--- title: "Grok in Visual Studio 2026 for C# and .NET | iolys" description: "Use your Grok account in Visual Studio 2026 with iolys. Choose Grok models and reasoning effort, use native web tools, and follow reported costs for C# and .NET." url: "https://getiolys.com/providers/grok" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-23" --- # Use Grok for C# and .NET in Visual Studio 2026. Bring the Grok Build coding agent into Visual Studio 2026 through its managed CLI. iolys keeps your C# or .NET solution open, applies its own tools and permissions, and shows the cost Grok reports for each turn. - Provider: Grok - Connection type: Provider CLI - Access: BYOS: sign in with your Grok account - Who pays for the AI usage: Reuses an eligible AI subscription you already pay for through the provider's supported connection. - Where the model runs: The model runs in the provider's own cloud service. - Best for: Implementation, debugging, and research-backed changes in C# and .NET solutions, with web search and page reading alongside your IDE tools. - Official site: https://x.ai/cli Download and manage the Grok Build CLI locally from Manage Providers, then sign in with your Grok account in the browser. Access, allowance, and billing follow that account and its plan. ## How to connect Grok in Visual Studio 2026 1. Open Manage Providers in iolys and add Grok. 2. Install the locally managed Grok Build CLI from the provider panel, then choose Connect and sign in with your Grok account in the browser. 3. Refresh the models, choose a Grok model and a supported effort level, then start from your Visual Studio solution. ## What you get - **Grok for Visual Studio 2026** — Use Grok Build from the Microsoft IDE where your C# or .NET solution is already open. - **Account-based access** — Sign in with your Grok account instead of configuring an API key. Grok Build is separate from the Groq API provider. - **Reported cost per turn** — Follow the tokens and USD cost Grok reports for each turn, beside the answer. ## Requirements iolys targets the Visual Studio 2026 IDE on 64-bit Windows. It requires access to a supported AI provider or a local Ollama instance. Git is required for isolated parallel workspaces. Visual Studio Code is a separate editor; iolys is an extension for the Visual Studio IDE. ## Price All currently available iolys features are free for personal and commercial use. AI provider subscriptions, API usage, and infrastructure costs remain separate. iolys does not include a bundled model allowance. ## Grok questions ### How can I use Grok in Visual Studio for C#? Install the iolys extension for Visual Studio 2026 and open your C# solution. Open Manage Providers in iolys and add Grok. Install the locally managed Grok Build CLI from the provider panel, then choose Connect and sign in with your Grok account in the browser. Refresh the models, choose a Grok model and a supported effort level, then start from your Visual Studio solution. You can then ask Grok to help with your C# and .NET code from the iolys workspace. ### Is there a VSIX extension to use Grok in Visual Studio? Yes. iolys is a VSIX extension for Visual Studio 2026, and Grok is one of the provider connections it ships with. Install the iolys VSIX once from the Visual Studio Marketplace, then add Grok from the Manage Providers panel; there is no separate VSIX per provider. ### Can I use my Grok account in iolys? Yes. Add Grok in Manage Providers, install the managed Grok Build CLI, and sign in with your Grok account in the browser. Access, allowance, and billing follow that account and its plan; iolys does not include Grok usage. ### Is Grok the same as the Groq provider? No. Grok Build is xAI’s coding agent, connected through its CLI and your Grok account. Groq is a separate API provider in iolys, and Grok models offered through API gateways such as OpenRouter use those gateways’ keys and billing. ### Can I choose Grok’s reasoning effort level? Yes, for models that advertise graded effort levels. Open the model options beside the prompt. grok-4.7 offers xhigh, high, medium, and low. Grok must confirm the selected model and effort before the prompt is sent. ### Can Grok search the web and read documentation? Yes. Grok’s native Web Search and Fetch URL tools are always available while Grok is selected. When a search result arrives without citations, iolys adds a warning that it could not be verified against retrieved pages. ### Can Grok use Visual Studio build and test tools? Yes. Grok uses the tools supplied by iolys to read and edit code, run builds, and run tests, under your permission mode. Grok’s own file, shell, and subagent tools are not enabled in this integration. ### Can I see my Grok usage and costs? Each turn shows the cost and tokens reported by Grok. Open Show usage from the chat toolbar for your plan and the remaining included allowance when Grok reports it. When Grok does not report an allowance, iolys shows it as unavailable rather than guessing. ### How is the Grok CLI installed and updated? Open Manage Providers and select Grok. iolys downloads the official Windows Grok Build CLI from xAI into its own managed folder, separately from any standalone installation, and can reinstall or uninstall it from the same panel. ### Can I keep other providers configured? Yes. Grok can sit alongside cloud APIs, local Ollama models, and other provider CLIs. ## Related pages - [Bring Your Own AI Subscription to Visual Studio 2026 | iolys](https://getiolys.com/) - [Bring Your Own Model (BYOM) in Visual Studio 2026 | iolys](https://getiolys.com/byom) - [AI coding agent capabilities for Visual Studio | iolys](https://getiolys.com/capabilities) - [Visual Studio integrations for C# and .NET | iolys](https://getiolys.com/integrations) - [GitHub Copilot alternative for Visual Studio and C# | iolys](https://getiolys.com/copilot-alternative-visual-studio) - [AI providers and BYOS for Visual Studio 2026 | iolys](https://getiolys.com/providers) - [What is iolys? AI coding agent harness for Visual Studio | iolys](https://getiolys.com/what-is-iolys) - [The story behind iolys | From iolite to AI in Visual Studio](https://getiolys.com/our-story) - [Install iolys from the Visual Studio Marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=iolys.iolys-visual-studio) - [iolys blog](https://getiolys.com/blog)