Manus is a general-purpose AI agent that carries multi-step digital work from a prompt to a finished result. The team behind the Monica AI assistant introduced it on March 6, 2025 as an invite-only service. Inside a cloud computer, the agent researched topics, ran code, and created files for the user.
That original cloud workflow developed into a much larger product. Manus opened to the public, learned to coordinate parallel agents, reached local computers, and added the tools needed to build and host applications.
The company behind Manus changed direction just as quickly. Manus announced that it was joining Meta in December 2025, faced a regulatory order four months later, and said on August 11, 2026 that it would return to independent operation. This timeline connects those company decisions with the releases and access changes that shaped the product from its first preview onward.
Last updated: August 12, 2026.
Latest Manus update
Manus announced on August 11, 2026 that it will soon return to operating as an independent company. The notice begins the company’s separation from Meta while Manus keeps serving users through its existing product.
The transition affects data and access for certain users. Those users need to create a backup before 7:59 a.m. on August 23, Singapore time if they want to preserve their data. Data generated on or after December 29, 2025 will be deleted during August 23 and 24, and restoration opens at 8:00 a.m. on August 25. Affected users will receive an in-app or email notice.
Manus timeline at a glance
| Date | Event | What Changed |
|---|---|---|
| August 11, 2026 | Return to independent operation announced | Manus said it would separate from Meta and operate as an independent company. |
| July 22, 2026 | Plan Mode | Users gained a reviewable execution plan before Manus started work. |
| July 14, 2026 | PowerPoint Slides | Manus began creating native, editable PowerPoint files. |
| July 13, 2026 | Auto-Publish | Successful website builds deployed automatically after opt-in. |
| July 9, 2026 | Branch | A task gained parallel sessions with inherited context. |
| June 24, 2026 | Hosting Modes | Built projects gained more choices for deployment infrastructure. |
| May 18, 2026 | Scheduled Tasks 2.0 | Recurring work gained task context, Project support, and web-app schedules. |
| April 30, 2026 | Cloud Computer | Persistent Ubuntu machines ran services and retained files around the clock. |
| April 27, 2026 | Meta transaction challenged | A Chinese regulator ordered the parties to withdraw the acquisition. |
| March 16, 2026 | My Computer | The desktop app brought Manus to approved local folders and tools. |
| February 16, 2026 | Manus Agents | Telegram became the first messaging channel for the full agent. |
| January 27, 2026 | Agent Skills | Manus adopted reusable, file-based workflow packages. |
| December 29, 2025 | Meta announcement | Manus announced that it was joining Meta while keeping its service running. |
| December 15, 2025 | Manus 1.6 | Max, mobile app development, and Design View arrived. |
| December 1, 2025 | Projects | Reusable instructions and files became available across related tasks. |
| November 18, 2025 | Browser Operator | Manus gained a path into the user’s local browser session. |
| October 16, 2025 | Manus 1.5 | A rebuilt engine improved speed, reliability, and task quality. |
| July 31, 2025 | Wide Research | Many general-purpose agents processed large batches in parallel. |
| May 13, 2025 | Public registration | Manus removed its invitation waitlist. |
| March 6, 2025 | Initial launch | The general-purpose agent entered an invite-only public preview. |
2025: Manus launches and opens to the public
March 6, 2025: Manus enters an invite-only preview
The Monica team introduced Manus as a general-purpose AI agent on March 6, 2025. A launch demonstration showed the system researching topics, comparing information, writing code, and assembling deliverables through a virtual computer. The work continued in the cloud after the user left the session.
Access was limited. Prospective users joined a waitlist or obtained invitation codes, and the scarcity became part of the launch attention. This was a closed public preview, not unrestricted general availability.
The company behind the release was widely identified as Butterfly Effect, the developer of Monica. Monica was an existing AI assistant product, while Manus became the new autonomous agent brand. That history explains why early announcements and accounts used several company and product names.
May 13, 2025: public registration replaces invitation codes
Manus opened registration to the public on May 13. New users no longer needed a waitlist invitation, which changed the service from a scarce preview into an accessible commercial product. Free registration and daily use provisions created an entry point, while paid plans supplied more capacity and priority.
This access change is the clearest general-release boundary in the early history of Manus. The March debut established the product and its agent concept; the May opening gave the general public a direct path to use it.
July 31, 2025: Wide Research adds parallel agents
Wide Research changed how Manus handled large sets of similar items. The system divided a request into independent subtasks and assigned each one to a separate, full Manus instance. A main agent then collected and organized the results.
The design addressed a practical context problem. One agent processing a long list in sequence can lose detail as its working context fills. Independent contexts preserve room for each item. Common batch tasks include company research, product comparisons, paper reviews, data extraction, and content production. Wide Research became a paid-user capability that Manus triggers automatically for suitable tasks.
