Patch release focused on clearer agent work guidance, more accurate docs for agent serve and startup metrics, and internal update/workspace plumbing.
Changelog
[changed] Agent runtime guidance is tighter: keep every explicit requirement until it is done or blocked, match response style to the request (implement vs. explain), prefer doing clear reversible local work in-turn, only claim fixes when tool output supports them, and keep changes scoped with short factual comments.
[changed] When browser tools are available, UI-facing work (layout, styling, routing, or shared page state) is expected to be verified in the browser end-to-end—including related routes, regression checks, and desktop/mobile viewports—before the turn finishes.
[changed] Background-task guidance is clearer: long-lived commands you own run as background shell work; use output snapshots or a single bounded wait instead of polling; reserve monitor for external status watches (CI, logs, APIs).
[changed] Agent-mode docs state that grok agent serve is a server you run yourself—Grok hosted cloud sandboxes do not run it.
[changed] Monitoring docs explain startup-timeout fields more carefully: stuck_in is the step that had not finished when the timeout fired (often not the slowest step); the printed error names the longest step, and phase_duration is how to compare them.
[changed] Path-permission docs clarify that additional read_write grants are literal directories (no globs); a trailing /** is treated as the parent directory.
[changed] Shell completions for grok update include the internal --trigger and --auto options used when an update is spawned in the background or by the leader.
Under the hood
New environment knobs for CLI base URL override (GROK_CLI_BASE_URL) and workspace presence/preview reporting (GROK_WORKSPACE_PRESENCE_*, GROK_WORKSPACE_PREVIEW_STATE_*).
Image-budget handling in chat state, plus tighter repo-change collection (workspace/flight/public base) and standalone fast-worktree copy support.
Pager improvements around startup-failure rendering and scrollback entry rendering; more reliable child-process wait helpers.
Runtime can fetch GET /v1/user for account/org profile fields used by the client.
Internal grok update spawn path records what triggered the update (user_command, auto_background, leader_converge), with --auto kept as a compatibility alias for older parents.
