Work
Tip only: IMAP custom connector when mail has no plugin
Some inboxes (AOL, and many IMAP hosts) have no native Grok Bot connector.
What hurt
Scott T Archer (@ScottTArcher) shared a Grok Bot tip after being stuck on AOL via Verizon: skip the website, use IMAP. Generate an app password under AOL Account Security; point a hosted IMAP/MCP custom connector at imap.aol.com:993 SSL and smtp.aol.com:465 SSL with the full email as username; add it in Grok Bot Settings → Plugins → Add custom connector (or grok.com/connectors → Custom). Tip with author-published path. Not affiliated with xAI.
What to install or create
App password → IMAP/SMTP host:ports → custom MCP connector in Bot settings → bots manage mail.
Bots
No new bot. Follow the first-run steps.
Plugins
Gmail
Optional
Routines
None on the first run. Watch one manual pass first.
The prompt
This is a tip, not a pasteable system prompt. The author did not publish one. Follow the first-run steps.
First run
- 1Read https://x.com/ScottTArcher/status/2105729073267810801 (credit @ScottTArcher).
- 2At your mail host, generate an app password (AOL: Account Security). Do not use your normal web password.
- 3Note IMAP (e.g. imap.aol.com:993 SSL) and SMTP (e.g. smtp.aol.com:465 SSL); username is the full address.
- 4In Grok Bot: Settings → Plugins → Add custom connector (or grok.com/connectors → Custom) and paste a hosted IMAP MCP URL that supports your host.
- 5Sign the connector with the app password, then ask a Bot to list or draft mail — approve before any send.
Approval fence
Give the connector only an app password, never your web password; approve any send the Bot proposes.
What to tweak
Steal IMAP + app password + custom connector. Browser login is the wrong path.
Source
Scott T Archer @ScottTArcher · Original post
Not affiliated with xAI. We did not write this prompt. Third-party template terms still apply.
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