Getting the Best from AI Agents · Last reviewed October 17, 2026
In football, nobody takes the field until the equipment is checked: helmet fits, pads on, mouthguard in. It isn’t exciting, and it’s the reason everyone walks off the field in one piece.
Getting started with AI agents is the same. Before you hand a bot real work, spend half an hour on the equipment check: a secure account, a plan you understand, privacy settings you’ve actually looked at, and a setup where nothing leaves your house without you.
You don’t need to pay anything to learn the basics. The free versions of ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok are a fine place to start. As Issue 01 reported, OpenAI put its GPT-6 generation into ChatGPT for all users on October 7, with “GPT-6 Luna” on the Free and Go plans.
Practice there first. Have it explain a bill or draft a letter. You’ll learn what these tools get wrong before you give one the keys to anything.
Agents become most useful when they’re connected to your accounts, especially email. That makes your email account the front door to everything else. Before you connect an agent to anything, protect that door.
When you’re ready for an agent, read the plan page the way you’d read a contract. Agent plans are often priced by usage: how much work the agent does, not how many messages you send.
Here’s what SpaceXSI’s official plans page says about Grok Bot, in plain English:
There’s no separate Grok Bot subscription. It comes with certain plans. This is what the official Grok Bot plans page lists:
The X Subscription (the newer bundle):
Older separate plans:
Some older Cursor plans (Cursor is the company whose accounts Grok Bot signs in with) include it too. Watch the names: “Plus” on The X Subscription and the older “X Premium+” are different plans. Plans change, so check that page the day you sign up.
Usage resets weekly. Your plan gives you a weekly allowance of work. When it runs out, extra usage costs money only if you’ve turned that on.
Set a monthly limit for extra usage. If you allow extra usage, set a cap. The docs note that a limit “is not a hard stop in the middle of a run”: a job already underway can finish past it.
The free trial is a usage credit, not a number of days (though a 7-day window also applies). One big task can use most or all of it, and used credit isn’t restored. Start small.
Linking a SuperGrok account is permanent. You can’t unlink it or move it, so make sure you’re signed in to the right account first.
For comparison, Issue 01 noted that OpenAI’s Dots agents come with ChatGPT Pro (from $100/month), and that Engadget reports Google AI Pro at $20 a month in the U.S. Prices change, so check the official page the day you buy.
My advice: don’t buy the biggest plan to start. Pay for the smallest plan that does the job you have in mind.
The question that matters most is whether your chats can be used to train the AI, meaning used as examples to improve future versions. Look for the setting that controls this in each service you use:
ChatGPT. Open Settings, then Data controls, and look for “Improve the model for everyone.” When it’s off, OpenAI says your new conversations won’t be used to train its models. Two details worth knowing: turning it off doesn’t delete your saved chats, and if you click thumbs up or thumbs down on an answer, that whole conversation may still be used for training. Temporary Chats aren’t used to improve the models, though they may be kept up to 30 days for safety.
Gemini. Google’s controls live in Gemini Apps Activity. Its “Keep Activity” setting decides whether your chats are saved and used to improve Google’s AI, with help from human reviewers. Google’s own advice: “don’t enter confidential information that you wouldn’t want a reviewer to see.” Saved activity auto-deletes after 18 months by default (you can choose 3 months, 36 months, or never), but chats a reviewer has already seen are kept up to three years.
Grok Bot. SpaceXSI’s docs say Grok Bot uses your Cursor account’s data settings, and that “training opt-out follows the applicable Cursor account and privacy settings.” Grok Bot needs to store data in the cloud to work, so an older Cursor setting called Legacy Privacy Mode isn’t supported. Review your account’s privacy settings before you start.
A good rule whatever the settings say: don’t paste in anything you’d be upset to see on a postcard. Social Security numbers, account numbers, passwords and medical details don’t belong in a chat.
These come from SpaceXSI’s approvals, security and privacy guide.
My golden rule is nothing goes out without me. From Chief of Staff to Network, my bots draft, prepare and recommend. I press Send, Post and Buy.
SpaceXSI’s docs say the same in their own words: “Automate preparation before execution.” Let the bot do the homework; you turn it in.
When a project is over, the docs suggest pausing or deleting its routines, signing out of websites on the bot’s computer, removing app connections (and revoking them in the app itself), and deleting sensitive files. Deleting a bot doesn’t remove files or logins on the shared computer, so clean those up separately.
Thirty minutes on accounts, plans and privacy settings means you start with confidence instead of crossed fingers.
With the equipment checked, you’re ready to put a player on the field. Chapter 3 shows you how to give your first bot a clear job description, so it knows its position, its goal, and the plays it must never run.
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