Why your bot opened that file in a strange app
When a Grok Bot opens a file for you, it doesn't pick the app. The computer it's working on does. The file opens in whatever that computer has set as the default app for that file type.
What happened to us
Our bots work on a shared Linux computer. When Rich opened a Markdown notes file there, it launched LibreOffice Writer, a word processor he'd never used. Nothing was wrong. That computer just has LibreOffice Writer set as the default app for plain-text files, and Markdown files fall back to the plain-text default.
Why it matters
- Surprise apps. A text file can open in a word processor, and a web page might open in a browser you don't normally use.
- Different results on different computers. The same file can open one way on your bot's computer and another way on your laptop.
- Accidental reformatting. Some apps offer to convert or reformat a file when you save it, so keep plain-text files as plain text.
What to do
- Check the defaults on your bot's computer. On Linux,
xdg-mime query default text/plainshows which app opens plain-text files. On Windows and macOS, look at the file-type defaults in system settings. - Change the default if you want something else. On Linux,
xdg-mime default <app>.desktop text/plainsets it. On Windows and macOS, change it in the same settings. - Ask your bot for the format you want. If you need something predictable, ask for a PDF, an HTML page, or the text pasted into chat, rather than a file that depends on the default app.
- Name the app when it matters. You can tell your bot "open it in the browser" or "open it in a text editor."
The short version
Your bot uses the computer's default apps. If a file opens somewhere unexpected, change the default or ask for a different format.
See also
- The computer those defaults live on: The Botski virtual machine
- What that shared computer can see: Shared computer security for beginners
- Glossary: Shared computer
- A new Bot lands on that same computer: Your first hour after you add a Bot
- When that shared computer fills up: Disk Saver joined my team twice in a week
Sources
Fetched 2026-09-30 CT.
Botski field note
Internal
Fetched 2026-09-30 CT.
Observed on the shared Linux computer our bots work on.