Connect Grok 4.7 to Your App and Preserve Multi-Turn Reasoning

Use grok-4.7 with the xAI API when you want to call Grok 4.7 from your application. The important integration change is not just the model name: Responses returns encrypted reasoning items that should remain intact when you send the conversation history back.

This guide follows the official API documentation checked on September 22, 2026. The examples illustrate request construction; they are not a report of a paid production test or a performance benchmark.

Start with a minimal Responses request

Create a developer key through the official quickstart, ensure the account has the required balance, and set XAI_API_KEY in your local environment. Keep the key out of browser-side code and committed configuration.

curl https://api.x.ai/v1/responses \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "model": "grok-4.7",
    "input": "Explain why Python list.sort() returns None."
  }'

The official model guide supplies this endpoint and model identifier. Use a small request first: it isolates account and protocol issues before adding tools, large files or an agent framework.

An HTTP success response is only one check. Inspect whether the response contains the expected answer and usage information, then verify the answer itself. A valid API response does not guarantee correct reasoning.

Python: keep the complete response items

Install an OpenAI SDK release that supports Responses and record the installed version in your test log. For example, python -m pip show openai reports the package version.

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.environ["XAI_API_KEY"],
    base_url="https://api.x.ai/v1",
)

history = [{
    "role": "user",
    "content": "Explain why Python list.sort() returns None.",
}]
first = client.responses.create(model="grok-4.7", input=history)
print(first.output_text)

# Preserve all items, including encrypted reasoning.
history.extend(item.model_dump(exclude_none=True) for item in first.output)
history.append({
    "role": "user",
    "content": "Show a version that sorts without mutating the input.",
})
second = client.responses.create(model="grok-4.7", input=history)
print(second.output_text)

Do not reduce first.output to the visible answer before storing the next-turn history. The provider says Grok 4.7 includes reasoning.encrypted_content automatically, even without an explicit include entry. Keep the reasoning items unchanged; do not try to decode or rewrite the encrypted field.

This client-managed example sends the history explicitly. When adapting it to a framework, inspect what the framework retains and forwards rather than assuming that every compatibility wrapper preserves provider-specific fields.

Chat Completions is a separate path

The encrypted Responses behavior does not mean you should insert Responses output objects into a Chat Completions messages array. Use the schema for the endpoint you call. If your existing application uses Chat Completions, first test that path with the new model, then decide whether migrating protocols is useful.

Keep endpoint migration and model evaluation as separate changes where possible. Otherwise, a failed test may be caused by the adapter, conversation history or model, and you will have little evidence to distinguish them.

Configure reasoning and caching deliberately

The model offers low, medium, high and xhigh reasoning settings, with high as the default. Record the setting in evaluations. A higher setting is not a promise of a lower completed-task bill.

For caching, the official guide recommends a Responses prompt_cache_key or the x-grok-conv-id header on Chat Completions to improve conversation routing. Still measure cache usage: routing configuration alone is not proof that a request received cached-input pricing.

Troubleshoot the layer that failed

These are diagnostic categories, not reproduced error messages. Capture the actual request ID and error before changing several settings at once.

Continue with Grok 4.7 costs before running long tasks. If you want to use a ready-made client instead of writing an integration, the access guide separates Cursor, Grok Build and API accounts.