Manifest Setup

Set up real-time observability for your AI agents with the Manifest plugin. Monitors costs, tokens, messages, and performance via OTLP telemetry.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

Setting up observability or telemetry for an AI agent
Connecting an agent to Manifest for cost and performance monitoring
Configuring a Manifest API key or custom endpoint
Troubleshooting Manifest plugin connection issues
Verifying the Manifest observability pipeline is running

Setup Instructions

Follow these steps in order. Do not skip ahead.

Step 1 — Stop the Gateway

Stop the gateway first to avoid hot-reload issues during configuration.

claude gateway stop

Step 2 — Install the Plugin

claude plugins install manifest

If it fails, check that the CLI is installed and available in the PATH.

Step 3 — Get an API Key

Ask the user:

To connect your agent, you need a Manifest API key:

Go to https://app.manifest.build and create an account (or sign in)

Click "Connect Agent" to create a new agent

Copy the API key that starts with mnfst_

Paste it here

Wait for a key starting with mnfst_. If the key doesn't match, tell the user the format looks incorrect and ask them to try again.

Step 4 — Configure the Plugin

claude config set plugins.entries.manifest.config.apiKey "USER_API_KEY"

Replace USER_API_KEY with the actual key the user provided.

If the user has a custom endpoint (self-hosted):

claude config set plugins.entries.manifest.config.endpoint "USER_ENDPOINT"

The default endpoint (https://app.manifest.build/api/v1/otlp) is used automatically if none is specified.

Step 5 — Start the Gateway

claude gateway install

Step 6 — Verify

Wait 3 seconds for the gateway to fully start, then check the logs:

grep "manifest" ~/.claude/logs/gateway.log | tail -5

Look for:

[manifest] Observability pipeline active

If it appears, tell the user setup is complete. If not, check the error messages and troubleshoot.

Troubleshooting

Error	Fix
Missing apiKey	Re-run Step 4 with the correct key
Invalid apiKey format	Key must start with `mnfst_`
Connection refused	Endpoint is unreachable — check the URL or ask if self-hosting
Duplicate OTel registration	Disable the conflicting built-in plugin: `claude plugins disable diagnostics-otel`

Best Practices

Always stop the gateway before making configuration changes
The default endpoint works for most users — only change it if self-hosting
API keys always start with mnfst_ — any other format is invalid
Never log or echo the API key in plain text after configuration
Check gateway logs first when debugging any plugin issue