Inspect what Grok Build loads for a directory

When a skill, rule, hook, plugin, or MCP server fails to show up, start with the discovery dump — not another config edit. Official command:

grok inspect
grok inspect --json

Documented on the CLI Reference and Settings: grok inspect shows the configuration Grok discovers for the current directory — rules, skills, plugins, hooks, and MCP servers, including which file each came from.

What to read in the output

Area	Why it matters
Rules / AGENTS.md	Confirms which instruction files loaded and approximate token cost — see AGENTS.md
Skills / plugins	Shows user, project, and marketplace origins
Hooks	Lists personal vs project hooks; project hooks need trust (/hooks-trust or --trust)
MCP servers	Names each server and origin (config.toml, .cursor/mcp.json, Claude configs, …)
Status line / UI	Surfaces misconfigured [ui.status_line] keys

Machine-readable: add --json for scripts and CI.

Related doctor commands

grok mcp list
grok mcp doctor [name]
grok plugin list

grok mcp doctor diagnoses connectivity for a named server; stderr for stdio servers lands under ~/.grok/logs/mcp/<name>.stderr.log (MCP Servers).

Typical fixes after inspect

1. Missing project hooks / MCP — grant trust once for that folder, then re-run grok inspect.
2. Duplicate names — a project .grok/config.toml server with the same name as a user server replaces the user one entirely.
3. Wrong cwd — inspect reflects the directory you are in (--cwd on other commands changes that for a run).
4. Status line message in the TUI — inspect lists the same [ui.status_line] parse problems the row shows.

Pitfalls

• Inspect is read-only; it does not start a coding turn or spend weekly usage the way a long agent session does.
• Vendor scanners (Cursor / Claude) can be disabled via env vars in the settings reference if you need a clean Grok-only load.