Overview
This guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough of Grok 4, XAI's advanced AI assistant, detailing setup, subscription structure, prompt engineering, multimodal features, and productivity tools. It offers actionable advice for maximizing Grok's capabilities, customizing user experience, and managing privacy and data settings.
Getting Started with Grok 4
- Grok 4 is accessible via grok.com with free limited features or a $30/month subscription for full access and no message cap.
- If free quota is exhausted, users revert to Grok 3, which has lower response quality.
- Interface includes toggles, file upload icons, and persona/workspace switches.
Setup and Customization
- Choose a default response style (concise, formal, Socratic, or custom) and adjust via profile settings.
- Creating detailed custom instructions tailors all future responses.
- Manage privacy by disabling conversation-based model improvement and conversation history if handling sensitive information.
- Integrate Google Drive or OneDrive for seamless file access and management.
Modes and Tools
- Auto mode lets Grok select the best approach for each query.
- Fast mode uses Grok 3 for quick, simple responses.
- Expert and Heavy modes use Grok 4 and 4 Heavy for advanced problem-solving, available with higher tier subscriptions.
- Grok 4 natively employs web search and a Python code interpreter for real-time research and analysis.
Prompting and Advanced Query Techniques
- Be explicit and detailed in prompts to control tone, structure, and output format.
- Use iterative refinement: break complex tasks into sequenced steps instead of single large prompts.
- Provide examples to mimic for style or formatting consistency.
- For unbiased editing, start a new chat thread for reviews or critiques.
Productivity and Collaboration Features
- Deep search mode acts as an academic assistant, returning cited, focused research.
- Persistent memory enables Grok to remember prior chats and preferences, with per-workspace context separation.
- Workspaces organize projects, files, and instructions, minimizing context mix-ups.
- Personas shift Grok’s knowledge and tone on demand for different domains and scenarios.
Voice and Vision Capabilities
- Voice mode 2.0 offers multiple realistic voices and personas, with real-time speech response.
- iOS users can enable Grok Vision for real-time camera analysis and multimodal assistance.
Outreach and Copilot Tools
- Copilot assists with outreach tasks, such as lead generation and campaign drafting, by leveraging company data and user instructions.
- Automates repetitive communication workflows for efficiency.
Subscription Tiers and Access
- Full features require a paid subscription; Heavy mode available at $300/month for advanced parallel processing.
- Lower tiers may revert to Grok 3 or have limited capabilities.
Recommendations / Advice
- Use precise, directive language in prompts for optimal responses.
- Organize topics using workspaces to prevent memory bleed and maintain clarity.
- Regularly review and clear memory or context where privacy or accuracy is a concern.
- Critically evaluate research outputs and cite verification for important queries.
Decisions
- Recommend subscribing for full functionality and consistent access to Grok 4 features
- Advise turning off conversation-based data use and history for privacy-sensitive work
- Suggest using workspaces to segment personal and professional contexts