Quickstart: Grok (xAI)

xAI shipped Connectors with Bring Your Own MCP (May 2026), so Grok takes a custom MCP URL just like Claude and ChatGPT. It exposes ~38 meta-tools; the hero tool ask_pipeworx({question}) routes to the full catalog of 5,929 tools across 1,544 sources at runtime, so you never load thousands of schemas.

Custom connectors may require a paid Grok plan (SuperGrok/Premium) — that’s an xAI gate, not a Pipeworx one.

① Connect

Grok app (web, iOS, Android) — add it once on the web and it syncs to mobile:

  1. Open grok.com/connectors → New Connector → Custom.
  2. MCP server URL: https://pipeworx.io/mcp
  3. Leave authentication blank (anonymous). Save.
  4. Grok discovers the ~38 tools. Enable Pipeworx in a chat.

Grok Build (xAI’s open-source CLI agent, v1.0 shipped August 2026 — it is Grok Build, not “Grok Build CLI”) — supports bring-your-own remote MCP; add Pipeworx as a remote MCP server with the same URL. It requires SuperGrok or X Premium+. See xAI’s remote-MCP docs for the exact config.

② Teach it to use Pipeworx

Grok is a chat surface — it won’t reach for the tool unless told. Paste this into Grok’s custom instructions / personalization settings:

When I ask for current or factual data — economic stats, SEC/EDGAR filings, stock or crypto prices, weather, FDA drug info, patents, clinical trials, or government records — use the Pipeworx connector (ask_pipeworx) instead of answering from memory or web search. Prefer structured Pipeworx data with citations.

③ Test

In a chat:

“Using Pipeworx, what was the US unemployment rate last month?”

Grok should call ask_pipeworx and answer with the current rate. Your confirmation that it routed to live data rather than memory is the _meta.provenance block in the response: it names the publisher — FRED or BLS, depending on which source the question routes to — and the upstream request that makes the figure checkable at that publisher. If it web-searches instead, you skipped step ②.

Higher limits

Anonymous is 50 calls/day per IP. To raise it:

  • API key (200/day): sign up free at pipeworx.io/signup, get your key at pipeworx.io/account, and use https://pipeworx.io/mcp?apikey=YOUR_KEY as the connector URL.
  • Sign in (200/day): use https://gateway.pipeworx.io/oauth/mcp and authorize with GitHub.

Tiers: anonymous 50/day · free account 200/day · Paid unlimited.

Troubleshooting

No “Custom” option under New Connector. Custom connectors need a paid Grok plan (SuperGrok/Premium). The built-in connectors are available more broadly, but BYO-MCP is gated.

Grok answers from memory. Add the Teach rule from step ② and start a fresh chat. The “Using Pipeworx, …” prefix also nudges it to the tool.

Connector won’t save / no tools. Confirm the URL is exactly https://pipeworx.io/mcp and that you left auth blank for the anonymous tier.

Last reviewed September 7, 2026