# Grok Build native runner

Select **Grok Build** in the native runner provider selector. The stored contract is
`adapterType: "paperclip_runner"` with `provider: "acpx"`, `acpxAgent: "grok"`,
and `model: "grok-4.7"`. Existing `grok_local` agents keep their legacy adapter
until an explicit upgrade. On a qualified macOS ARM64 or Linux x64 computer,
**Harness / Runtime → Upgrade runner** preserves the agent, model, account,
instructions, and history. It starts fresh execution sessions. Advanced also
offers an explicit Runner choice. Unsupported legacy settings are rejected
before saving; select compatible settings or keep Legacy.
New Grok runner agents default to **Full auto (approve all)**
(`acpxPermissionMode: "approve-all"`) in setup and the configuration form.
API configurations that omit the permission mode use the same default. No
additional permission setting is needed for unattended execution. Explicitly
saved restrictions remain unchanged.
Grok Build's qualified harness does not require the `enableNativeRunner` flag.

Explicit thinking effort uses `reasoningEffort` (`minimal`, `low`, `medium`,
`high`, or `xhigh`). The immutable v10 execution input, provider descriptor,
and recovery identity bind this value as `grokEffort`. The Grok provider boundary
adds native `_meta.modelId` and `_meta.reasoningEffort` to session create, load,
and resume requests before transport writes and observation. Grok 1.0.13 reports
the selected effort in `_meta["x.ai/sessionConfig"].options`; it does not support
the standard `session/set_config_option` effort API. The Runner checks that native
acknowledgement and the effective model before a prompt. A lazy restored handle
must connect through read-only native session inspection first. Reapplying the
bound metadata on restore prevents Grok from resetting effort to its default.
Missing configuration, a rejected value, or effort drift stops admission.
Admission failures keep a closed Grok reason code through the sidecar boundary.
Other startup failures retain their closed admission stage when no more specific
known error code is available. These diagnostics contain no native payload,
credential, arbitrary provider message, or workspace path. They do not change
admission or retry policy.
Omitting effort retains Grok's provider default. This setting remains outside
the model-visible task prompt. Historical execution inputs retain their schemas.

The upgrade resolves an unset model or the legacy `grok-build` default to the
native `grok-4.7` default. Task-level model and effort overrides use the Grok
catalog and keep the account and tool policy unchanged.

Migration also preserves the effective `disableWebSearch` setting, whose legacy
default is `true`. Native input v10 carries it as `grokDisableWebSearch` through
startup and recovery. Grok's private `requirements.toml` enforces disabled search
above compatible project settings. Explicit `false` retains enabled search;
unset native configurations retain their provider default. See Grok's
[configuration reference](https://github.com/xai-org/grok-build/blob/main/crates/codegen/xai-grok-pager/docs/user-guide/26-config-reference.md).

Grok Build speaks [ACP over stdio](https://github.com/xai-org/grok-build/blob/main/crates/codegen/xai-grok-pager/docs/user-guide/15-agent-mode.md).
The runner owns `grok agent --no-leader stdio` through ACPX, including session
identity, cancellation, recovery and the authenticated Paperclip MCP bridge.
ACP permission requests are approved by the runner under the default full-auto
policy. It does not add `--always-approve`: permission decisions remain under
the selected ACPX policy. Grok's ACP metadata cannot independently establish
Paperclip tool authority, so explicitly selecting `approve-paperclip` or
`approve-reads` returns the approval-required outcome; `deny-all` rejects requests.
Full auto does not bypass Paperclip's company permissions, governed approvals,
or execution-environment boundaries. Isolated ask
rules override project allow rules, and compatible always-approve settings are
locked off. Compatible hook/MCP discovery and shell login capture are disabled.

## Installation and identity

Grok support ships inside the native runner and the public Paperclip server npm
artifact. There is no separate Grok npm package, binary payload, or npm lifecycle
download. The built-in launcher is identified as `builtin:grok-acp` version 1;
its native runtime identity is `native:grok` version 1.0.13. The historical
`agentServerPackage`/`agentRuntimePackage` wire fields carry these identities,
not npm dependencies. Existing npm-backed ACP bridges retain their package pins.

Grok launch profile 7 binds the native effort, search, credential, sidecar, and
Runner admission source, including Rust backend descriptor writes. An older
installed pack with the same ACPX interface version cannot satisfy this profile.
The controller stages its current verified
pack instead. A generated source-identity comment in the launcher preserves the
existing command byte-digest check; no installation guard is relaxed.
App source changes alone still permit reuse when the selected
Grok profile matches. Historical profile versions remain decodable, but they do
not authorize a fresh launch. After changing a bound source, advance the profile
and run `node packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/grok-profile-identity.mjs`.
The normal `check:acpx-profiles` build gate verifies this source identity.
The generator refuses to replace an existing versioned identity with different
source. Advance the version and retain the previous version's recovery decoder.

