Sign In to OpenClaw and Hermes Agent With Your Grok Subscription, No API Key

If you already pay for SuperGrok, you do not need a separate xAI API key to run OpenClaw or Hermes Agent on Grok. Both agents have a built-in sign-in that uses your subscription. How to connect it on a server, what you get and what to do when xAI says no.

OpenClaw and Hermes Agent can both run on Grok, the AI model from xAI, using a Grok subscription you already pay for. You sign in with your xAI account once, and the agent uses your plan instead of an xAI API key. Both projects describe this in their official documentation: the xAI page in the OpenClaw docs and the xAI Grok OAuth guide in the Hermes docs.

The feature is not brand new. Hermes added it in version 0.14.0 on the 16th of May 2026, the day after xAI announced it. OpenClaw added it in a test build the same weekend and in its stable release 2026.5.18 on the 18th of May. It came back into view on the 4th of November, when a post by @de1lymoon on X listing open source projects with Grok support said "hermes and OpenClaw let you sign in with your Grok subscription". The post had about 6,400 views and 118 bookmarks when we read it.

Subscription sign-in, in plain words

An AI agent needs a model, the "brain" that reads your messages and decides what to do. There are two ways to pay for Grok as that brain:

An API key. You create a key on the xAI developer console and pay for every piece of text the model reads and writes. The bill grows with use.
Your subscription. You sign in with the xAI account that holds your Grok plan. Usage comes out of the plan you already pay for, with no separate per-use bill.

The sign-in uses OAuth, the same "approve this app" screen you see when a website asks to log in with Google. Neither agent ever sees your xAI password. They get a pass that they renew in the background, so you sign in once.

Important: this is not Grok Bot. Grok Bot is a separate assistant product from xAI. This guide is about using your Grok plan as the model inside OpenClaw or Hermes Agent, which you run yourself.

Which plans work

The two projects word it slightly differently:

Hermes Agent names an active SuperGrok subscription on your xAI account, or X Premium+ on the X account you sign in with. The docs say xAI links the X subscription to your xAI account automatically.
OpenClaw names "an eligible SuperGrok or X Premium subscription".

Both add the same warning: xAI decides which accounts get access, not the agent. The Hermes docs say xAI "has been seen to reject standard SuperGrok subscribers" with an access error, even when the plan is active in the Grok app. Your plan may work for chatting on grok.com and still be refused here. There is a fix for that further down.

What you need

Hermes Agent 0.14.0 or newer. The current release is 0.22.7, from the 3rd of November.
OpenClaw 2026.5.18 or newer. The current stable release is 2026.10.10, from the 3rd of November.
A Grok plan from the list above.
A browser on any device, your phone or laptop is fine. It does not have to be on the server where the agent runs.
A terminal on the machine where the agent runs. A terminal is the text window where you type commands.

Step by step: Hermes Agent

Step 1. Update Hermes, so the sign-in option is there:

hermes update

Step 2. Start the sign-in. Hermes asks you to pick a provider and a model:

hermes model

Choose "xAI Grok OAuth (SuperGrok / X Premium+)" from the list.

Step 3. Hermes shows a web address and a short code. If you are on a server with no screen, it prints them instead of opening a browser. You can also start this step directly, without the menu:

hermes auth add xai-oauth --no-browser

Step 4. Open the address on your phone or laptop, sign in with the account that holds your plan, type the code if asked and approve. Hermes keeps checking in the background and continues by itself once you approve. No extra network setup is needed.

Step 5. Pick a model. The docs pin grok-4.6 to the top of the list. Then start chatting:

hermes

Step 6. Check the connection at any time. Look for the "Auth Providers" section in the result:

hermes doctor

The code has a time limit. If you wait too long, Hermes stops with a timeout. Run Step 3 again and it starts fresh.

Step by step: OpenClaw

Step 1. If OpenClaw is already set up, connect Grok on its own. The docs say not to repeat the full setup just for this:

openclaw models auth login --provider xai --method oauth

On a server or over a remote connection, this prints a web address and a short code, the same way as Hermes.

