Manus AI Releases Developer Roadmap as MANUS Token Surges 44%
Joerg Hiller Feb 18, 2026 00:00
Manus AI publishes comprehensive project guide for its autonomous agent platform while MANUS token posts 44% daily gain amid growing developer interest.
Manus AI has dropped a detailed developer playbook for building applications on its autonomous agent platform, coinciding with a 44% single-day price spike in the MANUS token that pushed it to $0.000086 on February 15.
The Chinese AI startup, founded by Monica's Xiao Hong, published what it calls a "vibecoding" guide—essentially a framework for prompt-based application development using its autonomous AI agent. The release targets developers ranging from beginners building static websites to advanced users creating full-stack SaaS applications with payment integration.
What's Actually in the Guide
The documentation breaks down into three tiers. Beginner projects include portfolio sites and link-in-bio pages—nothing revolutionary there. But the intermediate and advanced sections reveal more about Manus's ambitions.
Mid-level projects leverage external APIs: mood-based playlist generators pulling from Spotify, weather dashboards, and AI-powered meme generators. The advanced tier gets interesting with SaaS dashboards featuring Stripe integration, job boards with employer/applicant authentication, and booking systems with automated email confirmations.
The guide emphasizes what Manus calls "iterative and modular workflow"—breaking complex applications into smaller prompts rather than attempting full builds in single requests. This approach addresses a common pain point with AI coding tools: context window limitations that cause quality degradation in longer sessions.
Why Developers Should Care
Manus differentiates itself from ChatGPT-style interfaces through asynchronous cloud execution. Users can close their devices while the agent continues working in a Linux sandbox environment, installing software and running scripts independently. The platform has outperformed OpenAI's Deep Research on GAIA benchmarks for multi-step task completion.
The Figma integration stands out—developers can import designs directly as blueprints rather than describing layouts through text prompts. This solves the "generic AI UI" problem that plagues most AI-generated interfaces.
Token Market Context
The MANUS token operates on Solana with a current market cap hovering around $86,500—firmly micro-cap territory. The 44% daily move looks dramatic but represents minimal dollar volume in absolute terms. Traders should note this is the AI agent's native token, distinct from various memecoin derivatives trading under similar tickers.
Since launching in early March 2025, Manus has positioned itself as infrastructure for AI-native application development. Whether the developer documentation release catalyzed the price move or merely coincided with broader AI agent sector interest remains unclear. The project's Chinese backing and Monica's existing user base provide distribution advantages, though regulatory uncertainty around AI development in that market adds risk factors worth monitoring.
Image source: Shutterstock.jpg)