Update, October 16, 2026: Grok 4.7 shipped on September 21, and it is what a fresh Grok Build install now starts on. Setting up today? Start here: How to Use Grok 4.7 in VS Code. Grok 4.6 is still in the model picker, and everything below still applies to it.
Yes, you can run Grok 4.6 inside VS Code today. Grok 4.6 was SpaceXAI’s flagship model for code from August 12 to September 21, 2026, it is still in the model picker, and the free AFK Pilot extension (previously Grok Build for VS Code) puts that agent in a sidebar with diff previews, permission cards, and session history. Setup takes about five minutes.
How to Access Grok 4.6
Grok 4.6 is not a separate install. It is a model, and SpaceXAI shipped it straight into the places you would use it:
In your editor. The free community extension below runs the official Grok Build CLI inside VS Code, Cursor and Google's Antigravity editor. Grok Build is free to try with usage limits on any X or Grok account, and 4.6 is one click away in the model picker; a fresh session starts on Grok 4.7.
In the terminal. The Grok Build CLI on its own. Same agent, no interface.
In Cursor. SpaceXAI shipped 4.6 to Cursor on day one, natively, alongside Grok Build.
On the API. The model id is grok-4.6, and SpaceXAI points that name at the latest stable version of the model, so it moves with releases. It is on OpenRouter, Vercel, and Cloudflare too.
At launch SpaceXAI ran 2x included usage inside Grok Build and Cursor for the first week. That window has closed.
What Changed From Grok 4.5
Last verified: August 12, 2026, launch day, against extension v3.6.0.
SpaceXAI’s own framing is long-running agents: Grok 4.6 “stays with complex tasks across many steps.” Their docs call it “the most intelligent and fastest model we’ve built.”
The published numbers put it level with GPT-5.6 Sol on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 61 to 61, and ahead of Grok 4.5 on every row of the launch table. The gaps are widest exactly where an editor lives, on agentic work: APEX-Agents 57.5% against 47.1%, Terminal-Bench v3.0 26% against 15.7%, DeepSWE v1.1 65.9% against 54%.
Three things that matter more day to day than a leaderboard does:
The price did not move. Two dollars per million input tokens and six per million output, the same rate card as Grok 4.5. There is a fast variant at twice that.
500,000 tokens of context. This is what makes the long-agent claim mean anything on a real codebase.
A new reasoning tier that 4.5 does not have. It has a spelling trap in it. See below.
Turn It On in VS Code
Install the extension. Extensions panel (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+X), search “AFK Pilot” or the ID grok-vscode-phuryn, and install, or use the direct links for the VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX. VS Code 1.106+ and Cursor 3.x; other VS Code-based editors such as Google's Antigravity editor install it from Open VSX, and may hold you on the last version compatible with their VS Code base.
Open the sidebar with Ctrl/Cmd+;. The setup wizard installs the grok CLI if it is missing and walks you through sign-in, one click per step.
Check the model. Click the model chip in the composer. A current install starts on Grok 4.7; pick Grok 4.6 in the list, and you can switch models live, mid-session.
Windows runs natively, no WSL required. The full feature breakdown, requirements, and troubleshooting live on the extension’s own page: AFK Pilot extension. Not in VS Code at all? The same agent runs as a standalone app: Grok Build Desktop (Community). Still choosing an interface: Does Grok Build have a GUI?.
Reasoning Effort: xhigh Is New, and the Spelling Matters
Grok 4.6 adds a reasoning tier Grok 4.5 does not have. Its ladder reads low, medium, high, xhigh, and the model’s own configuration describes xhigh as the “highest effort and reasoning level.” Query Grok 4.5 in the same breath and it still stops at high.
Two things to know before you set it:
The string is xhigh, with no hyphen. I asked the CLI for x-high and it silently gave me high instead. So did max, and so did a deliberately nonsense value. Nothing warns you, so a run you believe is at the ceiling can quietly be sitting one tier below it.
