Hands-On with Manus: The First AI That Actually Gets Things Done, Made in China (50 Use Cases + Breakdown)
The World's First General-Purpose Agent 2025, Dawn Breaks in the East
Take a look at this first — AI-generated with one click.
The prompt was dead simple: "Make me a ten-slide deck introducing the Xiaomi SU7."
I thought DeepSeek was already the best in the game. Turns out someone else is even more formidable...
This product is Manus, the world's first general-purpose Agent, made in China. Went live last night, announced this morning.
URL: https://manus.im/
Still in closed beta. You can apply for access after logging in.
This thing blew OpenAI out of the water on the GAIA benchmark.
Peak, Manus's Chief Scientist, shared the original audio.
The product name Manus means "hand," from the Latin "mens et manus" — mind and hand, or knowledge in action. It embodies an idea: knowledge and wisdom must be put into practice to create positive impact on the world. That's Manus's pursuit — to give LLMs a pair of hands that skillfully wield tools, extending human capability and turning the visions in your mind into reality.
I'd heard they were "cooking something big" and had been eagerly waiting.
Didn't expect them to drop something that broke the entire internet: invite codes became impossibly scarce.
Let me show you a few examples from the official demos first.
Prompt:
I'm a high school physics teacher preparing to teach the law of conservation of momentum. Can you create a series of clear, accurate demonstration animations and organize them into a simple HTML presentation?
https://manus.im/share/pAdLIvlktJmV945593mFio
Prompt:
I want a comprehensive analysis of Tesla stock, including: Overview: company profile, key metrics, performance data, and investment recommendations. Financials: revenue trends, profit margins, balance sheet, and cash flow analysis. Market Sentiment: analyst ratings, sentiment indicators, and news impact. Technical Analysis: price trends, technical indicators, and support/resistance levels. Peer Comparison: market share and financial metrics vs. major competitors. Value Investor: intrinsic value, growth potential, and risk factors. Investment Thesis: SWOT analysis and recommendations for different investor types.
https://manus.im/share/xFgpHb15vKqfRPWIs3JJPJ?replay=1
Prompt:
I need a 7-day Japan itinerary from Seattle, April 15–23, for me and my fiancée with a budget of $2,500–5,000 for both of us. We love historical sites, hidden gems, and Japanese culture (kendo, tea ceremony, Zen meditation). We want to see the deer in Nara and explore cities on foot. I'm planning to propose on this trip and need a special venue recommendation. Please provide a detailed itinerary and a simple HTML travel guide with maps, attraction descriptions, essential Japanese phrases, and travel tips we can reference throughout our journey.
https://manus.im/share/brWKUSp51ItvVMBpcXNCZ1?replay=1
Manus's founding team are long-time friends of mine, and every single one of them is top-tier.
They saved me an invite code before launch so I could test the product.
While I was at it, I dug up some exclusive intel.
I started by throwing a pretty outrageous task at it:
"Help me compile a month-by-month chronicle of everything that happened in the AI industry from 2022 to now. Then review this history from today's perspective."
And then... I just kept muttering "holy shit." First, it clearly mapped out the task plan.
Then it fired up a browser and went scavenging for information...
And kept reviewing and self-correcting along the way...
Yeah, this is exactly the Agent I've been waiting for!
(Though this particular case was so massive it ran for hours without finishing.)
Meanwhile, I ran another case: building a game.
"Help me write a high-fidelity web version of DOOM that I can play with mouse and keyboard."
A quick note: Doom is a landmark first-person shooter developed by id Software and released in 1993. It's not just a classic in gaming history — it's widely considered one of the founding titles of the modern FPS genre.
After I gave Manus the requirements, I watched it go to work.
And in the end, not only did it complete the task, it even deployed it for me:
Plus it threw in a manual for good measure.
Of course, there are tons more cases from the official demos.
Manus captured market sentiment shifts toward Amazon over the past four quarters through research and data analysis.
Manus conducted deep research across the web to find the most suitable suppliers.
Have Manus create a stylish business card based on your personal homepage or resume.
Manus will deeply understand and analyze your family situation and needs, then filter listings on professional real estate sites to find the best matches.
See how Manus efficiently and sensibly schedules 40 candidates.
Upload your class recording and let Manus create illustrated lecture notes.
Manus comprehensively curates personalized, high-quality reinforcement learning resources for you.
Manus can gather public statements from key figures on any event you're tracking, pulling from multiple sources.
Too many policy terms to compare when buying insurance? Let Manus build you a clean comparison table of the key details and recommend the best option.
Tedious but high-stakes contract review is another thing Manus excels at. It will first research the relevant laws and regulations, then point out gaps in your contract with clear reasoning.
Hand Manus your API Excel documentation and let it convert it into a comprehensive doc-style API reference.
Manus dives deep into the research on Pitera, the skincare ingredient, and writes a YouTube video script explaining it.
Through deep collection and analysis of public information, Manus maps out a company's organizational relationships.
We had Manus study TechCrunch's website design language, then create a slide-ready icon and chart library in that same style.
Manus creates a custom meditation guide audio of any length, tailored to your preferences.
Manus conducts deep stock analysis and builds a stunning dashboard showing detailed stock information.
Manus can create all kinds of custom sound effects — here's a bird-chirping-meets-steam sound it made for us.
Manus deeply analyzes regional POI data, cross-references official statistics, and produces detailed demographic analysis of patient populations in a given area.
Manus thoroughly researches the Rockefeller family and organizes their relationships into a clear family tree.
Through research, analysis, and creative imagination, Manus provides screenwriters with material support and creative inspiration.
Review a company's financial statements against its financial records.
Describe your business and your ideal B2B customer profile, and Manus will do deep mapping for you.
