Manus Skill - Operate Manus through Openclaw

Data & APIs

Interact with the Manus AI agent platform via its REST API. Use this skill whenever the user mentions Manus, manus.ai, Manus API, Manus tasks, Manus projects, or wants to delegate work to the Manus AI agent — including creating tasks, uploading files, managing projects, polling task status, continuing multi-turn conversations, or setting up webhooks. Also trigger when the user says "send to Manus", "ask Manus to", "have Manus do", "manus agent", or references task IDs, session IDs, or Manus file uploads. This skill handles session/task-ID tracking to prevent accidental task duplication — a critical concern since every POST to /v1/tasks without a taskId creates a NEW task and consumes credits. Trigger this skill even for simple Manus questions like "what's the status of my Manus task" or "list my Manus sessions."

Install

openclaw skills install manus-skill

Manus API Skill

Manage tasks, projects, files, and sessions on the Manus AI agent platform.

Setup

export MANUS_API_KEY="your-api-key"

Get your key from: Manus dashboard → Settings → Integration → Build with Manus API.

The session manager writes .manus_sessions.json to the project root to track active and archived sessions. Add it to .gitignore — it contains prompts, task IDs, and task URLs that may be sensitive.

echo ".manus_sessions.json" >> .gitignore

Authentication

Every request uses the API_KEY header (not Bearer token):

curl -H "API_KEY: $MANUS_API_KEY" https://api.manus.ai/v1/tasks

Base URL: https://api.manus.ai — all endpoints under /v1/.

Session Management (CRITICAL — Read First)

Every POST /v1/tasks without a taskId creates a brand-new task and consumes credits. There is no undo. Session tracking prevents accidental duplication.

For the full registry format, search algorithm, archival rules, and edge cases, read references/session-management.md.

How It Works

All sessions are tracked in .manus_sessions.json in the project root:

{
  "active": {
    "security-audit": { "task_id": "...", "description": "...", "tags": [...], ... }
  },
  "archived": {
    "q2-report": { "task_id": "...", "description": "...", "archived_reason": "completed", ... }
  }
}

Active = running or pending tasks. Archived = completed or failed (still searchable, can be resumed).

The 4 Rules

Before creating any task, search the registry for a matching session. If found, continue it with taskId. If not, create new.
After every task creation, save task_id + metadata to the registry immediately.
When multiple sessions match, present the top matches and ask the user to pick. Never guess.
When a task completes or fails, move it from active to archived automatically.

Session Resolution Flow

When the user wants to work with a session:

1. Search active sessions (name, description, tags, prompts)
      |
   1 match  -> Use it
   0 matches -> Search archived
   >1 match  -> Present list, ask user
      |
2. Search archived
      |
   1 match  -> Ask: "Archived (completed). Resume or start fresh?"
   0 matches -> Create new session
   >1 match  -> Present list, ask user

Registry Entry Fields

Each session stores: task_id, task_title, task_url, description (agent-generated summary), tags (keywords for search), project_id, project_name, agent_profile, task_mode, created_at, last_used, last_status, turn_count, first_prompt, last_prompt.

Archived entries additionally store archived_at and archived_reason.

Using the Session Manager Script

The script at scripts/manus_session.py handles all session tracking, API calls, polling, archival, and search. Use it instead of calling the API directly.

As a library (when an agent imports it):

from scripts.manus_session import ManusSession

s = ManusSession()  # reads .env automatically

# New session
s.send("Review auth module for vulnerabilities",
       session_name="security-audit",
       tags=["security", "auth", "code-review"])

# Continue (auto-passes taskId)
s.send("Now check the token refresh logic",
       session_name="security-audit")

# Search sessions
matches = s.search("auth")

# Poll until done (auto-archives on completion)
result = s.poll_until_done("security-audit")

# List sessions
s.list_sessions()                        # active only
s.list_sessions(include_archived=True)   # both

# Resume archived session
s.unarchive("q2-report")
s.send("Add December data", session_name="q2-report")

# Import orphaned task from Manus webapp
s.import_task("TeBim6FDQf9peS52xHtAyh", session_name="imported-task")

As a CLI (when an agent runs it from the shell):

