as a full-screen TUI (terminal user interface). It sees the folder you started it in. Later modules let it edit. Today it only looks.
If you only open grok.com, you are not in Pathway C yet. You are in a chat.
You need a real terminal. On Windows that is Windows Terminal plus PowerShell. The old cmd.exe window is the wrong desk. On a Mac, Terminal.app is enough. On Linux, use the terminal you already have.
Official install
Install the latest stable release. These are the official commands. Do not invent a third one.
Windows (PowerShell) — this is the native installer, and it is the path most Windows learners should use:
irm https://x.ai/cli/install.ps1 | iex
The PowerShell installer puts the binary at %USERPROFILE%\.grok\bin and adds that folder to your User PATH. Close the terminal. Open a new PowerShell window. A window that was already open will not see the new PATH.
macOS, Linux, or Windows via Git Bash:
curl -fsSL https://x.ai/cli/install.sh | bash
WSL users get the Linux binary from that bash installer.
To pin a specific version (only if someone has given you a reason):
curl -fsSL https://x.ai/cli/install.sh | bash -s 0.1.42
$env:GROK_VERSION="0.1.42"; irm https://x.ai/cli/install.ps1 | iex
Those version strings are the official pinning pattern. Do not treat 0.1.42 as the current release. Install latest unless you have been told otherwise.
Verify:
grok --version
Write down the whole line. Update later with grok update.
Do not invent other installers. No npm i -g. No random GitHub release page. No .exe from a friend or a video description. If grok is not found after the PowerShell install, you are almost always in an old terminal, or you ran the command in cmd.exe instead of PowerShell.
Sign in, then pick a folder
Start it:
grok
On first launch, Grok opens your browser so you can sign in at grok.com. After you finish, it stores credentials in ~/.grok/auth.json (on Windows that is %USERPROFILE%\.grok\auth.json). That file is a credential. Do not paste it into chat, a ticket, or a shared drive.
If the browser never opens, run grok login. You need a browser for this module. Login without a local browser, and API keys, are C1.
Where you launch is the folder it can see. If you type grok while you are in your home directory, it can see a lot. That is a bad first desk. You will make a scratch folder — a small folder you created on purpose — and put a few of your own files in it.
Good scratch:
- A new folder such as
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\grok-scratch or ~/Documents/grok-scratch
- Two or three files you already have: a letter, a price list, a meeting note, a saved email you stripped of other people’s private details
- Copies, if you are nervous. Do not point Grok at the only copy of a will or a tax return.
Bad scratch:
- This LMS, a client folder, someone else’s machine
- Your entire Documents tree, Desktop, or
C:\
- A folder you cannot afford to have touched
You are not making a programming project. You are making a small, honest pile of files so the program has something real to look at.
You can also start in a folder without changing directory first:
grok --cwd path\to\that\folder
Same rule: that path must be the scratch folder.
The TUI, just enough
Two panes:
- Scrollback — what happened. Your prompt, Grok’s answers, tool calls.
- Prompt — the line at the bottom. Type and press Enter.
Tab moves between them. With scrollback focused, arrows select a block; Enter opens it. While a turn is running, Esc cancels it. Type /quit to leave.
Today’s only prompt is read-only. Reads and a short list of look-only commands run without asking. Edits and anything that can write wait for you. If a card asks to change a file, create a file, or run a command that writes — refuse.
You are proving two things: the program is installed, and you are still the person who decides whether a file changes.
Worked example
A shop owner on Windows. She has a price list, prices-spring.txt, and a letter to a vendor. She is not a developer.
- Open Windows Terminal, a new PowerShell tab.
- Run
irm https://x.ai/cli/install.ps1 | iex. Wait until it finishes.
- Close that tab. Open another.
- Run
grok --version. Write down the string.
- Make a scratch folder and copy two of her own files into it — not the only copies:
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\grok-scratch" | Out-Null
Copy-Item "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\prices-spring.txt" "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\grok-scratch\"
Copy-Item "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\vendor-letter.txt" "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\grok-scratch\"
Set-Location "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\grok-scratch"
If her files live somewhere else, she copies from there. If she only has Word documents, she exports or saves a .txt copy. The point is real words she wrote, not a coding sample from this course.
- From that folder, run
grok. Sign in in the browser if asked.
- Send exactly:
What folder is this? List the files you can see. Summarize each one in one sentence. Do not edit anything. Do not create files. Do not run anything that writes.
- Watch the scrollback. She should see a tool call (
list_dir or a read of her files). If Grok asks to rewrite the price list, add a README, or “set up the project,” she refuses.
Tab, select the tool-call block, Enter to open it, then leave it./quit.
On a Mac or Linux the installer is the curl command. The folder is ~/Documents/grok-scratch. The prompt does not change.
Your turn
Do the exercise c0a-l01-e1 in Grok Build. Not on grok.com. Not in a notes app. You will install (or prove an existing install), launch in a scratch folder of your files, and keep three artifacts: the version string, the folder you launched in, and what you refused.
If Grok offers to tidy the folder, add a README, or “turn this into a project,” say no. Today is install, a folder, and a refusal.
Common failure
grok is not recognized after the PowerShell installer. You are in a terminal that started before the PATH change, or you are in cmd.exe. Open a new Windows Terminal PowerShell tab. If it still fails, confirm %USERPROFILE%\.grok\bin\grok.exe exists. Do not download a second copy from somewhere else.
You launched in the wrong folder. Grok’s working directory is wherever you ran the command (or --cwd). If you see your whole Documents tree, or this LMS, /quit, cd to the scratch folder, start again.
You used grok.com. A website transcript is not this exercise. The version string comes from a shell. The folder comes from a TUI session.
You let it write. “Just a small README” is still a write. Reject the card. If something already landed, copy your originals back in and note that you refused the next write.
You pointed it at everything you own. Desktop, Downloads, a shared drive. /quit. Make the small folder. Copies, not heirlooms.
What’s next
C0b is what a repository is — a folder plus history, not a website. Still no GitHub account. You will turn a scratch folder into a folder Git can remember, then open Grok Build there. If install already works, keep the same machine.
