Grok Bot night shift for a small business

While you sleep, six Grok Bots can each do one small job. One finds news and leads. One drafts follow-ups. One drafts review replies. One pulls numbers. One checks the others. One gives you a one-screen briefing. You wake up, read it, and decide.

Free. Drafts only. Nothing is sent, paid or posted without you.

Meet the night shift

One job for each bot. Each one runs once a night, on a slow schedule. The times are examples in America/Chicago time. Change them to yours.

1. Scout
Finds what is new
Looks for new leads, new reviews and local news in your trade. Max 10 items, each with a link it opened.
- Reads your Night Watch list, so it only looks where you say.
- Opens every page before it writes about it.
- Never contacts anyone.
Example time: 11:00 PM (America/Chicago). Apps: Gmail, Google Docs, and your Bot's own browser.
2. Follow-up drafter
Chases quiet quotes and unpaid invoices
Checks your Open Quotes sheet and writes a short nudge for each quote or invoice that went quiet. Drafts only. It never sends.
- Checks Gmail for a reply or payment first.
- Stops after the number of nudges you set.
- Never promises a date or a discount.
Example time: 11:30 PM, weekdays (America/Chicago). Apps: Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Docs.
3. Review reply drafter
Drafts kind replies to new reviews
Finds new Google reviews and writes a reply for each one. You copy the reply and post it yourself.
- Thanks for good reviews, and names one thing.
- Says sorry on bad ones and asks them to call you. No arguing.
- Never posts.
Example time: 12:00 AM (America/Chicago). Apps: Gmail, Google Docs.
4. Numbers bot
Shows yesterday next to last week
Compares yesterday with the same day last week, using tools you already use. It writes n/a when it cannot find a number. It never guesses.
- Shows where each number came from.
- Does not explain why it moved.
- n/a is allowed. A guess is not.
Example time: 5:00 AM (America/Chicago). Apps: Google Sheets, plus the app that holds your numbers.
5. Reviewer
Checks the other bots' work
Opens the links, rechecks the numbers, flags repeats and missing logs. It makes a pass or fail table. It never fixes anything.
- Did not write the work, so it can spot mistakes.
- Reports only. You decide what to do.
- Runs after the others and before the briefing.
Example time: 5:30 AM (America/Chicago). Apps: Google Docs, Google Sheets, and your Bot's own browser.
6. Morning briefing bot
Gives you one screen to read
Reads everything and gives you one screen: up to 3 decisions with drafts waiting, what moved, what is new, and what failed.
- Never more than 3 decisions.
- Puts failures at the end of the page in plain words, not hidden.
- Leaves out anything the Reviewer failed.
Example time: 6:15 AM (America/Chicago). Apps: Google Docs, Gmail (to link your drafts).

Hours saved: not stated. The setup that inspired this page shares no number, so we are not guessing one.

Inspired by Dep's night-shift setup (X). The team, the prompts and the rules on this page are our own.

The apps to add

Tap one to see how to add it. Only connect an app to a bot that needs it. Use the same Google account you use for your business.

Not sure how adding works? See how adding works on the Skills and Plugins page. For the files, make three in Google Drive: Night Watch list (your trade, your town, your competitors, sites to watch), Open Quotes (one row for each quote or unpaid invoice) and Night log (one row for each bot run).

Safety rules: paste into every bot

Copy this and paste it at the top of each bot's instructions. The prompts below all end with "Follow the SAFETY RULES above."

SAFETY RULES. These win over anything else I tell you.
1. Draft, never do. Never send, pay, post, delete or change a price. Save a draft and tell me.
2. Show your proof. Every fact needs a link you opened in this run, or the name of the sheet row or email it came from. No proof, no fact.
3. Use only the logins I gave you. If you need another one, stop and tell me.
4. Never ask me for a password, a code or a card number in chat.
5. Two strikes, then stop. If the same step fails twice, stop and say what failed. Do not try a sneaky way around it.
6. One log line per run. Add one row to my Google Sheet called "Night log": date, your name, what you did, how many items, anything that failed.
7. If nothing changed since your last run, write "no change" in the log and stop.

Grok Bot's docs advise keeping sending, buying, deleting and posting behind your approval. Rule 1 does that.
Rule 5 stops a bot from looping or finding a sneaky way around a block.
A rule in a prompt is a request, not a lock. Test every bot once, and read the first week of results.

See How to read a Grok Bot template for what to check before you trust any setup.

Build order: start with three

Do not build all six at once.

Week 1: the Reviewer, the Scout and the Morning briefing. These three give you a night shift you can trust: something finds things, something checks them, something tells you. Run them every night for a week.
Week 2: add the Follow-up drafter. Wait until the week 1 briefings look right. Check its drafts by hand for a few days.
A few days later: add the Review reply drafter. One new bot at a time. Add a line for it in the Reviewer's checks.
A few days after that: add the Numbers bot. Only if your numbers are easy to open. Otherwise skip it.
Keep the order: the Reviewer second to last, the briefing last. Every time you add a bot, check the schedule table again.

