In the .NET Framework, an assembly manifest is a text file containing metadata about the code within a CLI assembly. It describes the relationship and dependencies of the components in the assembly, versioning information, scope information and the security permissions required by the assembly.

This article does not cite any sources. (September 2011)

The manifest information embedded within an assembly can be viewed using IL Disassembler (ILDASM.exe) which is available as part of Microsoft Windows SDK.

• Assembly Manifest at MSDN