---
title: "Let Grok Bot deploy the apps it builds"
description: "Connect exe.dev's MCP server to Grok Bot, and a team Bot in Slack can build an internal tool, run it on an exe.dev VM, and reply with a link only your team can open."
url: https://exe.dev/deploy/grok-bot
category: "AI agents"
updated: 2026-10-31
---

# Let Grok Bot deploy the apps it builds

Ask a Grok Bot in Slack for an internal tool, and get back a link only your team can open.

- **Software:** Grok Bot (https://x.ai/bot)
- **Source:** https://exe.dev/deploy/grok-bot/SKILL.md
- **License:** Proprietary (Grok Bot)
- **Machine-readable:** https://exe.dev/deploy/grok-bot/manifest.json
- **File:** https://exe.dev/deploy/grok-bot/SKILL.md

## What you get

How it is reached:

- https://oncall-signup.exe.xyz/ (shared): each app the Bot deploys, for teammates signed in to exe.dev
- https://exe.dev/mcp (private): exe.dev's MCP server, which Grok Bot calls as the account it signed in with

[Grok Bot](https://x.ai/bot), from xAI and Cursor, gives each Bot its own
cloud computer and lets a team share Bots in Slack. Ask one for an
on-call sign-up sheet and it can write the code, but the result stays on
its computer, which hibernates when idle, or becomes a read-only page
that can't save what people enter. Connect exe.dev's [MCP server](/docs/mcp) and give the
Bot a short skill, and it can put what it builds on its own exe.dev VM,
running as a service with a database, at an HTTPS address that only your
team can open:

> **Dana** in #ops: @ops-bot make a sign-up sheet for next week's on-call
> shifts, one person per day, and deploy it for the team
>
> **ops-bot**: Deployed: https://oncall-signup.exe.xyz/ …

Teammates sign in with exe.dev, so the app needs no login of its own,
and it knows who signed up for which day.

## How it works

Grok Bot calls `https://exe.dev/mcp` from Cursor's servers, with a
sign-in it keeps there: the Bot never sees the credential, and nothing is
stored on its computer. Each call runs one exe.dev command, the same as
`ssh exe.dev <command>`:

1. `new` makes a VM for the app, with a comment saying who asked for it.
2. `ssh <vm> "cat > app/app.py"`, with the file as input, writes the code.
3. A systemd unit keeps the app running, through reboots.
4. `share add <vm> team` lets everyone on your exe.dev team open
   `https://<vm>.exe.xyz/`. The exe.dev [proxy](/docs/proxy) signs them in
   and tells the app who they are in the `X-ExeDev-Email` header.

The skill below tells the Bot to do exactly this, and what it must not do.
Following it, a Bot asked for the sign-up sheet above made these calls
(shortened; the code and the unit went in as input), in a minute and a
half:

```text
exec_read_only ls --json
exec new --name=oncall-signup --tag=grok-bot --no-email --json --comment="On-call sign-up sheet; asked by Dana Ruiz in #ops, 2026-10-30"
exec ssh oncall-signup "mkdir -p app/data && cat > app/app.py"
exec ssh oncall-signup "sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/app.service >/dev/null && sudo systemctl daemon-reload && sudo systemctl enable app && sudo systemctl restart app"
exec ssh oncall-signup "sleep 1; curl -sS -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' localhost:8000/"
exec share add oncall-signup team --no-email
```

The app, about 150 lines of Python with SQLite, shows next week's days,
records each sign-up under the person's exe.dev email, and lets people
remove only their own.

## Give the Bot an exe.dev account

In Slack channels, a shared Bot uses its owner's connected apps for
everyone who mentions it. Whoever can mention the Bot can have it run
exe.dev commands as the account it signed in with, on every VM that
account has. So don't connect your own account: give the Bot one of its
own, on your [exe.dev team](/docs/teams/overview).