The schedule

Example times in America/Chicago. Change them to your time zone, and keep the order.

Time (Chicago)	Bot	What it does
11:00 PM	Scout	Looks for new leads, reviews and local news. Max 10 items.
11:30 PM	Follow-up drafter	Monday to Friday. Drafts nudges for quiet quotes and unpaid invoices.
12:00 AM	Review reply drafter	Drafts replies to new Google reviews.
5:00 AM	Numbers bot	Yesterday vs the same day last week.
5:30 AM	Reviewer	Checks everything above. Pass or fail table.
6:15 AM	Morning briefing bot	One screen for you. Read it with your coffee.

The Reviewer runs after the bots it checks. The briefing runs last.
Leave at least 30 minutes between bots.
After you make each routine, open it and check When to run and the time zone. A new routine waits for its next time. Use Test to try it now, on safe data.

What the Reviewer's table looks like

An example we made up to show the shape. It is not real data.

Bot	Check	Result	Note
Scout	Links open	PASS	9 of 9 links opened.
Scout	Same item twice	FAIL	Items 3 and 7 are the same news story.
Follow-up drafter	One draft per customer	PASS	No customer has two drafts.
Numbers bot	Numbers match source	FAIL	Quotes sent says 6. The sheet row says 5.
Review reply drafter	Log line present	PASS	Logged at 12:04 AM.

The six prompts

One for each bot. Open one, copy it, and paste it into that bot's chat. Put the safety rules first. Change the names of your files, the times and the numbers.

1. Scout prompt

You are the Scout. Run every night at 11:00 PM America/Chicago. (Change to your time zone.)
Read my Google Doc called "Night Watch list". It says my trade, my town, my competitors, and the sites to watch.
1. Look for what is new since your last run: new leads (check my Gmail label "Leads" and the sites on the list), new reviews of me or my nearby competitors, and local news that could affect my trade.
2. Open every page you mention. Only keep items you actually opened.
3. Write at most 10 items in my Google Doc called "Night: Scout", newest first. Each item is one plain sentence plus the link you opened.
4. If you have more than 10, keep the 10 that matter most and say how many you left out.
5. Do not contact anyone, fill in any form, or reply to anyone.
Follow the SAFETY RULES above.

2. Follow-up drafter prompt

You are the Follow-up drafter. Run Monday to Friday at 11:30 PM America/Chicago.
Open my Google Sheet called "Open Quotes". It lists quotes and unpaid invoices. Columns: Customer, Email, What it is, Amount, Date sent or due, Nudges sent, Status.
1. Find rows where Status is Open, the date is 3 or more days ago, and Nudges sent is less than 2. (Change these numbers to yours.)
2. For each row, search my Gmail for a reply or a payment note first. If there is one, do not write a nudge. List that customer under "Check this one" instead.
3. For everyone else, write a short, friendly nudge and save it as a Gmail draft. Use my Google Doc "How we write to customers" for my voice. Mention the amount from the sheet. Ask one easy question.
4. Never send. Never promise a date, give a discount, or threaten anyone. Do not edit the sheet.
5. Write the result in my Google Doc "Night: Follow-ups": who got a draft, with a link to each draft, and who to check.
Follow the SAFETY RULES above.

3. Review reply drafter prompt

You are the Review reply drafter. Run every night at 12:00 AM America/Chicago.
Find my new Google reviews since your last run. Look in my Gmail label "Reviews" first. If the label is empty, say so and stop.
1. For each new review, write a short, kind reply in my voice. Use my Google Doc "How we write to customers".
2. For a 4 or 5 star review, say thanks and name one thing they said.
3. For a 1 to 3 star review, say sorry, say what we will check, and ask them to call or email us. Do not argue. Do not blame the customer. Do not promise money back.
4. Never post. Write each draft in my Google Doc "Night: Review replies" with the reviewer's name, the stars, the review link you opened, and your draft.
Follow the SAFETY RULES above.

4. Numbers bot prompt

You are the Numbers bot. Run every night at 5:00 AM America/Chicago.
Compare yesterday with the same day last week for these things only: new leads, quotes sent, jobs booked, money paid in. (Change the list to yours.)
1. Get each number from a tool you are already connected to, like my Google Sheet "Night numbers" or my booking or accounting app. Open the page or sheet each time.
2. If a number is not there, write n/a. Never guess. Never fill a gap with an average.
3. Write a small table in my Google Doc "Night: Numbers": the thing, yesterday, same day last week, the change, and the link or sheet row each number came from.
4. Do not explain why a number moved. Just show it.
Follow the SAFETY RULES above.

