  Based on spline manifolds we introduce and study a mathematical framework for
analysis-suitable unstructured B-spline spaces. In this setting the parameter
domain has a manifold structure, which allows for the definition of function
spaces that have a tensor-product structure locally, but not globally. This
includes configurations such as B-splines over multi-patch domains with
extraordinary points, analysis-suitable unstructured T-splines, or more general
constructions. Within this framework, we generalize the concept of
dual-compatible B-splines, which was originally developed for structured
T-splines. This allows us to prove the key properties that are needed for
isogeometric analysis, such as linear independence and optimal approximation
properties for $h$-refined meshes.