# Send prompt (new or continue)
python scripts/manus_session.py send "Review this PR" -s pr-review --tags security,backend
python scripts/manus_session.py send "Focus on auth" -s pr-review  # continues

# Search
python scripts/manus_session.py search "auth"

# List sessions
python scripts/manus_session.py sessions
python scripts/manus_session.py sessions --archived

# Check status
python scripts/manus_session.py status -s pr-review

# Poll until done
python scripts/manus_session.py poll -s pr-review

# Resume archived
python scripts/manus_session.py unarchive -s old-session

# Import orphaned task
python scripts/manus_session.py import-task TASK_ID --name my-task

# Upload file
python scripts/manus_session.py upload report.pdf

# Projects
python scripts/manus_session.py create-project "Code Reviews" --instruction "Check for security issues"
python scripts/manus_session.py projects

# Cleanup old archived sessions (>7 days)
python scripts/manus_session.py cleanup

Quick Reference — Endpoints

Resource	Method	Path	Purpose
Projects	POST	/v1/projects	Create project with default instruction
Projects	GET	/v1/projects	List all projects
Tasks	POST	/v1/tasks	Create new task OR continue existing
Tasks	GET	/v1/tasks	List tasks (filter, paginate, search)
Tasks	GET	/v1/tasks/{task_id}	Get single task detail + output
Tasks	PUT	/v1/tasks/{task_id}	Update task (title, sharing, visibility)
Tasks	DELETE	/v1/tasks/{task_id}	Permanently delete task
Files	POST	/v1/files	Get presigned upload URL
Files	GET	/v1/files	List uploaded files
Files	GET	/v1/files/{file_id}	Get file details
Files	DELETE	/v1/files/{file_id}	Delete a file
Webhooks	POST	/v1/webhooks	Register webhook URL
Webhooks	DELETE	/v1/webhooks/{webhook_id}	Remove webhook

For full request/response schemas, read references/api-reference.md.

Core Workflows

1. Create a New Session

python scripts/manus_session.py send \
  "Analyze Q2 revenue trends and create a summary report" \
  -s q2-analysis --mode agent --tags revenue,q2,analysis

2. Continue an Existing Session

python scripts/manus_session.py send \
  "Now break it down by region" -s q2-analysis

3. Upload File and Attach

python scripts/manus_session.py upload report.pdf
# Returns file_id

python scripts/manus_session.py send \
  "Summarize this document" -s doc-review --file-id FILE_ID

Files expire after 48 hours.

4. Organize with Projects

python scripts/manus_session.py create-project "Research" \
  --instruction "Always cite sources and include confidence levels"

python scripts/manus_session.py send \
  "Research AI agent frameworks" -s agent-research --project proj_abc123

Agent Profiles & Task Modes

Profile	Use Case	Cost
`manus-1.6`	General — balanced quality/speed	Standard
`manus-1.6-lite`	Simple/fast tasks	Lower
`manus-1.6-max`	Complex analysis	Higher

Mode	Behavior
`chat`	Conversational only
`adaptive`	Agent decides when to use tools
`agent`	Full agent — browses web, writes code, creates files

Connectors

Enable external service access by passing connector UUIDs:

Gmail: 9444d960-ab7e-450f-9cb9-b9467fb0adda
Notion / Google Calendar: configured per account

Cost Awareness

~150 credits per typical task. Use manus-1.6-lite + chat for simple queries.
Always reuse sessions via taskId. Duplicate tasks = wasted credits.
Check credit_usage in task responses to monitor spend.

Reference Files

File	When to Read
`references/session-management.md`	Full session registry design, JSON schema, search/scoring algorithm, archival rules, edge cases
`references/api-reference.md`	Exact field schemas for all endpoints, query params, webhook payloads, attachment formats, OpenAI SDK compat
`scripts/manus_session.py`	Session-aware Python client — use as library or CLI for all Manus interactions