Using xAI (Grok) With Roo Code

xAI is the company behind Grok, a large language model known for its conversational abilities and large context window. Grok models are designed to provide helpful, informative, and contextually relevant responses.

Website: https://x.ai/

Getting an API Key

1. Sign Up/Sign In: Go to the xAI Console. Create an account or sign in.
2. Navigate to API Keys: Go to the API keys section in your dashboard.
3. Create a Key: Click to create a new API key. Give your key a descriptive name (e.g., "Roo Code").
4. Copy the Key: Important: Copy the API key immediately. You will not be able to see it again. Store it securely.

Supported Models

Roo Code supports the following xAI Grok models:

Grok-3 Models

• grok-3-beta (Default) - xAI's Grok-3 beta model with 131K context window
• grok-3-fast-beta - xAI's Grok-3 fast beta model with 131K context window
• grok-3-mini-beta - xAI's Grok-3 mini beta model with 131K context window
• grok-3-mini-fast-beta - xAI's Grok-3 mini fast beta model with 131K context window

Grok-2 Models

• grok-2-latest - xAI's Grok-2 model - latest version with 131K context window
• grok-2 - xAI's Grok-2 model with 131K context window
• grok-2-1212 - xAI's Grok-2 model (version 1212) with 131K context window

Grok Vision Models

• grok-2-vision-latest - xAI's Grok-2 Vision model - latest version with image support and 32K context window
• grok-2-vision - xAI's Grok-2 Vision model with image support and 32K context window
• grok-2-vision-1212 - xAI's Grok-2 Vision model (version 1212) with image support and 32K context window
• grok-vision-beta - xAI's Grok Vision Beta model with image support and 8K context window

Legacy Models

• grok-beta - xAI's Grok Beta model (legacy) with 131K context window

Configuration in Roo Code

1. Open Roo Code Settings: Click the gear icon () in the Roo Code panel.
2. Select Provider: Choose "xAI" from the "API Provider" dropdown.
3. Enter API Key: Paste your xAI API key into the "xAI API Key" field.
4. Select Model: Choose your desired Grok model from the "Model" dropdown.

Reasoning Capabilities

Grok 3 Mini models feature specialized reasoning capabilities, allowing them to "think before responding" - particularly useful for complex problem-solving tasks.

Reasoning-Enabled Models

Reasoning is only supported by:

• grok-3-mini-beta
• grok-3-mini-fast-beta

The Grok 3 models grok-3-beta and grok-3-fast-beta do not support reasoning.

Controlling Reasoning Effort

When using reasoning-enabled models, you can control how hard the model thinks with the reasoning_effort parameter:

• low: Minimal thinking time, using fewer tokens for quick responses
• high: Maximum thinking time, leveraging more tokens for complex problems

Choose low for simple queries that should complete quickly, and high for harder problems where response latency is less important.

Key Features

• Step-by-Step Problem Solving: The model thinks through problems methodically before delivering an answer
• Math & Quantitative Strength: Excels at numerical challenges and logic puzzles
• Reasoning Trace Access: The model's thinking process is available via the reasoning_content field in the response completion object

Tips and Notes

• Context Window: Most Grok models feature large context windows (up to 131K tokens), allowing you to include substantial amounts of code and context in your prompts.
• Vision Capabilities: Select vision-enabled models (grok-2-vision-latest, grok-2-vision, etc.) when you need to process or analyze images.
• Pricing: Pricing varies by model, with input costs ranging from $0.3 to $5.0 per million tokens and output costs from $0.5 to $25.0 per million tokens. Refer to the xAI documentation for the most current pricing information.
• Performance Tradeoffs: "Fast" variants typically offer quicker response times but may have higher costs, while "mini" variants are more economical but may have reduced capabilities.