October 16, 2025: Manus 1.5 rebuilds the agent engine
Manus 1.5 was the first numbered release that materially reorganized the agent architecture. Manus reported that average completion time had fallen from about 15 minutes in April to just under four minutes by the release date. Its internal measurements also showed gains in task quality and user satisfaction.
The release offered Manus-1.5 for maximum capability and Manus-1.5-Lite for lower-cost work. These names identify configurations of the complete agent system. They do not represent downloadable language models or a public family of model weights.
November 18, 2025: Browser Operator enters local sessions
Manus originally browsed through an isolated cloud environment. Browser Operator added a browser extension that worked inside the user’s local browser, subject to the access granted by the user. This mattered for services that depend on an existing login, local session state, or interactive pages that reject cloud automation.
The extension created a second execution path. Cloud browsing kept remote work isolated, while Browser Operator handled tasks tied to the user’s own browser identity. The user retained the ability to observe and interrupt the operation.
December 1, 2025: Projects preserve instructions and knowledge
Projects introduced persistent workspaces for recurring tasks. Each Project held a master instruction, reference files, and a knowledge base that new sessions inherited. Users no longer had to upload the same guidelines or restate the same process every time they started related work.
Projects were released across all subscription tiers and remained private unless shared. Project members received the shared configuration, while individual task histories stayed separately controlled. This distinction moved Manus closer to an organized work platform without merging every conversation into one common history.
December 15, 2025: Manus 1.6 adds Max and mobile development
Manus 1.6 introduced Manus 1.6 Max as the flagship agent configuration. The revised architecture focused on higher one-shot task success and greater autonomy during difficult work. Wide Research tasks under Max also used the newer agent architecture for their independent subtasks.
The release widened the product beyond research and web output. Mobile Development generated applications for phones, while Design View supplied an interactive workspace for image creation and editing. Manus was becoming a creation platform with an agent at its center.
December 29, 2025: Manus announces that it is joining Meta
Manus announced on December 29 that it was joining Meta. Meta said it planned to continue operating and selling the standalone Manus service and to use the team’s general-purpose agent technology across consumer and business products, including Meta AI.
Manus said its service and customer experience would continue. The company remained based in Singapore, and its website and applications stayed active under the Manus brand. The announcement therefore changed the company’s ownership direction without ending the independent product.
2026: Manus expands across local, cloud, and application work
January 27, 2026: Manus adopts Agent Skills
Manus announced support for Agent Skills, a file-based standard for reusable instructions, scripts, references, and assets. A skill can teach the general agent a repeatable process without placing the complete procedure into every prompt.
The release included a way to package a successful Manus workflow as a skill and slash commands for selecting a named skill. Skills package procedures; the Model Context Protocol connects agents to external services and data. Team libraries and deeper Project integration were roadmap items on the announcement date.
February 16, 2026: Manus Agents launches in Telegram
Manus Agents brought the complete agent into messaging applications, with Telegram as the first supported channel. Messages started multi-step tasks with the same reasoning and tools used by the main service. Users did not need to run a separate bot server or manage an API token.
The Telegram channel was available across subscription tiers. It became another front door to Manus, alongside the web and mobile applications, while completed work remained connected to the user’s Manus account.
March 16, 2026: My Computer reaches local files and tools
My Computer was the core feature of the new Manus Desktop application. It connected Manus to folders that the user explicitly selected, then used local command-line tools to read and edit files, run software, and interact with the development environment.
Local execution used installed software and local hardware, including a compatible GPU. Manus required approval for commands and restricted file access to authorized folders. The desktop app supports Windows and Apple Silicon Macs. Linux is unsupported.
April 27, 2026: a regulator orders withdrawal of the Meta transaction
China’s National Development and Reform Commission said it had prohibited the foreign acquisition of Manus and required the parties to withdraw the transaction. The order followed scrutiny of the startup’s earlier Chinese operations and the transfer of AI technology and talent.
Meta responded that the transaction complied with applicable law and expected a resolution. The regulator and Meta therefore held conflicting public positions after the order. Manus later addressed the company’s direction in its August 11 announcement.
April 30, 2026: Cloud Computer adds a persistent environment
Cloud Computer introduced a dedicated Ubuntu virtual machine that remained active between tasks. It hosted bots, kept databases and files, ran scheduled scripts, and operated services around the clock. Users reached the machine through a web terminal or SSH.
The persistent machine filled a gap between two existing environments. A temporary Manus sandbox suited finite cloud tasks, and My Computer used the user’s physical machine. Cloud Computer supplied retained state and continuous uptime in an isolated remote system. Active plans and selected machine resources determined access and cost.
