# Getting Started

Grok Build is a powerful and extensible coding agent. Use it via an interactive TUI, headlessly in scripts or bots, or through the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) in other apps.

The TUI provides a rich, mouse-interactive, fullscreen experience for coding with agents.

## Install

```bash customLanguage="bash"
curl -fsSL https://x.ai/cli/install.sh | bash
```

## Start an interactive session

```bash customLanguage="bash"
cd your-project
grok
```

On first launch, Grok opens a browser for authentication. In non-browser environments, use an API key:

```bash customLanguage="bash"
export GROK_CODE_XAI_API_KEY="xai-..."
grok
```

Useful first prompts:

```text
Explain this repo.
@src/main.rs Walk me through this file.
```

## Run headlessly

```bash customLanguage="bash"
grok -p "Explain this codebase"
grok -p "Explain the architecture" --output-format streaming-json
```

Headless usage is ideal for scripts, automatinos, or integration into other apps.

## Custom models

Grok supports any custom model:

```text
[model.my-model]
model = "model-id"
base_url = "https://api.example.com/v1"
name = "Display Name"
env_key = "API_KEY"

[models]
default = "my-model"
```

After updating config, use `grok inspect` to see what Grok discovered in the current directory, including config sources, instructions, skills, plugins, hooks, and MCP servers, then pick the model in headless mode or in the TUI:

```bash customLanguage="bash"
grok inspect
grok -p "Hello" -m my-model
```

You can also switch inside the TUI with `/model <name>`.

## Next

* [Skills, Plugins & Marketplaces](/build/features/skills-plugins-marketplaces)
* [Modes and Commands](/build/modes-and-commands)
* [Headless & Scripting](/build/cli/headless-scripting)