Shared Grok Bots are powerful because they act on your behalf. A few habits keep that power pointed at the job you actually want done.
Before you add a shared Bot
Adding a shared Bot copies its public configuration — its instructions, skills and routines — into your own Grok Bot account. It doesn't give you the creator's logins, computer or conversation history, and it doesn't give the creator access to yours.
Read the Bot's description on its x.ai page first and check what it is designed to do on its own: some Bots only read, some draft for your approval and some take actions.
Start narrow
Connect only the tools the Bot needs for its job. A research Bot rarely needs your email; an inbox Bot rarely needs your code repositories.
Run it once on a low-stakes task and read the output before giving it anything that matters.
Keep consequential actions behind approval
Set the Bot to ask before it sends messages, publishes anything, spends money, deletes data or changes production systems. Many good Bots on GrokShelf are built this way by default — they draft, and you send.
Watch the first week of routines
Scheduled routines run while you aren't watching. For the first week, read each run's results and adjust the instructions wherever the Bot misunderstood the job.
Remove what you don't use
If a Bot isn't earning its keep, remove it and disconnect the tools it used. Fewer Bots with narrow access are easier to trust than many with broad access.