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xAI Advanced

Grok 4.6

Grok 4.6 is xAI's current 500K-context frontier model for coding and agents, with reasoning, tool use, structured outputs and $2/M input pricing.

Multimodal Language ModelTextImage Freemium
In plain English

What is this model and why does it matter?

Grok 4.6 is xAI's current 500K-context frontier model for coding, agents, reasoning and knowledge work.

Coding agentsTool-using agentsKnowledge workLong-context analysisWeb/X search workflows
Model overview

Grok 4.6: features, use cases and important details

Grok 4.6 is xAI’s current frontier model for coding, agentic tasks and knowledge work.

Verified model facts

xAI documents a 500K context window, text and image input, text output, configurable reasoning, function calling, structured outputs, web/X search and code execution.

Current status

It is active on the xAI API and is the provider’s recommended general model for code and chat.

Best fit

It is best for coding agents, long-context analysis, research and workflows that combine model reasoning with xAI-hosted tools.

Limitations

Long-context requests cost more, real-time knowledge requires search tools, and the model can still make incorrect reasoning or tool decisions.

Get started

How to use this model

  1. Create an xAI API key.
  2. Use model grok-4.6 with the Responses or Chat Completions API.
  3. Set reasoning effort when needed.
  4. Enable function calling, web search, X search or code execution for agent workflows.
  5. Track whether requests cross the 200K long-context pricing threshold.
Copy and try

Example prompts

  • Find and fix the bug across this repository, then explain the changes.
  • Research this topic using web search and produce a sourced report.
  • Use the available tools to complete this multi-step operational task.
Capabilities

What it can do

  • 500K context
  • Configurable reasoning
  • Function calling
  • Structured outputs
  • Web search
  • X search
  • Code execution
  • Image understanding
Best for

Practical use cases

  • Coding
  • Agents
  • Research
  • Knowledge work
  • Long-context automation
Pricing

What does it cost?

Short context: $2.00 per 1M input tokens, $0.50/M cached input and $6.00/M output. For requests at or above 200K context, xAI lists $4.00/M input, $1.00/M cached input and $12.00/M output.

Input$2.00 / 1M tokens
Output$6.00 / 1M tokens
Simple summaryStandard short-context API pricing is $2/M input and $6/M output; long-context requests at 200K+ cost more.

What stands out

  • Current xAI flagship
  • 500K context
  • Strong tool support
  • Configurable reasoning
  • Text and image input

Things to consider

  • Long-context pricing doubles at 200K+
  • Proprietary
  • No fine-tuning support claimed
Limitations

Important restrictions and trade-offs

  • No real-time knowledge without search tools
  • Can still hallucinate or make tool-use mistakes
  • High-context agent loops can become expensive
SimplifyAITools verdict

Our editorial take

A strong current xAI choice for coding and agentic work, especially when built-in search and tool execution matter.

References

Primary sources

  1. Official source 1 ↗
  2. Official source 2 ↗
  3. Official source 3 ↗