Step 2. Open the address on any device, sign in and approve. The approval screen may mention Grok Build, xAI's coding tool. The docs explain that OpenClaw uses a sign-in shared with Grok Build, and you do not need Grok Build or an API key.

Step 3. Make Grok the main model. If you had no main model yet, OpenClaw picks grok-4.7 for you. If you already had another one, it keeps it until you change it:

openclaw models set xai/grok-4.7

Step 4. Check what is saved:

openclaw models auth list --provider xai
openclaw models status

If you are installing OpenClaw for the first time, choose xAI sign-in during setup instead:

openclaw onboard --install-daemon --auth-choice xai-oauth

What one sign-in covers

The same sign-in reaches more than chat.

In Hermes, it also covers Grok text to speech, image and video creation, transcription and X search. You choose them with "hermes tools". The docs note that X search switches itself on once Grok is connected, and video creation stays off until you turn it on.
In OpenClaw, the docs list Grok web search, X search, code running, speech, transcription and image and video creation on the same sign-in.
In OpenClaw you can also see your quota. Run "openclaw status --usage" or type /status in a chat to see how much of your plan you have used and when it resets.

When something looks off: what to check

Sign-in worked, but every message fails with an access error (403). This is the case the Hermes docs warn about: xAI has refused API access for some plans even after a good sign-in. Signing in again will not help. Use an xAI API key instead, or check your plan with xAI. In Hermes, save your key as XAI_API_KEY and switch the provider:

hermes config set model.provider xai

In OpenClaw, sign in with the key instead:

openclaw models auth login --provider xai --method api-key

Other things to check:

"Re-authentication required" in Hermes. Your saved pass was cancelled or ran out. Run "hermes auth add xai-oauth" again.
OpenClaw signed in, but still answers with another model. The sign-in keeps your old main model. Run Step 3 of the OpenClaw part.
OpenClaw's log says the OAuth profile "could not be resolved". The pass ran out or was cancelled. Run the sign-in command from Step 1 again on the machine where OpenClaw runs.
You want to sign out of Hermes. Run "hermes auth logout xai-oauth". The Hermes docs add that you can also cancel access from your xAI account settings.

Is it safe to run?

Your password stays with xAI. The agent only keeps a pass, saved on the machine where it runs. The Hermes docs say you stay signed in until you log out or cancel access in your xAI account settings. In OpenClaw's words, your setup, settings and tools stay on your own machine, and only the requests to Grok go to xAI.

One thing to keep in mind: the agent now spends your plan. A busy agent running jobs all day uses the same pool as your own chats on grok.com, so check the usage now and then.

Quick answers

Do I still need an xAI API key? No, if xAI accepts your plan. Keep a key only as a backup for the access error above.

Will this cost extra? Not per message. Usage counts against your Grok plan. The OpenClaw docs point out that API credits and subscription quota are separate.

Can I use both agents on one plan? Each agent signs in separately with the same xAI account. Expect both to draw on that one plan, so a busy pair of agents uses it up faster.

Is this the same as Grok Bot? No. Grok Bot is a different product. This only uses your Grok plan as the model.

OneClickClaw runs Hermes Agent or OpenClaw on a dedicated EU server of your own, which stays online while your computer is off. You can connect a SuperGrok or X Premium+ plan from your dashboard with a short code, or bring your own API key. The Starter plan is EUR 14.99 a month for either agent, with a 7-day free trial. See oneclickclaw.io/hermes or oneclickclaw.io/openclaw.

Related guides

Sources: the xAI provider page in the OpenClaw documentation at docs.openclaw.ai, the xAI Grok OAuth guide in the Hermes Agent documentation at hermes-agent.nousresearch.com, xAI's announcement of the 15th of May 2026, and the release notes of both projects on GitHub, all read on the 5th of November 2026, and the @de1lymoon post on X of the 4th of November 2026.

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