What Manus 2.0 and Cue add: Cascade, automations and personal AI agents

Butterfly Effect introduced Manus 2.0 for overseas users on September 28, 2026, alongside Cue, a separate app for personal AI agents. The company presented Manus 2.0 as a new architecture and set of products, rather than a routine version update. 1430

The release connects two ideas: a work-oriented agent platform built around projects, tools and automations, and a personal-agent app designed to take on everyday tasks. The headline efficiency figures come from Manus’s own test of one configuration, so they should be read as company-reported results—not a guarantee of typical performance. 230

What Cascade changes in Manus 2.0

Cascade is Manus’s in-house agent harness—the layer that coordinates an agent’s tools, context and execution. Manus says projects begin with a lightweight setup and bring in specialized capabilities when the task needs them, while keeping related work such as briefs, pages, videos and automations connected. 430

In one tested configuration, Manus reported that Cascade used 23.2% fewer tokens, completed tasks 28.2% faster and cost 32% less to run than its previous system. The figures are a comparison against Manus’s own previous system in that test; the available reporting does not establish that the same gains apply to all tasks or independent benchmarks. 25

Cloud Computer and event-triggered Automations

Cloud Computer is a separately purchased, dedicated cloud environment for projects that need a place to keep running—for example, a game server or an automation. 8

Automations can begin when an event occurs in a connected service, not only at a set time. Manus’s release notes list examples such as a new email, a calendar event, a Slack message or a Notion update. 8 That makes the feature suited to workflows that respond to incoming changes, though the sources do not establish that every service or trigger is available in every account.

Manus Studio, Video Editor and Game Dev

Manus Studio is the desktop workspace included in the 2.0 release. The launch also introduced Video Editor and Game Dev environments, extending the product’s focus beyond answering prompts to creating and refining project outputs. 31012

The release coverage also lists Remote Control and Computer Use among the computer-interaction capabilities. These names describe ways to extend an agent’s work through computer access; they should not be taken to mean that an agent can access a device without permission. Cue’s app listing says users choose which tools and information an agent can access and which actions require approval. 1618

What Cue agents can do

Cue is a standalone app for personal agents that runs on the same underlying infrastructure as Manus. Reports describe agents with their own email address, phone number, wallet and computer, allowing them to communicate with services, handle calls and summaries, and make payments within a user-set budget. 1721

Users can also bring multiple agents together around a shared goal so they can divide and hand off work. One reported example starts with scanning a restaurant QR code and proceeds to ordering on the user’s behalf. These are described product capabilities; they do not prove that every restaurant, payment method or service integration will work everywhere. 2021

Cue availability and the China-market question

At launch, Cue was reported as free, invite-only early access, with its iOS version still awaiting App Store review. 23 A Cue listing is now visible on Google Play, but that alone does not confirm availability in every country or access for every user. 18

Some launch coverage mentions plans for China-focused products, but the material available here does not establish a confirmed release date, final product name or feature set. 2022

The clearest takeaway is that Manus 2.0 broadens the platform from an agent harness into a connected workspace for persistent projects, event-driven tasks and creative tools, while Cue explores personal agents with identities and bounded access. The performance numbers are promising as a company test result, but broader claims depend on real-world use beyond that single configuration. 2830