Provision Grok Build 1.0.13 at
`/opt/paperclip/providers/grok/1.0.13/grok` in the selected execution environment.
The sandbox provisioning helper is explicit and is never run by npm:

```sh
sudo node packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/provision-grok.mjs /opt/paperclip/providers/grok/1.0.13/grok
```

The standard Daytona image provisions it separately from the provider pack.
Custom images and local execution hosts must provide the same prerequisite.
The runner verifies the native executable checksum before credential refresh or
ACP startup; a missing prerequisite reports the required path and version.
Only macOS arm64 and Linux x64 are qualified. No ambient `grok` from PATH is used.
ACP must report the requested exact model; mismatches fail closed.

The distribution identity change deliberately rejects resume bindings from the
former private-package profile. Start a fresh session after upgrading that
unreleased profile; do not silently reinterpret its saved identity.

Instructions use Grok ACP session rules. Assigned skills live in the isolated
Grok home. Steering and goals are unsupported. Token and cost values remain
unknown when Grok does not report them; missing usage is not zero usage.

## Authentication

Use the existing Grok company connection/login flow for subscription execution.
An explicitly selected company-secret `XAI_API_KEY` selects paid API execution.
There is no automatic subscription-to-API fallback. Remote execution cannot
borrow the operator's home credentials. Local execution can use the operator's
existing Grok login when no company login has been selected.

Only the selected credential is staged in the private runtime home. An ownership
lease fences concurrent processes. Before ACP startup, an expiring subscription
credential is refreshed through the verified Grok executable’s non-inference
`models` command. This bounded step suppresses output and prevents Grok 1.0.13
from caching a pre-refresh model list. Exact model verification still precedes
any prompt; refresh failure requires reconnecting Grok Build. After the provider exits, refreshed credentials
are copied back through Grok's existing identity and refresh checks. Runtime
credentials, refresh handoffs, and diagnostic logs are excluded from workspace
backups and removed on close. Session history remains available for resume. Host
configuration, other provider credentials and unselected keys are not forwarded
to Grok.

## Evaluation

The private `paperclip-evals` repository maintains `live-acpx-grok-4.7.json` and
`rosters/live-acpx-grok.json`. The roster covers all 39 protocol cases. Its campaign
lane remains disabled pending complete live qualification.

Product E2E exposes `runner-acpx-grok` in core local/Daytona compatibility and
local session integrity. The explicit `grok-qualification` suite covers replies,
planning approvals, structured questions, downloadable project revisions, stop/resume
and continuation after controller restart
in both environments. Run with `--suite grok-qualification`; it is excluded from
scheduled `--all`. Use the canonical Product E2E dashboard and Evalbook reports.

The separate `grok-subscription-qualification` suite covers the same workflows
with the explicit `GROK_AUTH_JSON` fixture credential. It seeds only the disposable
company's private login home and supplies no API key. It does not exercise the
interactive sign-in UI. Authentication mode remains part of the profile identity.
After a subscription upgrade, a fresh `grok login` may be needed if the existing
login still reports the previous entitlement through ACP.

`packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/grok-native-smoke.mjs` records explicit auth,
model/binary identity, MCP outcome, durable resume and restrictive permissions.
Pass `--auth subscription --auth-file /private/path/auth.json --output /private/report.json`
or `--auth api --output /private/report.json` with an explicitly supplied key.
Each attempt is retained; unknown usage and cost are null.

Qualification requires the full protocol roster, selected product workflows,
subscription and API execution locally and on Daytona, and three successful
repetitions of core tool, approval and resume cases. Deterministic tests or a
single successful browser task do not establish that qualification.

## Remote verification

Do not run Docker on a developer laptop when using remote verification. The
`Docker Runner check` workflow offers maintainer-authorized manual Linux image
builds and broad source checks without provider credentials. It records the
source revision, resolved lock digest and immutable image reference. Paid
Product E2E remains behind the protected default-branch workflow and environment.

The public npm consumer check uses a digest-pinned, unprivileged container with
no checkout or credentials mounted. It downloads dependencies with lifecycle
scripts disabled and freezes the resulting consumer lockfile. It completes the
clean install with offline `npm rebuild`, running the deferred lifecycle hooks
without re-resolving bundled optional dependencies. Networking stays disabled,
the lockfile must remain unchanged, and a sentinel proves scripts actually ran.
The pinned image includes native build tools and local Node headers so dependency
hooks can compile without network access. Both executable admission probes run
in the same isolation. The verification user provisions Grok inside the disposable
test directory without privilege elevation or host `/opt` changes. Only the
positive probe mounts that binary read-only at the canonical sandbox path.


The Cloud application image also carries the controller-owned provider pack and
sets `PAPERCLIP_RUNNER_REMOTE_PROVIDER_PACK_PATH`. Remote ACPX execution verifies
the sandbox against that pack before using it, or stages the matching pack when
needed. The Cloud controller image does not install the native Grok executable;
the selected sandbox image must provide the prerequisite above.
Cloud builds must supply the full source SHA through `PAPERCLIP_BUILD_COMMIT`
to produce that verified pack. Unstamped local Cloud builds still work for other
features, but omit the pack and cannot start remote ACPX sessions.