Manus conducted deep neighborhood data estimation and analysis for a Texas BBQ restaurant and delivered a sales improvement strategy report.
When you need to learn an open-source project, Manus will dive into the codebase, map the system architecture, and walk you through the project in detail.
Upload a floor plan and Manus will study lighting design science to create an interior lighting plan for you.
Manus builds you an interactive web lesson on measuring the scale of the universe.
Create a video demonstration lesson on the momentum theorem for middle school teachers.
Manus builds you a clear, stunning interactive web explainer on the Transformer architecture.
Manus can act on your behalf to deeply experience a website's features, then write a detailed product review as a product expert.
Manus can compile comprehensive background dossiers on interview subjects for journalists and investors, preparing all the materials you need.
Create a key-information summary table for your complex lease agreement.
We wanted a list of all B2B companies in YC's W25 batch. Manus navigated the YC website itself, filtered for qualifying companies, and delivered the results efficiently.
When explaining the Battle of Lexington and the shot heard round the world, Manus illustrated its own custom visual map.
Need a teleprompter script for your next talk? Manus thoughtfully builds you a presentation file with adjustable speed, scalable fonts, and crisp readability.
Have Manus research mobile internet traffic and consumption patterns across U.S. states during Thanksgiving, then produce rich visualizations.
Deep-dive into NVIDIA's financial reports on demand.
Upload your Amazon store's sales data spreadsheet and Manus will analyze it in depth, visualize the trends, and propose concrete strategies to boost sales.
Give Manus a Kaggle competition URL and it will write the code, generate predictions, and submit results — landing in the top 10% in one shot.
Manus builds you personalized mini-games. Try the Zelenskyy White House Debate Simulator.
Have Manus cut a two-minute highlight reel of golden quotes from your podcast.
Manus doesn't just polish your prose — it also beautifies the layout with care.
Manus researched and catalogued AI-powered search products in the apparel industry, then produced detailed product analyses.
Need authentic market feedback on a product? Manus will comb through e-commerce reviews and deliver a thorough analysis.
Manus investigated whether AWS could reach a trillion-dollar valuation, backing its argument with deep research and data analysis.
Manus independently identified and studied all major AR/AI product launches and industry developments in 2024.
By tracking primary sources and drilling into the details, Manus produced a deep study of U.S. AI industry policy over the past decade.
Upload 25 candidate resumes at once and Manus will compile the information into a structured table — it can even evaluate potential hires against your criteria.
Manus makes it effortless to gauge public sentiment on any topic across Twitter, YouTube, and other social platforms.
Manus researched the top 20 CRM vendors on the market and compiled their slogans and brand stories.
Manus doesn't just curate personalized travel itineraries from scattered information — it also crafts a custom handbook for your specific trip.
We had Manus generate an SEO audit report for Andrej Karpathy's personal website — all it took was throwing a URL at it.
Drawing on deep research into publicly available materials, Manus can write you a full corporate biography of Adobe. Manus can literally write a book on any topic you care about — you'll never have to worry about not being able to find a biography of your favorite public figure or company.
From the examples above, you'll notice that Manus is fundamentally different from traditional chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude.
- Manus has powerful tool-calling capabilities: It doesn't just understand your needs — it proactively invokes browsers, code editors, data analysis tools, and more to complete complex tasks. It doesn't merely tell you "here's what you should do"; it actually does the work for you and delivers the final result.
- Manus runs in its own cloud computing environment: It can work independently without your constant supervision. You simply submit a request, go handle other matters, and it autonomously completes the task in the background. This "delegate-and-deliver" model truly frees up your time and attention.
- Working with Manus feels more like collaborating with a human colleague than using a tool: You can step in anytime to adjust direction, change requirements mid-stream, and Manus will adapt flexibly. When a task is completed particularly well, you can simply tell it "do it this way from now on" — it will remember your preferences and continuously refine its working style, becoming a partner that increasingly understands you.
That's why Manus is especially adept at tedious batch document processing — things like organizing resumes in bulk, converting file formats, reviewing contracts and financial reports:
- It can conduct deep research and analysis, gathering information from multiple channels to deliver comprehensive, insightful reports.
- Facing complex life decisions, Manus can help you compare options, plan trips, and make the decision process effortless.
- On the data analysis front, Manus will automatically locate relevant data sources, write code to analyze it, and create intuitive visualizations.
- If your needs span multiple domains simultaneously, Manus's value becomes even more pronounced. We're continually exploring its boundaries and possibilities — welcome to joining us in discovering more innovative use cases.
That said, collaborating with Manus is slightly different from working with ChatGPT:
- Clear communication matters: You need to be more explicit about your expectations for the final deliverable, formatting requirements, and quality standards.
- For complex tasks, a progressive approach works better: Have Manus complete one portion first, then adjust the next steps based on intermediate results. This iterative collaboration often yields unexpectedly good outcomes.
- Make good use of the Knowledge system to add your specific requirements: Or, after Manus completes a satisfactory operation, tell it to "remember this approach" so it applies that learning to future work.
- When you notice the task execution veering off course, intervene immediately and tell it to "try a different approach." Manus will quickly adjust its strategy, avoiding wasted effort in the wrong direction.
Of course, Manus is still in closed beta and has its fair share of issues, including but not limited to:
- Getting stuck on certain sites that require scanning or CAPTCHA verification: Zhihu especially
- Potentially hanging at a particular step during task execution
- If a task runs too long (exceeding context limits), it may fail outright
On this, our friends candidly admit they're working on continuous optimization. After all, this is just the beginning.
Finally
I want to share a video:
Filmed at 10 PM on March 5, 2025: the eve of Manus's launch
At this moment, a Chinese team has taken the first substantive step in the general-purpose agent race.
2025: Dawn breaks in the East