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Manus can browse the Nevermined Catalog and pay for services as it works. You add one custom MCP server, paste your Nevermined API key, and Manus does the rest. This is the per-host walkthrough; for the full tool surface and the safety model, see Using the Catalog from a harness.
Manus connects with a plain Nevermined API key, not the OAuth “approve a spending cap” flow that some assistants (Claude, ChatGPT) use. The key is your credential — it spends whatever its Nevermined account funds, so you set the budget on your account, not in Manus.

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Before you connect

1

A Nevermined account

Free, at nevermined.app.
2

A Nevermined API key

Create a plain API key in the app — Settings → Global NVM API Keys — for the environment you want, and send the whole string, prefix included (sandbox:… or live:…). A key minted by an OAuth flow can’t pay through the Router’s delegation routes, so use a plain one. See Get a Nevermined API key.
3

A way to pay

The key spends from one of two budgets you set up once: a Nevermined Subscription whose monthly credits a plain key can spend, or a spending delegation — a capped, revocable budget funded from your own wallet (Using the Catalog from a harness walks through it). Discovery is free and needs neither.
Start on sandbox, where you use testnet funds and nothing costs real money, before you point Manus at live.

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Add the Catalog to Manus

1

Open Custom MCP Servers

In Manus, go to Settings → Integrations → Custom MCP Servers and click Add Server.
2

Point it at the server

Give it a Server name and set Server URL to the HTTPS endpoint for the environment you want:
3

Set the authentication

For Authentication, choose Bearer token (API key) and paste your Nevermined API key.
Rehearse on sandbox first. The Catalog MCP accepts only the exact header Authorization: Bearer <key>; if Manus sends your key in another shape, calls look connected but never pay — if that happens, ask for a free discovery call and confirm a paid one actually charges before trusting it on live.

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Your Nevermined API key

That key is your credential — there is no separate consent screen to approve. Keep the prefix: a live: key for mcp.live, a sandbox: key for mcp.sandbox. The key spends whatever its account funds — your Subscription credits, or a spending delegation funded from your wallet — so the budget and the audit trail live on your Nevermined account, not in Manus. Treat it like a password: never commit it or paste it into a shared chat. Every way to mint one: Get a Nevermined API key.

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Make your first paid call

Ask for something only live data can answer, and name the server so Manus reaches for it rather than answering from memory.
1

Browse for free

Ask Manus to “list the Nevermined catalog categories” — a free tool call, no payment.
2

Ask it to buy

“Buy the service with slug <slug> through the Nevermined server and show me the response.” The paid call draws on your subscription credits or delegation and returns the merchant’s response.
If Manus answers without paying, it answered from its own knowledge — name the server and ask for live data. More on phrasing: Catalog MCP tips.

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Disconnect or rotate the key

  • Stop the credential (Nevermined side). The key is the credential, so to cut Manus off, rotate or delete the key in the app (Settings → Global NVM API Keys) — every call with the old key then fails. To cap spending without revoking the key, revoke the delegation it spends from in Payment methods; discovery still works.
  • Remove the server (Manus side). In Settings → Integrations → Custom MCP Servers, open the Nevermined server and remove it.
To spend again, paste a fresh key; if you revoked the delegation, create a new one — see Using the Catalog from a harness.

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Next

Using the Catalog from a harness

The full plain-key playbook — discovery, delegations, and the safety rules.

Catalog MCP — full reference

Every tool, the API-key header, and every refusal code.