Start here: name it in your message
Once PreserveAdvisor is connected, say its name in your message and Grok will bring it in. That one habit is the difference between general preservation advice and an answer built on your own batch, your own method, and your own shelf.
- “Plan a batch of strawberry jam with PreserveAdvisor.”
- “Ask PreserveAdvisor if my dehydrated apples are done.”
- “What’s on my PreserveAdvisor shelf right now?”
- “I just finished a batch of pickles — log it in PreserveAdvisor.”
After the first mention you can keep going normally; Grok stays with it for the rest of the conversation. If a reply ever looks like generic preservation advice — no mention of your batch, no real numbers for your method — name PreserveAdvisor again and ask for the same thing.
What it is
The PreserveAdvisor connector links your PreserveAdvisor account to Grok, xAI’s AI assistant. Once connected, Grok can work with your real account — your batches in progress, your finished-batch history, your Storage shelf — instead of answering from general knowledge.
Everything the connector does runs through the same PreserveAdvisor service as the mobile app. A batch you plan in a conversation appears in the app; a Storage item you add in the app is there when you ask about it in Grok. One account, one shelf, wherever you work.
In the Grok app, results come back as the same interactive cards you’d see in Claude — a batch plan, your Storage list, a doneness or safety verdict — under Grok’s own reply. To browse and manage your shelf directly, the PreserveAdvisor app and website work the same account.
What you can do
Plan a batch. Tell it the method — freeze drying, dehydrating, freezing, cold storage, sweet preserves, vinegar pickling, oil infusion, or alcohol infusion — and the food, and get a real starting point: tray-time estimates and oxygen-absorber sizing for freeze drying, a prescribed brine ratio for pickling, a tested starter recipe for jam, a steep guideline for infusions — sourced from tested references for that method, never guessed. A set of foods in every method is free; everything else is part of PreserveAdvisor Pro.
Check a batch in progress. Ask whether it’s actually done and get the signals a timer or a cycle-complete beep can’t give you — a crack test on the thickest piece, an interior cold-spot check, a reweigh-until-stable, or a set check for jam. Add a photo for a read on top of your own checks; photos can’t travel inside a Grok conversation, so PreserveAdvisor hands you a private, single-use upload link first — see How photos work below.
Finish a batch. Report how it turned out. If something went wrong, PreserveAdvisor helps you find out why — under-drying, a packaging delay that let moisture back in, an oxygen-absorber problem, or a seal that didn’t hold — instead of leaving you to guess at the next one. Notes you give carry forward to your next batch of the same method and food, and a finished batch can go straight into Storage with its use-by date.
Work your Storage. Ask what’s on your shelf, what to use up first, or whether something you’ve already put up is still good. PreserveAdvisor answers from the same sourced use-by data as the app, and it never softens a safety date to make something look longer-lived than it is. After a power cut or a freezer left open, it can also tell you whether one item is safe to refreeze or cook, or should be thrown out — always free, on any food.
PreserveAdvisor’s eight methods don’t include water-bath or pressure canning. If you ask about canning, it says so plainly and points you to the National Center for Home Food Preservation (nchfp.uga.edu) instead of guessing at a processing time, pressure, or acidity.
How to connect
Grok doesn’t list PreserveAdvisor in a public directory the way some assistants do, so you add it by hand — it only takes a minute:
1. On desktop, go to grok.com/connectors, choose New Connector → Custom, and paste in https://api.preserveadvisor.app/mcp. In the X app, tap the Grok tab, open the connectors sheet, choose Custom Connectors, then Custom Connector, and paste the same URL. A free Grok account is enough. Connectors are tied to your account, so one you add here also appears in the standalone Grok app (menu → Settings → Connectors) and at grok.com.
2. Grok opens PreserveAdvisor’s sign-in page. Enter your email — we send an 8-character sign-in code to your inbox. No password to create, no card required.
3. Enter the code, approve the connection, and you’re done. If you’ve used the PreserveAdvisor app with the same email, your batches and Storage are already there. If you’re new, a free account is created on the spot.
Then send your first message with PreserveAdvisor in it — see Start here above.
To disconnect at any time, remove PreserveAdvisor from Grok’s connectors. Access tokens expire on their own.
If Grok isn’t using PreserveAdvisor
Almost always, it just wasn’t asked. Grok decides for itself when to reach for a connector, and a plain question like “how long do I dehydrate apple slices?” is one it will happily answer on its own — with general advice, not a plan built on your batch.
Name PreserveAdvisor in the message. “Plan a batch with PreserveAdvisor” engages it; “plan a batch” often won’t. This is the fix roughly every time.
Check it’s still connected. The connectors list in the Grok app (Settings → Connectors), the X app’s Grok tab, or grok.com/connectors on desktop. If it’s missing, add it again — your batches and Storage are tied to your account, not the connection, so nothing is lost.
Sign-in code didn’t arrive. Check spam. Codes last 15 minutes and can only be used once; start the connection again for a fresh one.
Still stuck? support@preserveadvisor.app — a description of what you asked and what came back is enough to go on.
How photos work
Photos never travel through the conversation. PreserveAdvisor hands you a private, single-use link that opens a simple upload page — take a photo or choose one from your library, submit it, then tell Grok you’re done and it fetches the result. Photos are held for at most 15 minutes and deleted as soon as they’re analyzed, or when the link expires unused — they are never stored on our servers afterward.
Free and Pro
The connector uses the same account and the same limits as the app. A set of free foods is available to plan, check, finish, and track in every method, and the freezer-outage check is always free, on any food. Checks and finished-batch diagnoses beyond the free foods draw from a small monthly allowance; PreserveAdvisor Pro — $4.99/month or $39.99/year — unlocks every food in every method, with unlimited checks and diagnoses.
There’s nothing to buy through the connector itself — upgrading to Pro happens in the PreserveAdvisor app, the same account and the same subscription either way.
Privacy
The short version: we receive only what the tools need — the details of each request and the photos you submit through our own upload link. We never see your Grok conversation, and Grok only sees what a tool returns. The full details live in the connector section of our privacy policy.
Questions or trouble
Write to support@preserveadvisor.app. If a sign-in code doesn’t arrive, check your spam folder first — codes expire after 15 minutes, and you can always request a fresh one by starting the connection again.