Bot Templates: Share a Configured Bot with Your Team
In the previous lesson, we set up Routines for the task. Now this Bot has responsibilities, skills, and a schedule—in other words, a well-tuned asset. This lesson covers Grok Bot templates: package a configured Bot into a single link and send it to a colleague; they open it, preview, add it, and get on their own account a copy carrying the same identity, description, skills, and routines.
First, remember two boundaries—every step below revolves around them:
- Templates carry configuration, not privacy: the copy includes responsibilities, skills, and automations; your cloud computer, logins, and conversation history are never shared with the recipient.
- A template gives each person their own copy. Want your team to chat with the same Bot? That's a shared Bot, covered in the next lesson, Multi-Bot Collaboration.
The whole process takes about 8 minutes. There are only four core steps: Share → Create a copy → Publish → Copy link.
What You'll Be Able to Do After This Lesson
- Complete the four steps Share → Create a copy → Publish → Copy link to publish your well-tuned Bot as a shareable template link
- State what a Grok Bot template makes public (identity, description, skills, routines) and what it doesn't (your cloud computer, logins, conversation history), and clear out sensitive content before publishing
- Let colleagues preview the link on x.ai and use Add to Grok Bot to get a copy on their own account
- Use Update template to push your latest changes to shared copies, and use Delete Template to turn off the link at any time
- Open the template gallery via Connect apps → Bot templates and use Import Bot to import ready-made Bots shared by others
Your Current Struggles
- "I spent two weeks tuning an expense-reconciliation Bot. When a colleague wanted the same one, all I could do was screenshot my responsibility description and skill steps piece by piece and send them over—his recreation always fell short."
- "When new hires join, I have them configure a Bot themselves following the docs, but the approval boundaries they end up with are completely different from mine."
- "I want to share my Bot, but I'm afraid the API key, internal links, and customer data will leak out along with it."
When to Use This Technique
Use this when you need to:
- Get colleagues started from the same configuration: same responsibilities, skills, and routines, with each person nurturing their own Bot on their own account
- Send a well-tuned persona to many people in a standardized way—one copy per person, no interference between them
- Start from a template someone else shared and skip the from-scratch configuration phase
And you don't want to:
- Screenshot and copy-paste responsibility descriptions and skill steps to hand-deliver a configuration manually
- Hand over your cloud computer, login sessions, or conversation history
- Have everyone crowd into the same Bot to chat (that's the shared Bot scenario—see the next lesson)
🎒 Before You Start
- Completed Skills and teaching-by-example: saving successful tasks as reusable skills—the skills the template carries are exactly the results built up in that lesson
- Have a Bot worth sharing: responsibilities clearly defined, skills verified, and routines (if any) tested
- Be clear on what the recipient needs: a copy per person means templates; a team sharing one Bot means a shared Bot (Multi-Bot Collaboration)
- If you're on a Teams or Enterprise plan, first confirm that your admin allows publishing templates publicly—admins can control this toggle (Getting your team started)
Core Idea
A template answers one question: how others can start from your configuration.
A Grok Bot template isn't a file you manually export—it's a "shared configuration snapshot" the Bot builds itself. Behind the public link are four categories of content:
| What a Template Carries | Content |
|---|---|
| identity | The Bot's identity information |
| description | Responsibility description |
| skills | The skills enabled for this Bot |
| routines | Its automated schedules and triggers |
Equally important is what is not included: after adding the template, the recipient gets a copy on their own account—without your computer, logins, or conversation history. From the moment of adding, the copy and your original go their separate ways.
Three ways to "reuse a Bot"—don't mix them up:
| Method | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Templates (this lesson) | A copy of the configuration on the other person's account | Letting multiple people start from the same set of configuration |
| Shared Bot (next lesson) | The team chats with the same Bot, with each person's chat private | A team sharing one Bot, rather than one copy per person |
| Duplicate (iPhone) | Copies within your own account: includes profile, settings, enabled skills, routines, avatar; excludes conversation history, learned memory, and attachments | Running the same role across multiple scopes, e.g. one per region |
💡 Template links are public by default
A new template link is public—anyone who gets the link can open it. Teams can also restrict it to team-only (only team members can open it), or turn off template sharing entirely; for what the entry point and error messages look like in these two cases, see "Pitfall Reminders".
Follow along
Step 1: Pre-publish check: Grok Bot templates expose which content
Why: New template links are public by default, and anyone who gets one can open the preview—doing a review before publishing is far easier than retracting after publishing.
