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
curl -s -X POST "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"prompt":"<task description>","agentProfile":"manus-1.6"}'
Agent Profiles:
manus-1.6-lite - Fast, simple tasks (quick lookups, simple questions)manus-1.6 - Standard (default, good for most research)manus-1.6-max - Complex reasoning (deep research, multi-source analysis, detailed reports)
Response:
{"task_id":"abc123","task_title":"...","task_url":"https://manus.im/app/abc123"}
Checking Task Status
curl -s -X GET "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks/{task_id}" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY"
Status values: pending, running, completed, failed
Poll every 5-10 seconds until completed.
Extract text output:
curl -s -X GET "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks/{task_id}" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" | jq -r '.output[] | select(.role=="assistant") | .content[] | select(.type=="output_text") | .text'
Extract file attachments:
curl -s -X GET "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks/{task_id}" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" | jq -r '.output[] | select(.role=="assistant") | .content[] | select(.type=="output_file") | "\(.fileName): \(.fileUrl)"'
Listing Tasks
curl -s -X GET "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" | jq '.data[] | {id, status, title: .metadata.task_title}'
Multi-turn Conversations
Continue an existing task by including taskId:
curl -s -X POST "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"prompt":"follow-up question","taskId":"abc123","agentProfile":"manus-1.6"}'
Delete a Task
curl -s -X DELETE "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks/{task_id}" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY"
Advanced Options
| Parameter | Description |
|---|
taskMode | chat, adaptive, or agent |
projectId | Associate with project for shared instructions |
attachments | Array of file objects (see below) |
connectors | Pre-configured connector IDs (Gmail, Calendar, Notion) |
createShareableLink | Enable public access URL |
File Attachments
Attach files using one of three formats:
URL attachment:
{"prompt":"Analyze this","attachments":[{"type":"url","url":"https://example.com/doc.pdf"}]}
Base64 attachment:
{"prompt":"What's in this image?","attachments":[{"type":"base64","data":"<base64>","mime_type":"image/png"}]}
File ID (after upload):
{"prompt":"Review this file","attachments":[{"type":"file","file_id":"file-xxx"}]}
Projects
Create a project with shared instructions:
curl -s -X POST "https://api.manus.ai/v1/projects" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"name":"My Project","instruction":"Always respond concisely"}'
Use project in task:
curl -s -X POST "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"prompt":"...","projectId":"proj_xxx","agentProfile":"manus-1.6"}'
Best Practices
- Use
manus-1.6-lite for simple queries (faster, cheaper)
- Use
manus-1.6 or manus-1.6-max for research tasks
- Always report
task_url so user can view progress in browser
- Poll status with reasonable intervals (5-10s for simple, 15-30s for research)
- Check
credit_usage field to track consumption
- For research: be specific about scope, timeframe, sources, and desired output format
- Research tasks typically produce multiple output files (reports, CSVs, charts) - extract all attachments
- Manus uses parallel processing for multi-faceted research - one prompt can cover multiple angles
Error Handling
Check for failed tasks:
curl -s -X GET "https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks/{task_id}" -H "API_KEY:$MANUS_API_KEY" | jq '{status, error}'
If status is 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.