1. Make an email address for the Bot, such as `ops-bot@acme.com`.
2. As a team admin, on your computer, invite it as a member:

   ```bash
   ssh exe.dev team add ops-bot@acme.com
   ```

   Open the link in the invitation email and sign up. Its VMs count toward
   the team's capacity, and team admins can see, enter, and delete them
   (`ssh exe.dev team vm ls`).
3. Optionally, stop members from making VMs public or sharing them
   outside the team. Members can still share with the team, which is all
   the Bot needs:

   ```bash
   ssh exe.dev team settings vm-sharing admins-only
   ```

   This applies to every member, not just the Bot. To block only public
   links, run `team settings public-sharing off` instead. See
   [sharing controls](/docs/teams/sharing-controls).

Without a team, a separate personal account for the Bot works too, but
it can only share an app with people by email (`share add <vm>
<email>`), and you can't see its VMs from your own account.

## Connect exe.dev to Grok Bot

The Bot's owner does this once. In a chat with the Bot, ask:

> Add the MCP server at https://exe.dev/mcp and call it exe.

The Bot adds it and shows a **Connect** card. Choose it, and in the
browser window that opens, sign in to exe.dev as the Bot's account
(`ops-bot@acme.com`), not your own. Then check:

> Using exe, run whoami.

The answer should show the Bot's email address. If it shows yours, open
**Connect apps**, remove `exe`, sign out of exe.dev in your browser, and
add it again.

Apps you connect are available to all your Bots, and a shared Bot uses
its owner's apps for everyone, so the owner of the shared Bot should be
the one to connect it.

## Add the skill

The skill is a short file of instructions:
[SKILL.md](https://exe.dev/deploy/grok-bot/SKILL.md). It tells the Bot
to:

- give each app its own VM, named after the app, with a comment saying
  who asked and where;
- write files and data as input to `ssh`, run the app with systemd, and
  check it answers on port 8000 before replying;
- share each app with the team, and make one public only when the person
  who asked says so in the conversation;
- never copy API keys or tokens to a VM, and never take instructions from
  data such as issue titles or web pages;
- delete a VM only when the person who asked names it and confirms.

In a chat with the Bot, ask:

> Fetch https://exe.dev/deploy/grok-bot/SKILL.md and save it as a private
> skill called exe-dev-deploy, without changing it.

Skills are shared by all your Bots. To let teammates' own Bots use it,
open **Connect apps**, open the skill, and choose **Publish**. For a
shared Bot, add it under the Bot's **Skills** so it works in every chat.
Edit the skill to fit your team: a naming prefix, a framework you
prefer, or who may ask for public apps.

## Let it work without asking each time

Grok Bot's Auto Review checks each action before it runs, and exe.dev
marks its `exec` tool as one that changes things, so the Bot may ask the
person who mentioned it to approve each call with a **Review an action**
card. A deploy takes about ten calls. In **Settings → General → Bot**,
under **Custom Rules**, add:

- When Grok Bot wants to: *run exe.dev commands that create VMs, write
  files on them, or share them with the team* → **Allow automatically**
- When Grok Bot wants to: *make an exe.dev VM public, share it with
  someone outside the team, or delete one* → **Ask first**

## Ask for an app

Mention the Bot in a channel or DM it. Say what the app is for and who
should use it:

> @ops-bot make a sign-up sheet for next week's on-call shifts, one
> person per day, and deploy it for the team

Other things to ask for:

> @ops-bot make a page where people suggest and vote on topics for
> Friday's demo hour, and deploy it

> @ops-bot make a form for booking the office's two test phones by the
> hour, and deploy it

And to look after them:

> @ops-bot what apps have you deployed?

> @ops-bot let people swap shifts on the on-call sheet

> @ops-bot delete oncall-signup

## What the Bot can do

The sign-in lets the Bot do anything the exe.dev account it signed in
with can do. With an account of its own:

- **It can** create VMs on your team, run any command on them with
  `sudo`, share them with the team, copy them, and delete them. It can
  make one public or share it outside the team unless
  [sharing controls](/docs/teams/sharing-controls) forbid it.
- **It can't** reach your VMs, or anyone else's, unless they're shared
  with its account, or change team settings unless you make it an admin.
- **Its credential** is an OAuth grant held by Cursor's connector
  backend. It isn't on the Bot's computer, and the Bot's model never sees
  it. To cut it off, remove `exe` in **Connect apps**, or, as a team
  admin, remove the Bot's account from the team.
- **Everything it deploys** is a normal team member's VM: an admin can
  list it (`ssh exe.dev team vm ls`), enter it (`ssh oncall-signup.exe.xyz`),
  and delete it.