What a public link exposes is the Bot's shared configuration in four categories: identity, description, skills, routines. Go through each one:
- identity and description: does the responsibility description contain internal system names, client names, or internal URLs
- skills: do the skill steps contain hardcoded API keys, passwords, or internal addresses
- routines: the channels, repositories, and email addresses targeted by schedules and triggers—can they be visible externally
The three categories officially named that must be removed: API keys, internal URLs, customer data—the judgment criterion is one sentence: anything you wouldn't put in a public document should not be left in the template. Login credentials belong in Vault in the first place, not written into responsibilities or skills.
You should see: You can fully state what is in each of the four configuration categories, and every item has passed the "okay to be public" check.
Step 2: Generate the template (Share → Create a copy)
Why: The template is built by the Bot itself—you don't need to export any files or copy-paste configuration.
How to do it: Click the Bot's name at the top of the chat to open its details, select Share, then select Create a copy.
You should see: The Bot starts building the template and, when done, posts a template card in the chat.
You can also do this on mobile: open the Bot's menu and select Share as Template.
⚠️ No Create a copy option?
This means your team only allows team-only sharing, or an admin has turned off template sharing—in this case the app doesn't offer Create a copy. See the second item in "Pitfall Reminders".
- A template card appears in the chat
Step 3: Publish the template link (Publish and Copy link)
Why: After the template card is generated, it doesn't have a link yet; Publish publishes it, and Copy link makes it shareable.
How to do it: On the template card, select Publish, then Copy link.
You should see: The link is in your clipboard; the same Share menu gains three more items—View template details (view template details), Update template (push updates), Delete Template (turn off the link).
Publishing takes effect immediately: the new template link is public, and anyone who gets it can open it. Think about where you're sending it before you send it—posting it to a public channel is equivalent to making this configuration public.
- You have the link, and you know it is now visible to anyone who holds it
Step 4: Send the link to a colleague, who then does Add to Grok Bot
Why: The recipient's flow has two parts—preview in the browser, add in the app; knowing this, you can tell them in advance to install the app.
How to do it: Send the link to them (IM or email both work). They open it in a browser and see a template preview on x.ai; they select Add to Grok Bot, and then need the Grok Bot app to complete the addition.
You should see: A copy of this Bot appears on the other person's account—with identity, description, skills, routines; without your computer, logins, or conversation history. From this moment on, the copy belongs to them: any changes they make to responsibilities or skills they add won't affect your original.
💡 Check the terms before importing someone else's template
Templates are created by other users, not officially produced by Grok Bot; adding one requires accepting the third-party bot terms displayed in place. For a template of unknown origin, first check what its skills and routines make the Bot do.
- The other person added it successfully, and knows that what they have is a copy, not your original
Step 5: Manage the published template (Update template and Delete Template)
Why: Publishing isn't a one-shot deal—your Bot will keep evolving, and you may need to revoke the link.
Both actions are in the Share menu:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Update template | Push your latest changes to the shared copy—after adding a skill or changing responsibilities, push once manually |
| Delete Template | Closes the link—holders can no longer open it |
You should see: After choosing Update template, the shared copy receives your latest changes; after choosing Delete Template, the link closes immediately.
- Know that changes only reach the shared copy after a manual Update template, and that Delete Template is the switch for revoking the link
Step 6: Import a ready-made Bot from the template gallery (Connect apps → Bot templates)
Why: Templates aren't just for output—starting from someone else's template lets you skip the from-scratch configuration stage.
How: Open Connect apps in the sidebar and choose Bot templates; the gallery opens at x.ai in your browser. Pick a template, open its link, and choose Import Bot.
You should see: A copy of that Bot is added to your account—the same thing that happened in step 4 when the other party received your template.
- Can find the Bot templates entry on your own and import a template
Checkpoint ✅
- Before publishing, can name the four categories of content a template makes public (identity, description, skills, routines), and have audited them against the "never goes into public docs" standard
- Went through Share → Create a copy → Publish → Copy link and obtained the link
- The recipient previewed on x.ai and chose Add to Grok Bot, and a copy appeared on their account
- Can name the three things the copy doesn't include: your computer, logins, and conversation history
- Know that Update template pushes updates manually and Delete Template closes the link
Pitfall warnings
❌ Public template contains an API key, internal URL, or customer data
Symptom: You discover it only after the link goes out—a hardcoded internal address in a skill step, a customer name in the responsibility description—anyone with the link can see them.
Cause: New template links are public by default, and what's exposed is the Bot's shared configuration. Anything written into the description and skills is carried over as-is at publish time.
