How it works

Grok Gadgets lets your Grok Bot use small devices: a display, a light, a button. You talk to Grok Bot as usual, and it uses the device for you.

There are three people in this story:

• The builder makes a gadget with our SDKs and gives or sells it.
• The end user owns the gadget and talks to their own Grok Bot.
• Grok Bot runs the chat and calls the gadget's tools when you ask.

The picture

 End user                       Builder's relay                 Home
 Grok Bot on phone or Mac       (an always-on server)
 ┌──────────────┐  HTTPS +     ┌──────────────────┐   TLS,      ┌──────────┐
 │ "Show hello  │  sign-in     │ gadget tools     │   outbound  │  gadget  │
 │  on my       │ ───────────▶ │ device listener  │ ◀────────── │  (Wi-Fi) │
 │  display"    │              └──────────────────┘             └──────────┘
 └──────────────┘

• The gadget connects out from the home Wi-Fi to the relay. No router setup and no computer at home.
• Grok Bot connects to the relay with a one-time sign-in.
• The relay passes Grok Bot's request to the gadget and passes the answer back.

What each person does

Builder (once):

1. Build the gadget with the ESP32 SDK and test it with the simulator.
2. Run one relay for all their gadgets. It is the open-source gateway on a small server.
3. Give each gadget its identity and the relay's address, then ship it.

End user (once per builder):

1. Plug in the gadget and join it to home Wi-Fi.
2. Add the builder's address in Grok Bot and sign in once.
3. Talk. It works from the phone and from the Mac.

Common questions

Can the builder's relay see my Grok Bot? No. Grok Bot signs in to the relay, not the other way round. The relay only receives the gadget requests that your Grok Bot sends: the device, the command and the device's reported state. It never sees your chats, your account or your Wi-Fi password. You can remove the connection at any time.

Do I need a special Grok Bot? No. You keep the Grok Bot you use every day. The gadgets are one more connection in it, on the phone and on the Mac.

What if I do not want to use the builder's relay? The software is open source. You can run your own relay for your own gadgets. The Mac-free route guide shows how.

I own gadgets from four builders. Do I need four apps? No. Add each builder's address to Grok Bot once and sign in once for each. Then one Grok Bot chat can use all of them: "dim the lamp and show the weather on the desk display". This is the design; so far one gadget server has been tested.

What happens if the relay is down? Grok Bot tells you it cannot reach the gadget. Nothing is queued. The gadget shows Relay... and reconnects by itself when the relay is back.

Can a button on the gadget start a Grok Bot chat? No. Button presses wait on the relay until Grok Bot reads them.

What works today and what is planned

Today a person needs a USB cable, a terminal and an approval step on the server. The later phases remove those steps for end users. See the roadmap and ADR 009.

Next: Connect your Grok Bot · Run the gateway away from your Mac