What to share (and not share) with your bot Explainer

3 min read

A bot works better when it knows the right details, but some things should never go in a chat. Here's a simple way to decide what to tell it, what to connect and what to keep to yourself.

The short version

Share what the bot needs to do the job, and nothing more. Details about the task, your preferences and the files it should work on help it get things right. Passwords, card numbers and other secrets don't belong in a chat message, and private details about other people should only be shared when the task truly needs them.

A simple traffic-light test

Before you type something in, ask which group it falls into:

• Green: share freely. The goal of the task, dates, the names of files or sheets, how you like answers written, your time zone, and the text you want summarized or rewritten. This is the context that makes requests work. See How to write a request your bot gets right the first time.
• Yellow: share only when the task needs it. Other people's names, emails, addresses or order details, money amounts, and anything about health, family or legal matters. Ask yourself: does the bot need this exact detail to finish the job? If not, leave it out or describe it in general terms.
• Red: never type it into a chat. Passwords, one-time sign-in codes, full card or bank numbers, ID numbers, and API keys or other secret keys. These belong in secure storage, not in a message.

Where secrets go instead

When a bot needs to sign in somewhere, it should use a secure method, not a password you paste into the chat. That usually means connecting the app with its own sign-in screen (see What is a connector and API keys vs OAuth), or a saved login in secure storage. In Grok Bot, passwords and cards live in the Vault; see Safety and approvals. If you write your own code, keep keys out of it with these steps. If you ever paste a secret by mistake, change that password or revoke that key right away.

Memory is for preferences, not secrets

Asking a bot to remember things is useful: "I like short replies", "use US dates", "I'm in Central time". But memory is not a safe place for passwords or card numbers. Keep memory to preferences and facts you'd be fine seeing written down. See Memory.

Connecting an app is a kind of sharing too

When you connect email, a calendar or a store, the bot can read what's in it. That's often the point, but it means you're sharing more than one message. Connect only what the job needs, choose the smallest permission that works, and disconnect anything you've stopped using. More in Staying safe with AI bots.

Other people's information

Customers, coworkers and family didn't sign up for your bot. When a task involves them, share only what's needed, such as an order number instead of a full home address, and follow the rules of the platform the data came from. If you're unsure, take the detail out and see whether the bot can still do the job.

Trim before you paste

Pasting a long email or document is a quick way to give context, but it can carry more than you meant to share, like a signature with a phone number or a reply chain with someone else's details. Skim it first and cut anything the task doesn't need. You can also replace details with placeholders, like "[customer name]", and fill them in yourself later.

Where to go next

Read Why bots sometimes get things wrong, and how to check their work, or see how guardrails work in Safety and approvals.