Correct approach: Audit per step 1 before publishing; the three categories officially called out must be removed—API keys, internal URLs, and customer data. Already sent it out? Immediately Delete Template to close the link, clean up, then republish. Credentials should go in Vault in the first place, not into the configuration.
❌ No Create a copy, or you get Your team doesn't allow public templates / Template sharing is turned off
Symptom: There's no Create a copy in the Share menu; or when publishing a template you see one of these two errors: Your team doesn't allow public templates, Template sharing is turned off.
Cause: Your team only allows team-only sharing, or an admin has turned off template sharing. On Teams and Enterprise plans, whether members can publicly publish templates is controlled by the admin; Enterprise teams have template sharing limited to the team by default.
Correct approach: Ask an admin to adjust the Public template sharing setting (see Getting your team started). When the team allows team-only, only team members can open the link—for standardizing configurations internally, team-only is often enough.
❌ You want everyone to share one Bot, but you sent a template link
Symptom: After colleagues each add it, everyone gets their own copy and chats separately; none of them have the working context your Bot has accumulated.
Cause: Adding a shared template = creating a copy on the recipient's account. A template is meant to "let multiple people each start from the same configuration," not to "share one instance."
Correct approach: To have your team chat with the same Bot, use a shared Bot—the star of the next lesson, Multi-Bot collaboration.
❌ Assuming the template updates automatically along with the Bot
Symptom: You added a new skill to your Bot, but the copy in your colleague's hands is still the old configuration.
Cause: Publishing doesn't sync automatically; Update template is a manual action.
Correct approach: After every change worth syncing, go back to the Share menu and choose Update template once. Don't want to share anymore? Delete Template, and the link closes immediately.
Advanced tips (optional)
Are you sharing the "method" or the "whole persona"? Publish from the previous lesson (Connect apps → connected count → Publish) releases a single skill to your team; the template in this lesson packages up the entire Bot—identity, description, skills, routines—and hands it over. If you just want colleagues to use your method, send a skill; if you want them to get a fully configured persona, send a template.
The admin's perspective. On Teams and Enterprise plans, admins control whether members can publicly publish templates (the Public template sharing setting); Enterprise teams have template sharing limited to the team by default, and admins can loosen this. For a full checklist before rolling out to your team, see Getting your team started.
Trust and third-party templates. Templates are created by other users, not officially produced; adding one means accepting the third-party bot terms. Before importing an unfamiliar template, look at what its skills and routines make the Bot do—especially whether there are any actions that send data out or call external addresses.
Lesson recap
✅ Grok Bot templates are published in four steps: Share → Create a copy → Publish → Copy link. The template is built by the Bot itself and pasted into the chat; once published you get a public link.
✅ The link exposes four categories of shared configuration: identity, description, skills, and routines; before publishing, audit them against the standard of "nothing that shouldn't go into public docs" — API keys, internal URLs, and customer data must be removed.
✅ Recipients preview it on x.ai, choose Add to Grok Bot, and get a copy under their own account; your computer, logins, and conversation history are likewise not shared.
✅ Maintenance relies on two manual actions: Update template pushes the latest changes to shared copies, and Delete Template shuts down the link.
✅ Template library entry: Connect apps → Bot templates (opened on x.ai), and Import Bot to import a copy. If a team needs to share a single Bot, use the shared Bots covered in the next lesson.
Quick reference for key locations:
| Location | Usage |
|---|---|
| Bot name at the top of the chat → Share → Create a copy | Have the Bot build the template |
| Template card → Publish → Copy link | Publish and copy the public link |
| Share → View template details | View template details |
| Share → Update template | Push the latest changes to shared copies |
| Share → Delete Template | Shut down the link |
| Sidebar Connect apps → Bot templates | Open the template library on x.ai |
| Template link → Add to Grok Bot / Import Bot | Recipients add a copy |
| Mobile Bot menu → Share as Template | Share from mobile |
Next lesson preview
Templates give each person a copy; some teams don't want copies but the same Bot. The next lesson covers sharing and collaboration: Multi-Bot collaboration: group chats, handoffs, and shared Bots.
You will learn:
- Browse shared Bots: share one Bot with a team, with each person's chats staying private
- The two roles of Share: Collaborator (chats) and Manager (edits configuration)
- Group chats: To: add 2–6 Bots, @ mentions and task handoffs
- Which computer a shared Bot runs on, whose account the usage is billed to, and how to @ it in Slack