Grok Bot: official avatar extension API for third-party animated / 3D avatars

Ideas Feature Requests
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1

Feature request for product/service

3rd Party Extensions

Describe the request

Feature request

Please add a first-party extension point so plugins can supply richer avatars — including extra animation states and optional higher-end 3D — without replacing the default shape system.

Today plugins can add skills, MCP servers, and tools. They cannot change how a Bot is rendered in the roster, chat header, or mobile list. Users can pick a built-in shape/color or upload a still/GIF in per-agent Settings, but that is not enough for live, state-driven 3D or plugin-authored animation.

Why this matters

The current avatar system is excellent for scanability. I am not asking to throw it away. I want a supported way for third-party plugins to opt a Bot into a richer renderer when the user installs that plugin.

Without an official hook, people will keep building unofficial recreations and overlays. Those cannot stay in sync with official states (idle, thinking, working, waiting, blocked, done) and cannot ship safely inside the app.

Proposed shape (illustrative)

  1. Keep official shapes as the default and fallback.
  2. Let a plugin declare an avatar pack in the existing plugin / marketplace manifest.
  3. The pack can provide:
    • extra 2D animation states
    • optional 3D / WebGL / native renderer payload
    • mapping from official Bot states to pack animations
  4. User opt-in per Bot in per-agent Settings → Avatar → “Use plugin avatar”.
  5. Sandbox the renderer: no network by default, size/CPU limits, signed marketplace packages, instant fallback to the official shape if the pack fails or is disabled.
  6. Expose a small read-only state API to the renderer: bot id, current status, whether it needs attention. No chat contents required.

Scope that would already unlock a lot (v1)

  • Documented state enum for avatars
  • Support for higher-quality looping animation beyond basic GIF upload
  • A plugin field that registers an avatar pack
  • Sandbox + fallback

Full interactive 3D can come later. The missing piece is the client hook.

Platforms

Grok Bot desktop (Mac / Windows / Linux) first; mobile once the contract exists.

Out of scope

Unrestricted arbitrary code in the roster, replacing the official visual language for everyone, or plugins that can scrape chat just to animate a face.

Happy to prototype against a private/beta API if you expose one.

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