How Grok Bot signs up for its own Bland number
Grok Bot can sign up for Bland and pay for its own phone number in one chat using a Stripe Link token. You relay one texted code and approve the charge.
Grok Bot can sign up for a phone number by itself. Because it runs on its own cloud computer and can approve a payment through its own agent wallet with Stripe Link, it can create a Bland account, pay for the first month of the AI phone number plan, and come back with an API key and a phone number in the same conversation, as the Grok Bot docs lay out. Your only manual step is relaying a texted code and approving the charge in the Link app. This post is published by Bland. Bland isn't affiliated with, partnered with, or endorsed by xAI.
Before you start#
The self-setup path needs Stripe Link already connected to Grok Bot with the Link CLI available to it. Running link-cli auth login is a one-time step that you approve in the Link app, and that connection is what lets Grok Bot present a shared payment token later. Headless onboarding also creates new accounts only. If your phone or email already belongs to a Bland account, /start and /complete answer 409 ACCOUNT_EXISTS, and you connect that account through Bland's link-based Agent onboarding API instead, where you sign in from the link and approve, or add the plan from the dashboard.
Headless onboarding in one conversation#
Bland calls this headless onboarding, because it removes the browser visit the normal signup needs. It runs on two onboarding endpoints, four requests on the paid path. The first, POST /v1/agent/onboarding/headless/start, sends your phone and email and gets back a session handle, and a text with a verification code goes to your phone immediately. The second, POST /v1/agent/onboarding/headless/complete, sends the code back with a payment approval and returns the API key, org ID, phone number, and plan. Nothing is created until the code is verified and the payment settles.
The paid path is four requests and one Link approval. Grok Bot starts the session, asks you for the code, requests the payment challenge, pays through the Link CLI, then confirms the key works.
The Stripe Link shared payment token#
Payment runs on a single-use shared payment token, written spt_, issued by your agent wallet through the Stripe Link CLI. When Grok Bot sends payment: { "request_challenge": true } to /complete, the endpoint verifies the code, keeps the session alive, and answers 402 PLAN_REQUIRED with a WWW-Authenticate: Payment header. That header carries the amount, the currency, and the seller's network profile id. Grok Bot reads those values from the challenge, not from a doc, because the price comes from the plan catalog and can change.
The preferred way to pay is npx @stripe/link-cli mpp pay against the same /complete request. The CLI reads the challenge, asks you to approve the amount in Link, and retries /complete with the credential. The 200 carries the API key. Either way of paying settles the first month of the Agent Phone Plan, which is $14.99 for your first month, then $29.99/month.
Why a virtual card fails#
/complete accepts exactly two payment credentials: a shared payment token, or the Link CLI answering the payment challenge. Grok Bot's default Link tool, request_virtual_card, mints a virtual card, and /complete refuses a virtual card. If Grok Bot can only get a virtual card, it cannot finish headless. It has to show you the browser link from the response and let you open it, and it must not open that link itself, because the page is for the human owner and has a bot check.
Your one manual step#
The headless flow removes the dashboard and the signup form, though you still have a part. A six-digit verification code arrives at your phone by text, and you relay it back to Grok Bot. On the paid path, Grok Bot then asks you to approve the first month of the plan in the Link app. Those two actions, the code and the Link approval, are the whole of your manual work, and then Grok Bot finishes with its API key and a phone number in the same conversation.
The 10 minute session#
The headless session lasts 10 minutes from /start. The code check restarts that window once, but a re-issued challenge does not restart it again, so your Link approval has to land inside it. If the session expires, Grok Bot starts over with a new code.
The area code#
Before it starts, Grok Bot should ask which US area code you want and send it as area_code. Your number is only ever bought in that area code. If the area code has no numbers right now, /start answers 409 AREA_CODE_UNAVAILABLE before any text is sent, and Grok Bot asks you for another area code or whether any US number is fine. If you say any, it leaves the area code out.
When the number arrives, and what renews#
The number is usually ready in the /complete response, but provisioning can come back pending. When it does, the phone number is null and Grok Bot calls POST /billing/subscribe_agent_phone with the new API key a few minutes later to finish, which retries provisioning without charging again because the plan is already active.
The token settles the first month only. The plan renews a month later against the card on file. If there is none, the plan goes past due and degrades to pay-as-you-go: your number is kept, and you add a card at Billing & Plans in the dashboard, which your verified phone lets you sign in to.
The prompt to give Grok Bot#
Give Grok Bot this prompt verbatim, following the Grok Bot docs:
Read https://docs.bland.ai/integrations/mcp/grok-bot and set up a new Bland account for me with headless onboarding. Use my phone number and email, and send client_name "grok".
Before you start, ask me which US area code I want for my phone number, and send it as area_code. If I say any, leave it out.
Pay for the Agent Phone Plan with a Link shared payment token through the Link CLI, never a virtual card. Ask me for the SMS code, and show me any link instead of opening it.
When you have the API key, add it as a custom MCP connection and confirm it works by listing my pathways.To start on free credits instead, replace the line that starts "Pay for the Agent Phone Plan" with: "Don't pay for anything. Ask me for the SMS code, and show me any link instead of opening it." The account then calls from a shared Bland number right away, and when you later ask Grok Bot for texting or its own number it shows you a link where you add a card and start the plan. If a wallet payment is declined, Grok Bot falls back to that same link.
Once the connection is live, see what Grok Bot can do with its own phone number, or start from how to give your Grok Bot its own phone number.
Pricing for Grok Bot is on the Grok Bot phone calls page, alongside the features and limits on the AI phone number plan. Other assistants connect a bit differently: how to connect ChatGPT to Bland and what ChatGPT can do afterward cover one, and how to give Claude its own number covers another.
FAQ#
Can Grok Bot sign up for a phone number on its own?#
Yes. With Stripe Link connected and the Link CLI available, it runs Bland's headless onboarding, pays for the first month of the Agent Phone Plan, and returns an API key and a number in one conversation. You relay a texted code and approve the charge.
What do I actually have to do?#
Relay the six-digit code texted to your phone, then approve the first month in the Link app. Those are the only manual steps.
Why can't Grok Bot just use a virtual card?#
/complete accepts a shared payment token or the Link CLI answering the payment challenge, and it refuses a Link virtual card. If Grok Bot can only mint a virtual card, it shows you the browser link to finish instead.
How long do I have to approve?#
The session lasts 10 minutes from /start, and the code check restarts that window once. Your Link approval has to complete inside it, or Grok Bot starts over with a new code.
What if my area code has no numbers?#
/start checks availability before texting a code and answers 409 AREA_CODE_UNAVAILABLE if none are free, so Grok Bot asks you for another area code or whether any US number is fine.
Ready to let Grok Bot sign itself up? Start on the AI phone number plan.