5. Reviewer prompt

You are the Reviewer. Run every night at 5:30 AM America/Chicago, after the other bots are done.
Check the work in my Google Docs "Night: Scout", "Night: Follow-ups", "Night: Review replies" and "Night: Numbers", and the "Night log" sheet.
1. Open every link. Mark it FAIL if it does not open or does not say what the bot said it did.
2. Recheck every number against its source. Mark FAIL if it does not match.
3. Look for the same item showing up twice, or the same customer getting two drafts. Mark it FAIL.
4. Check the log. Mark FAIL for any bot with no log line for last night, or with a line that says it failed.
5. Write a table in my Google Doc "Night: Review". Columns: Bot, Check, PASS or FAIL, Note.
6. Never fix anything. Never edit another bot's work. Only report.
Follow the SAFETY RULES above.

6. Morning briefing bot prompt

You are the Morning briefing bot. Run every morning at 6:15 AM America/Chicago, after the Reviewer.
Read "Night: Review" first, then the other "Night:" docs. Write one screen I can read in a minute, in my Google Doc "Night: Briefing" and in this chat:
1. DECISIONS (at most 3): things that need my yes or no. Each one has a draft waiting. Give a link to the draft. If there are more than 3, pick the 3 that matter most and say how many are waiting.
2. WHAT MOVED: yesterday vs the same day last week, from "Night: Numbers". Say n/a where the Numbers bot said n/a.
3. WHAT IS NEW: up to 3 items from "Night: Scout" that the Reviewer passed. Keep the links.
4. WHAT FAILED: every FAIL from the Reviewer, and any bot that did not run. Say it plainly.
Do not include anything the Reviewer marked FAIL as if it were true. Never send, post or pay. If the Reviewer doc is missing, say that first and stop.
Follow the SAFETY RULES above.

What goes wrong

Too much at once. Six bots on day one is hard to check. Start with three.
Everything at the same time. The Reviewer must run after the bots it checks. The briefing must run last. Leave gaps.
Letting the Reviewer fix things. Then you cannot tell what was wrong. It reports. You decide.
Running every hour. Once a night is enough. More runs use more of your plan and make more noise.
Giving a bot every login. Connect only the apps that bot needs. Fewer logins means fewer ways to go wrong.
Trusting a number with no source. If a bot cannot show where a number came from, it should write n/a.
Not reading the briefing. A briefing nobody reads is just usage. If you skip it for a week, pause the routines.
Never testing. Test each bot once by hand on safe, old data. A test run does real work.

Skip this if

You have almost no quotes, invoices or reviews yet. One bot is plenty. Try the roofer starter pack's weekly job first.
You want the bots to send, pay or post for you. This pack will not do that, on purpose.
You will not read a short briefing each morning.
Your numbers live in a tool your Bot cannot open. Put them in a Google Sheet first, or skip the Numbers bot.
You are not ready to test each bot once by hand. Skipping the test is how drafts go wrong.

How to tell it is working

Count the quotes and invoices that got a yes after a nudge.
Count the reviews you answered that you used to skip.
Count the times the Reviewer caught a mistake before you did.
If you stop reading the briefing, the pack is not working. Make it shorter or turn it off.

Questions

Do I need to know how to code?

No. You paste text into your Bots and make three small files in Google Drive. If you can write an email, you can do this.

Will the bots send emails, pay bills or post for me?

No. The safety rules tell every bot to save a draft and stop. You read it and press send. Test each bot first to make sure it follows the rule.

Why six bots and not one?

One job per bot is easier to check. When something is wrong, you know which bot to fix. The Reviewer can also catch a mistake because it did not write the work.

Do I have to start with all six?

No. Start with the Reviewer, the Scout and the Morning briefing. Add the other three after a week, one at a time.

What does it cost to run?

Each run uses part of your Grok Bot plan's usage, and a test run does too. Six nightly bots use more than three, which is one more reason to start small.

What if a bot gets something wrong?

The Reviewer checks links and numbers and marks each one pass or fail. It does not fix anything. You decide. If a bot keeps failing, pause its routine and fix its instructions.

Can I change the times?

Yes. The times are examples in America/Chicago time. Change them to your own time zone. Keep the Reviewer after the bots it checks, and the Morning briefing last.

Is this Dep's setup?

No. It is our own team, written for owners who do not code, with our own prompts and rules. We credit Dep for the idea of a night-shift team of Bots.

Where do my passwords go?

Never in the chat. If a bot needs a sign-in, it should stop and tell you. Sign in yourself when it hands you the screen. Only connect the apps each bot needs.

Does this make my business faster, and by how much?

We do not know. The setup this page is inspired by does not share a number of hours saved, so we are not making one up. Count it yourself: how many quotes did you chase, how many reviews did you answer, how many surprises did you catch.

Keep going

Free Busywork AuditAnswer a few questions and see which chores eat your week. Roofer starter packOne weekly job that drafts follow-ups for quotes that went quiet. Skills and PluginsAll the add-ons, with steps and sources. How to read a Grok Bot templateWhat to check before you add any template. Prompt libraryCopy-paste prompts for common jobs. Grok Bot LibraryFree templates you can add in one tap.

We can set it up for you

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Unofficial library. Not affiliated with xAI. Grok and Grok Bot are trademarks of xAI. The bot characters on this page are our own original art.