The use of smart theranostic agents in multimodal imaging and treatment is a promising strategy to overcome the limitations of single mode diagnosis and treatment, and can greatly improve the diagnosis and effects of treatment. In this study, a gold@manganese dioxide (Au@MnO₂) core–shell nanostructure was designed as a glutathione (GSH)-triggered smart theranostic agent for photoacoustic and magnetic resonance (MR) dual-imaging-guided photothermal-enhanced chemodynamic therapy. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated not only that the photoacoustic and MR imaging function of Au@MnO₂ could be activated by a high endogenous GSH concentration, but also that after being triggered by the endogenous GSH, Au@MnO₂ had an excellent synergistic treatment effect in photothermal-enhanced chemodynamic therapy under the guidance of photoacoustic and MR imaging. This study demonstrated that the use of GSH-triggered Au@MnO₂ in photoacoustic and MR dual-imaging-guided photothermal-enhanced chemodynamic therapy is a smart theranostic nanoplatform for the accurate diagnosis and efficient treatment of cancer.