May 18, 2026: Scheduled Tasks 2.0 retains work context
Scheduled Tasks 2.0 expanded recurring automation beyond repeated standalone prompts. A run continued inside the same task and reused its conversation, files, decisions, and earlier results. Schedules also inherited Project instructions, skills, and connectors.
Manus-built web applications gained scheduled actions for jobs such as data refreshes and recurring reports. Calendar and history views exposed future and completed runs. The release was available to all users, though a schedule still depended on the resources and connected services required by its work.
June 24, 2026: Hosting Modes expands deployment choices
Hosting Modes gave application builders a clearer choice between Manus-managed deployment and infrastructure matched to their own project requirements. The update addressed projects that needed more control over server location, capacity, or operations than the default website publishing path supplied.
This feature extended the application platform after Cloud Computer. Manus created an application, connected it to persistent services, and placed the deployed result in an environment selected for the workload.
July 9, 2026: Branch creates parallel task histories
Branch let users start a separate session from any earlier message. The new branch inherited the instructions, files, and history up to that point, while the original conversation remained unchanged. Several outputs therefore shared a common research or planning base without mixing their later revisions.
Session branching launched for all users in standard Manus chats. Web Builder sessions were excluded at release, which kept the feature focused on conversations and general tasks.
July 13, 2026: Auto-Publish connects successful builds to deployment
Auto-Publish added an optional switch to Manus WebDev projects. After the user enabled it, each successful build deployed to the live URL. Failed or incomplete builds left the last stable version online.
The switch was off by default and remained under the user’s control. It launched on the web, iOS, and Android for all users. Auto-Publish turned repeated editing and deployment into one continuous workflow while preserving an explicit opt-in boundary.
July 14, 2026: Manus creates native PowerPoint files
PowerPoint Slides changed the format of Manus presentations. Earlier decks were created in a web format and converted during export. The new mode generated a native .pptx file from the start, with editable charts, structured table cells, and standard slide layouts.
Users downloaded the file and continued editing it in Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides. Research, synthesis, visual generation, and deck production still occurred in one Manus task; the result now retained more of the structure expected in office presentation software.
July 22, 2026: Plan Mode adds approval before execution
Plan Mode inserted a deliberate review stage before Manus executed a complex request. The agent checked feasibility, identified missing requirements, and prepared a Markdown plan. Users edited that document directly or asked Manus to revise it, then confirmed the result as the task’s working specification.
Manus did not begin the planned work until the user confirmed or dismissed the plan. The mode also paused an active task and prepared the next phase. It launched for all users on web and mobile and remained manual. Short requests still proceeded through the standard experience.
August 11, 2026: Manus announces a return to independent operation
Manus said it would soon return to operating as an independent company and would keep serving its users around the world. The announcement reversed the ownership direction set by the December 2025 Meta transaction and provided the first official Manus account of how the regulatory dispute would affect the company.
The separation requires a limited data transition for certain users. Manus said it would delete their data generated on or after December 29, 2025 during August 23 and 24, Singapore time. Affected users can create a backup before the deletion window and restore it from August 25. Manus will identify those accounts through in-app or email notices. Other accounts will continue without action, and Manus said the deletion was not caused by a data breach or security incident.
Where Manus runs
- Web app: The main workspace runs agent tasks, research, data analysis, design, slides, websites, and application projects.
- iOS and Android: The mobile apps can start and monitor tasks, use Plan Mode, and access supported creation and publishing features.
- Windows and macOS: Manus Desktop includes My Computer for approved local folders and command-line tools. The macOS build requires Apple Silicon.
- Local browser: Browser Operator works through the user’s browser session for authenticated and interactive sites.
- Messaging: Manus Agents began with Telegram. Manus also supplies Slack access and connectors for work inside team communication.
- API: The REST API can create and manage agent tasks, projects, files, websites, apps, and webhooks. API v2 is the current generation, while v1 is deprecated.
These interfaces can point to different execution environments. The default sandbox is an isolated temporary computer. My Computer works on the user’s approved local resources. Cloud Computer is a persistent paid environment for continuous remote workloads. Selecting the right surface depends on where the needed files, logins, software, and running services reside.
Manus FAQs
Is Manus free to use?
Manus offers free access and paid subscription plans. Tasks consume credits or other metered resources, and some capabilities have plan requirements. Prices, monthly allowances, and usage rates can change. Check the current Manus plans and rates before purchasing.
Is Manus open source?
No. Manus is a proprietary hosted agent service. Its support for the open Agent Skills format means users can create portable workflow packages, but it does not release the Manus agent engine or its complete source code.
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