OpenManus

OpenManus: Files, the browser, and memory

This page shows what OpenManus can do with your files, with the web, and with what it remembers, with one small exercise for each. It follows Install and first job, so you should already have packing-list.txt in the workspace folder.

Checked 2026-11-14. Start each exercise the way page 2 ends: open the terminal, go to agent-tryout/OpenManus, turn the Python space on, and follow the rules in Keep it in a box.

Files: the workspace is a starting point

OpenManus starts every job in the workspace folder inside OpenManus, because the code tells the model that this is "The initial directory." The folder already holds a sample file, example.txt, when you download the project.

The workspace is not a wall. The file editor accepts any full path on your computer, and the Python runner runs as you, so either one can reach any file your account can reach. Nothing in the code checked limits it to workspace.

There is no attach button, because the terminal has no way to drop a file into the chat. To give it a file, copy the file into workspace yourself and name it in your request. Use a copy, never the only one you have, since nothing asks before it edits or overwrites a file.

Two limits in the code are worth knowing. The Python runner stops any piece of code after 5 seconds, and the file editor will not make a new file over an existing one with the same name.

Exercise: tidy a copied file. Copy any short text file you do not mind losing, such as an old note, into workspace, and rename the copy notes-copy.txt. With the browser part off, start python main.py and type:

Read notes-copy.txt in your workspace folder. Write a three-line summary of it and save it as notes-summary.txt in the same folder. Do not change notes-copy.txt. Do not open, change, or delete any other file. Do not use the internet.

What you should see lines that mention str_replace_editor, then "Request processing completed." The workspace folder now holds notes-summary.txt, and notes-copy.txt is unchanged.

The web: one browser part, attached to Chrome

OpenManus has a built-in browser part called Browser Use, which it starts as an add-on through uvx browser-use --cli-mcp unless you turn it off. The README says this gives the agent two tools, browser_exec and browser_screenshot, and that "Local mode attaches to Chrome or Chromium automatically and needs no API key."

Browser Use's own notes go further. They say the local mode attaches to the Chrome or Chromium that is already running, that remote debugging must be allowed at chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging, and that a Mac may show an "Allow remote debugging?" pop-up. Treat that as a connection to your whole Chrome, with every site you are signed into, and not just one tab.

The README also offers an isolated cloud browser from Browser Use, which needs a Browser Use account and its own key. This guide did not check its prices or try it. If the local browser will not start, the README's check is uvx browser-use --doctor, and uvx browser-use install installs Chromium.

There is no separate search tool. The code has one, along with a [search] section in the example settings, but the main agent does not load it, so OpenManus looks things up by driving the browser.

Screenshots may not help. The code sends pictures only to a short built-in list of model names, such as gpt-4o, and openai/gpt-oss-120b is not on it. An open report on GitHub says other models get the screenshot quietly removed, so the agent works without seeing the page.

Exercise: three facts from one public page. First sign out of email, banking, shopping, and calendar in Chrome, and leave Chrome open. Open a new terminal window, so the switch that turned the browser part off is gone, then go to agent-tryout/OpenManus and turn the Python space on. Start python main.py and type:

Open the Wikipedia page for "Tea". Write down three facts from that page, with the page address at the end. Save them as tea-facts.txt in your workspace folder. Open only that one page. Do not sign in, fill in any form, or buy anything. Do not open, change, or delete any other file.

Watch the whole run. If it opens any page other than that one, or a sign-in page, press Control and C. When the job ends, quit Chrome, because this guide could not confirm whether the connection to Chrome ends when OpenManus does.

What you should see lines that mention browser_exec, then tea-facts.txt in the workspace folder with three facts and the page address. Browser Use's notes say it works in background tabs, so the Wikipedia tab may not come to the front. If Chrome asks to allow remote debugging, that pop-up is your choice, and saying no ends the exercise.

Memory: nothing carries over

OpenManus does not remember anything between jobs. Each python main.py starts with an empty memory, which holds the job's messages only while the job runs and keeps at most the last 100. There are no saved preferences and no memory screen.

What it does keep is a log. Every run writes a file to the logs folder inside OpenManus, named by date and time, such as 20261114120636.log. The log holds the steps you saw scroll by, including what each tool was asked to do and what came back, so it can contain parts of your files and the pages it read.

To see what it saved, open the logs folder. To delete it, delete the files inside, along with anything in workspace you no longer want, but keep the two folders themselves, because this guide did not test a run without them.

Exercise: a preference file it reads each time. Because it forgets, keep your preferences in a file. Make a file in workspace named preferences.txt with one line, such as "Answer in short sentences and give prices in dollars." Then start python main.py and type:

First read preferences.txt in your workspace folder and follow it. Then write three tips for packing light and save them as packing-tips.txt in your workspace folder. Do not open, change, or delete any other file. Do not use the internet.

What you should see packing-tips.txt in workspace, written in short sentences, and a new file in the logs folder for this run. If you leave out the first sentence next time, the preference does not apply.

Sources

Opened 2026-11-14.

Next

Continue to Phone, schedules, and trade-offs.

Checked 14 November 2026 · prices, limits, and versions change