Manus

Manus is an autonomous AI agent that handles complex tasks asynchronously. Particularly strong at deep research with parallel processing, web browsing, and generating comprehensive reports with data visualizations.

When to Use Manus

Deep research - Market analysis, competitive landscaping, product comparisons
Stock/financial analysis - Company research, technical analysis, price charts
Product research - Feature comparisons across brands, specs analysis
Report generation - Creates markdown reports, CSVs, charts, and visualizations
Multi-source synthesis - Gathers and combines information from multiple websites
Long-running tasks - Anything taking 1-10+ minutes of autonomous work

Research Prompt Examples

Effective research prompts are specific about scope, sources, and desired output:

Product comparison:

Find the best 4K monitors for Mac with Thunderbolt connectivity and 120Hz+ refresh rate.
Focus on BenQ, Samsung, Dell, LG. Only include models released in the last year.
Compare specs, prices, and Mac-specific features. Output a comparison table.

Stock/company analysis:

Analyze [TICKER] stock: company profile, recent performance, technical indicators,
valuation metrics, and insider activity. Include a price chart for the past year.

Market research:

Research the [industry] market: key players, market size, growth trends,
recent developments, and competitive landscape. Focus on [region/segment].

Competitive analysis:

Compare [Product A] vs [Product B] vs [Product C]: features, pricing,
user reviews, pros/cons. Create a decision matrix for [use case].

Environment Setup

Requires

MANUS_API_KEY

environment variable. Base URL:

https://api.manus.ai

Core Workflow

Create task → Returns
```
task_id
```
immediately
Poll status → Check until
```
status
```
is
```
completed
```
or
```
failed
```
Return results → Extract output text and file attachments

Creating a Task

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"prompt":"<task description>","agentProfile":"manus-1.6"}'

Agent Profiles:

```
manus-1.6-lite
```
- Fast, simple tasks (quick lookups, simple questions)
```
manus-1.6
```
- Standard (default, good for most research)
```
manus-1.6-max
```
- Complex reasoning (deep research, multi-source analysis, detailed reports)

Response:

json

{"task_id":"abc123","task_title":"...","task_url":"https://manus.im/app/abc123"}

Checking Task Status

bash

curl -s -X GET "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks/{task_id}" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY"

Status values:

pending

running

completed

failed

Poll every 5-10 seconds until completed.

Extract text output:

bash

curl -s -X GET "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks/{task_id}" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" | jq -r '.output[] | select(.role=="assistant") | .content[] | select(.type=="output_text") | .text'

Extract file attachments:

bash

curl -s -X GET "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks/{task_id}" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" | jq -r '.output[] | select(.role=="assistant") | .content[] | select(.type=="output_file") | "\(.fileName): \(.fileUrl)"'

Listing Tasks

bash

curl -s -X GET "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" | jq '.data[] | {id, status, title: .metadata.task_title}'

Multi-turn Conversations

Continue an existing task by including

taskId

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"prompt":"follow-up question","taskId":"abc123","agentProfile":"manus-1.6"}'

Delete a Task

bash

curl -s -X DELETE "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks/{task_id}" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY"

Advanced Options

Parameter	Description
`taskMode`	`chat` , `adaptive` , or `agent`
`projectId`	Associate with project for shared instructions
`attachments`	Array of file objects (see below)
`connectors`	Pre-configured connector IDs (Gmail, Calendar, Notion)
`createShareableLink`	Enable public access URL

File Attachments

Attach files using one of three formats:

URL attachment:

json

{"prompt":"Analyze this","attachments":[{"type":"url","url":"https://example.com/doc.pdf"}]}

Base64 attachment:

json

{"prompt":"What's in this image?","attachments":[{"type":"base64","data":"<base64>","mime_type":"image/png"}]}

File ID (after upload):

json

{"prompt":"Review this file","attachments":[{"type":"file","file_id":"file-xxx"}]}

Projects

Create a project with shared instructions:

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.manus.ai/v1/projects" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"name":"My Project","instruction":"Always respond concisely"}'

Use project in task:

bash

curl -s -X POST "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"prompt":"...","projectId":"proj_xxx","agentProfile":"manus-1.6"}'

Best Practices

Use
```
manus-1.6-lite
```
for simple queries (faster, cheaper)
Use
```
manus-1.6
```
or
```
manus-1.6-max
```
for research tasks
Always report
```
task_url
```
so user can view progress in browser
Poll status with reasonable intervals (5-10s for simple, 15-30s for research)
Check
```
credit_usage
```
field to track consumption
For research: be specific about scope, timeframe, sources, and desired output format
Research tasks typically produce multiple output files (reports, CSVs, charts) - extract all attachments
Manus uses parallel processing for multi-faceted research - one prompt can cover multiple angles

Error Handling

Check for failed tasks:

bash

curl -s -X GET "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks/{task_id}" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" | jq '{status, error}'

status

failed

, the

error

field contains the reason. Common issues:

Invalid API key → Check
```
MANUS_API_KEY
```
is set
Task timeout → Simplify prompt or use
```
manus-1.6-max
```
Rate limited → Wait and retry

API Reference

For complete endpoint documentation, see references/api.md.

manus

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Manus

When to Use Manus

Research Prompt Examples

Environment Setup

Core Workflow

Creating a Task

Checking Task Status

Listing Tasks

Multi-turn Conversations

Delete a Task

Advanced Options

File Attachments

Projects

Best Practices

Error Handling

API Reference