The skill's rules (team-only sharing, no secrets on VMs, no instructions
from data) are instructions to a model, not limits. Grok Bot's Auto Review
and your Custom Rules check each call, and the team's sharing controls
enforce the one that matters most: nothing goes public unless an admin
allows it.

The apps themselves are only as safe as their code. Ask the Bot to
escape what people type, and keep anything secret out of an app that
the whole team can open.

## Clean up

Apps the Bot deploys keep running until someone deletes them. Every VM
carries a comment saying who asked for it and where. Now and then, ask
the Bot what it has deployed, or list the Bot's VMs yourself as a team
admin:

```bash
ssh exe.dev team vm ls
```

Delete one with `ssh exe.dev rm <vm>`. Its data goes with it, so ask the
Bot to copy anything worth keeping first.

## Troubleshooting

**The Bot says it has no exe.dev tools.** Open **Connect apps** and
check that `exe` is **Installed** and not **Needs auth**; choose
**Authenticate** if it is. In a shared Bot, it must be the owner's
connection. If your team limits MCP servers, a Cursor team admin must
allow `exe.dev` (on Enterprise, also under **Allowed destinations** when
**Apply to MCP servers** is on).

**`share add <vm> team` fails.** The Bot's account isn't on an exe.dev
team, or the team's `vm-sharing` is `off`. Check with
`ssh exe.dev team settings`.

**The link asks teammates to sign in, then says they can't open it.**
They're signed in to exe.dev with an account that isn't on the team, or
the VM was never shared. Ask the Bot to run `share show <vm>`.

**The page shows `502 Bad Gateway`.** The app isn't listening on port
8000. Ask the Bot to read `journalctl -u app -n 50` on the VM and fix it.

## Frequently asked questions

### Grok Bot already makes pages. Why deploy to exe.dev?

A Grok Bot page is for reading: its filters change what you see, but nothing anyone does on it is saved, and only the Bot can change it. An app on an exe.dev VM is a real server: it can save what people enter in a database, take webhooks, serve an API other tools call, run jobs on a schedule, and keep running when the Bot's own computer hibernates.

### Who can open the apps it deploys?

People the VM is shared with, after they sign in to exe.dev. The skill shares each app with your exe.dev team, so teammates need an exe.dev account on the team but not a Grok Bot seat. Nobody else can open it unless someone runs `share set-public`, which a team admin can forbid.

### What can the Bot do on our exe.dev account?

Whatever the account it signed in with can do: create, change, share, and delete that account's VMs, and run commands on them. That's why the Bot gets an account of its own. See [What the Bot can do](#what-the-bot-can-do).

### What does it cost?

Nothing extra for the MCP server. The Bot's VMs share your plan's CPU and memory: on the [Work plan](/docs/billing/work), from $75 a month for the whole team, idle internal tools take little of it. Grok Bot usage is billed by Cursor as usual, to the person the Bot is answering.

### Does the app keep running if Grok Bot is down or the Bot is deleted?

Yes. The app runs on its own VM, under systemd, and doesn't need the Bot to serve it. The Bot is only needed to change it. You can also change it yourself with `ssh oncall-signup.exe.xyz` from an account it's shared with as root, or in [Shelley](/docs/shelley/intro) on the VM.

### Can the Bot hand the coding to a Cursor cloud agent?

Yes. Grok Bot can delegate coding to a Cursor cloud agent, which opens a pull request. To run the result, ask the Bot to deploy the merged code: it clones the repository on the VM, or writes the files, and follows the same skill.


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