Grok Build Is Open Source: You Get the Harness, Not the Model
· 9 min read
When xAI released the Grok Build source repository, the immediate summary across developer circles was simple: Grok Build is open source. That phrase spread fast, and it is technically accurate in the most literal sense. What it glosses over is worth thinking through carefully, especially if you work with AI coding agents and you are deciding how much weight to put on a source release.
I read the repository, documentation, contribution policy, and several public analyses. I have not installed or run Grok Build. What I am doing here is sorting out what the release actually covers and what it does not, because those distinctions matter for any real evaluation.