Grok Bot for Linux

Unofficial Ubuntu/Linux build of the Grok Bot desktop app.

Cursor ships Grok Bot for macOS and Windows only. This repo does the same thing the Codex Mac-to-Linux port did: take the official Electron app, put it on a Linux Electron runtime, and replace the Windows-only native addons.

It is not an xAI or Cursor product. Linux is unsupported by them.

What you get

The official Grok Bot UI — bots, the shared computer, sign-in with your Cursor account — running as a native Linux app. No Wine.

The latest stable upstream release is resolved dynamically through Cursor's update service. The current Linux runtime is Electron 42.1.0 (x86_64).

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt install p7zip-full curl unzip build-essential python3 \
  libfuse2 fakeroot
# Node.js 20+ (Ubuntu 24.04: sudo apt install nodejs npm  is too old;
# use https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm or NodeSource)

git clone <this-repo> grok-bot-linux
cd grok-bot-linux
make update

grok-bot

make update downloads, rebuilds, validates, and installs only when Cursor has published a newer stable version. The final package installation uses the normal graphical administrator prompt (or sudo when no graphical session is available). It builds only the .deb; make build remains the command for all distribution formats.

Or skip the package and run the tree directly:

make build
version="$(make -s detect)"
"./dist/Grok_Bot_${version}_linux_x64/grok-bot" \
  --no-sandbox --ozone-platform-hint=auto

AppImage (needs FUSE 2):

chmod +x dist/Grok_Bot_*_x86_64.AppImage
./dist/Grok_Bot_*_x86_64.AppImage

Sign in with the same Cursor / SuperGrok account you use on the Mac app. Bots live on the cloud computer; this build is the remote control.

Other distros

The tarball in dist/ is a self-contained Electron tree. On Fedora / Arch, install GTK3, NSS, ALSA, and Mesa, then:

tar -xzf dist/Grok_Bot_*_linux_x64.tar.gz
./Grok_Bot_*_linux_x64/grok-bot --no-sandbox --ozone-platform-hint=auto

Build options

If Chromium's sandbox cannot take setuid (containers, some Ubuntu defaults), the /usr/bin/grok-bot wrapper adds --no-sandbox. Extra Electron flags go in ~/.config/grok-bot/electron-flags.conf, one per line.

NVIDIA + black window: add --ozone-platform=x11 to that file.

Updates

The in-app updater does not install this unofficial Linux build. Install the one-command updater once from the repository:

make install-updater

After that, update from any directory with:

grok-bot-update

Close Grok Bot before installing an available update. Routine upstream updates write only ignored files under .cache/ and dist/; they do not edit the checkout or require a Git commit. Repository changes are needed only when Cursor changes the app packaging, Electron ABI, or native dependencies.

The updater retains the installed .deb and at most one previous .deb for rollback, and removes superseded cached upstream installers. Cursor's update response currently does not provide a checksum, so the installer cannot be cryptographically pinned: the updater instead requires HTTPS, allow-lists the exact download host and path, and validates the resulting Debian package's identity and required contents before installation.

How this compares to the Mac app

The Mac .dmg is not used here. Extracting it on Linux is awkward, and its native modules are still the wrong ABI. The Windows NSIS installer unpacks with 7z and is the source every working community port uses. Details: docs/how-it-works.md.

Requirements

• x86_64 Linux, glibc 2.34+ (Ubuntu 22.04 or newer)
• Eligible Grok Bot plan (same as the official apps)
• Build machine: p7zip-full, curl, unzip, g++, python3, Node 20+

This repository never commits the official installer, app.asar, or built binaries. Those are produced on your machine.

License

Scripts and Linux-native sources in this repo: MIT.

Grok Bot belongs to xAI / Cursor. Electron belongs to the Electron project. See NOTICE.md.