[upstream] [compat.claude] is inert for instructions and agents (Grok CLI 1.0.5)

[johnsmalls22-rgb]

[upstream] [compat.claude] is inert for instructions and agents (Grok CLI 1.0.5)

Grok 1.0.5 still autoloads ~/.claude/rules/*.md and ~/.claude/agents/*.md after every [compat.claude] key is set to false. grok inspect echoes the flags as enabled: false, source: config and then loads the files anyway.

This is filed here because xai-org/grok-build has issues disabled. It is an upstream Grok CLI discovery bug, not a plugin bug.

Expected

With ~/.grok/config.toml:

[compat.claude]
skills = false
rules = false
agents = false
mcps = false
hooks = false
sessions = false

grok inspect --json at a home-root workspace should load only native Grok / project instruction files (~/.grok/Agents.md, cwd Agents.md / Claude.md). It should not load ~/.claude/rules/*.md or ~/.claude/agents/*.md.

Actual

grok inspect --json reports externalCompat.claude.*.enabled = false and still loads:

• ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md
• every ~/.claude/rules/*.md (nine files in this install)
• ~/.claude/agents/critic.md and evaluator.md

Measured: 13 Project Instructions / ~10k tokens instead of the intended 3 / ~1.5k.

Repro (Windows, Grok CLI 1.0.5 stable)

All of these were run with the config above.

#	Test	Result
A	grok inspect --json from a cwd that contains no .claude directory	Still loads all ~/.claude/rules files + both agents. Load is ~-anchored, not cwd-relative.
B	USERPROFILE / HOME pointed at an empty profile, GROK_HOME preserved	Unchanged. Windows does not move ~ via those env vars.
C	GROK_HOME pointed at an isolated config dir	Drops ~/.grok/Agents.md as expected. Keeps all ~/.claude files + both agents. GROK_HOME moves the config dir only.
D	CLI flag	--rules only appends. No --no-rules. [skills] ignore covers skills only.
E	Rename ~/.claude/rules → ~/.claude/shared-rules and ~/.claude/agents → ~/.claude/shared-agents	Not discovered. Scan is name-keyed on the literal directories rules and agents under ~/.claude.

Probe that decided (E): two throwaway dirs ~/.claude/zzprobe-rules/ and ~/.claude/zzprobe-agents/ with one inert file each were not loaded. Discovery is not a recursive scan of ~/.claude; it is keyed to those two names.

Docs gap

README § Claude Code Compatibility says Grok automatically discovers Claude Code directories and “No extra setup is needed.” It documents no disable switch. [compat.claude] does not appear in the README. The pickup table lists CLAUDE.md and .claude/CLAUDE.md; it does not list ~/.claude/rules/, which is where the nine extra files were coming from.

User-guide 12-project-rules.md says ~/.claude/rules/ is “Controlled by compat.claude.rules”. On 1.0.5 that control does not subtract.

Ask

Honor [compat.claude].rules and [compat.claude].agents as a subtractive switch, or document that they are additive-only and that the only way to stop the load is to not have directories named rules / agents under ~/.claude.

Workaround in use: rename those directories. That is a topology hack, not a supported isolation switch.