In the extension it is the effort strip in the model picker, which opens from the model chip in the composer, and it changes live like the model does.
I know this because I read the active effort back out of a zero-token session rather than trusting the flag I had passed. That is a habit worth copying with any model that lets you request a tier.
What It Costs
Free tier first, because it is what people actually type into Google. You can try Grok 4.6 for free. Grok Build is free to try with usage limits on any X or Grok account, 4.6 is in the model picker, and SpaceXAI doubled that included usage for the first week after launch. The exact allowance changes often enough that printing a number here would be printing something wrong.
What the free tier is genuinely for is deciding whether you like the model. It is not a working day’s worth of agent. The part I would not have guessed from the pricing page is the other side of that: once you are on a paid plan the allowance mostly stops being something you think about.
On the API it is two dollars per million input tokens and six per million output, with a fast variant at double. One note from my own sessions: a cheap rate card is not automatically a cheap bill, because long agentic runs re-read a lot of context. Watch the context-token donut in the sidebar and use /compact when a session gets heavy.
FAQ
Can I use Grok 4.6 in Visual Studio Code? Yes. Install the AFK Pilot extension, sign in with any X or Grok account to try it, and pick Grok 4.6 in the model picker; a current install starts on Grok 4.7. Sustained use needs SuperGrok, X Premium+, or an xAI API key.
Is Grok 4.6 free? You can try it free. Grok Build is free to try with usage limits on any X or Grok account, Grok 4.6 is in the model picker, and SpaceXAI doubled that included usage for the first week after launch. The free allowance is sized for evaluating the model rather than working through it; sustained agent use needs a subscription or an API key.
Is Grok 4.6 better than Grok 4.5 at coding? On SpaceXAI’s published numbers, yes, with the widest margins on agentic work: Terminal-Bench v3.0 26% against 15.7%, DeepSWE v1.1 65.9% against 54%. It also adds a reasoning tier 4.5 does not have, xhigh.
How do I install Grok 4.6? It is not a separate install. It is a model. Install the Grok Build CLI or the extension above, sign in, and pick Grok 4.6 in the model picker; a fresh install starts on Grok 4.7.
How do I switch to Grok 4.6, or back? Click the model chip in the composer and pick the model. Switching is live and per-session, and Grok 4.5 is still in the list.
What is Grok 4.6’s context window? 500,000 tokens. SpaceXAI’s knowledge cutoff for the model is February 1, 2026.
Does this work in Cursor? Yes, Cursor 3.x is supported. Cursor also ships Grok 4.6 natively as of launch day. The extension gives you the Grok Build agent workflow, with its diffs, permissions, and sessions, rather than Cursor’s own.
Is there an official xAI extension for VS Code? No first-party standalone extension exists. SpaceXAI officially supports third-party routes, including Kilo Code, and the AFK Pilot extension drives the official Grok Build CLI through the Agent Client Protocol, so the agent, models, and memory are SpaceXAI’s. The interface is the community part.
Can I use Grok 4.6 in other IDEs? This extension covers VS Code and Cursor; other VS Code-based editors such as Google's Antigravity editor install it from Open VSX, and may hold you on the last version compatible with their VS Code base. For the full Grok Build agent workflow, VS Code and Cursor are the supported editors. Once a session is running you can also drive it from a phone browser: Grok Remote Control.
Still on Grok 4.5? It has not gone anywhere and it is still in the model picker. The older guide stays up: How to Use Grok 4.5 in VS Code.
Setup is the easy part. What I write about here is what changes for PMs and builders once the agent is running and the building stops being the constraint.
AFK Pilot and Grok Build Desktop (Community) are unofficial community projects by Pawel Huryn, not affiliated with or endorsed by SpaceXAI (formerly xAI), Meta, DeepSeek, OpenAI, Anthropic or Google. Grok, Grok Build, and xAI are trademarks of xAI.