CrewAI

Design role-based agent workflows with CrewAI. Covers agent design with roles and goals, task definition, crew orchestration, process types (sequential, hierarchical, parallel), memory systems, and flows for complex workflows. Essential for building collaborative AI agent teams.

Role: CrewAI Multi-Agent Architect

You are an expert in designing collaborative AI agent teams with CrewAI. You think in terms of roles, responsibilities, and delegation. You design clear agent personas with specific expertise, create well-defined tasks with expected outputs, and orchestrate crews for optimal collaboration. You know when to use sequential vs hierarchical processes.

Expertise

• Agent persona design
• Task decomposition
• Crew orchestration
• Process selection
• Memory configuration
• Flow design

Capabilities

• Agent definitions (role, goal, backstory)
• Task design and dependencies
• Crew orchestration
• Process types (sequential, hierarchical)
• Memory configuration
• Tool integration
• Flows for complex workflows

Prerequisites

• 0: Python proficiency
• 1: Multi-agent concepts
• 2: Understanding of delegation
• Required skills: Python 3.10+, crewai package, LLM API access

Scope

• 0: Python-only
• 1: Best for structured workflows
• 2: Can be verbose for simple cases
• 3: Flows are newer feature

Ecosystem

Primary

• CrewAI framework
• CrewAI Tools

Common_integrations

• OpenAI / Anthropic / Ollama
• SerperDev (search)
• FileReadTool, DirectoryReadTool
• Custom tools

Platforms

• Python applications
• FastAPI backends
• Enterprise deployments

Patterns

These fragments are architecture sketches, not a complete executable project: several tasks, storage classes, model imports and helper methods must be defined. Pin the framework and use its matching API documentation before compiling. Delegate/run crews only within authorized scope and budget; tool/model calls and embedding memory may send data to external providers. Limit tool privileges and retries, keep secrets out of verbose logs, and treat agent/retrieval output as untrusted data. A local published status below is not proof of actual publication.

Basic Crew with YAML Config

Define agents and tasks in YAML (recommended)

When to use: Any CrewAI project

config/agents.yaml

researcher: role: "Senior Research Analyst" goal: "Find comprehensive, accurate information on {topic}" backstory: | You are an expert researcher with years of experience in gathering and analyzing information. You're known for your thorough and accurate research. tools: - SerperDevTool - WebsiteSearchTool verbose: true

writer: role: "Content Writer" goal: "Create engaging, well-structured content" backstory: | You are a skilled writer who transforms research into compelling narratives. You focus on clarity and engagement. verbose: true

config/tasks.yaml

research_task: description: | Research the topic: {topic}

Focus on:
1. Key facts and statistics
2. Recent developments
3. Expert opinions
4. Contrarian viewpoints

Be thorough and cite sources.

agent: researcher expected_output: | A comprehensive research report with: - Executive summary - Key findings (bulleted) - Sources cited

writing_task: description: | Using the research provided, write an article about {topic}.

Requirements:
- 800-1000 words
- Engaging introduction
- Clear structure with headers
- Actionable conclusion

agent: writer expected_output: "A polished article ready for publication" context: - research_task # Uses output from research

crew.py

from crewai import Agent, Task, Crew, Process from crewai.project import CrewBase, agent, task, crew

@CrewBase class ContentCrew: agents_config = 'config/agents.yaml' tasks_config = 'config/tasks.yaml'

@agent
def researcher(self) -> Agent:
    return Agent(config=self.agents_config['researcher'])

@agent
def writer(self) -> Agent:
    return Agent(config=self.agents_config['writer'])

@task
def research_task(self) -> Task:
    return Task(config=self.tasks_config['research_task'])

@task
def writing_task(self) -> Task:
    return Task(config=self.tasks_config['writing_task'])

@crew
def crew(self) -> Crew:
    return Crew(
        agents=self.agents,
        tasks=self.tasks,
        process=Process.sequential,
        verbose=True
    )

main.py

crew = ContentCrew() result = crew.crew().kickoff(inputs={"topic": "AI Agents in 2025"})

Hierarchical Process

Manager agent delegates to workers

When to use: Complex tasks needing coordination

from crewai import Crew, Process

Define specialized agents

researcher = Agent( role="Research Specialist", goal="Find accurate information", backstory="Expert researcher..." )

analyst = Agent( role="Data Analyst", goal="Analyze and interpret data", backstory="Expert analyst..." )

writer = Agent( role="Content Writer", goal="Create engaging content", backstory="Expert writer..." )

Hierarchical crew - manager coordinates

crew = Crew( agents=[researcher, analyst, writer], tasks=[research_task, analysis_task, writing_task], process=Process.hierarchical, manager_llm=ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4o"), # Manager model verbose=True )

Manager decides:

- Which agent handles which task

- When to delegate

- How to combine results

result = crew.kickoff()

Planning Feature

Generate execution plan before running

When to use: Complex workflows needing structure

from crewai import Crew, Process

Enable planning

crew = Crew( agents=[researcher, writer, reviewer], tasks=[research, write, review], process=Process.sequential, planning=True, # Enable planning planning_llm=ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4o") # Planner model )

With planning enabled:

1. CrewAI generates step-by-step plan

2. Plan is injected into each task

3. Agents see overall structure

4. More consistent results

result = crew.kickoff()

Access the plan

print(crew.plan)

Memory Configuration

Enable agent memory for context

When to use: Multi-turn or complex workflows

from crewai import Crew

Memory types:

- Short-term: Within task execution

- Long-term: Across executions

- Entity: About specific entities

crew = Crew( agents=[...], tasks=[...], memory=True, # Enable all memory types verbose=True )

Custom memory config

from crewai.memory import LongTermMemory, ShortTermMemory

crew = Crew( agents=[...], tasks=[...], memory=True, long_term_memory=LongTermMemory( storage=CustomStorage() # Custom backend ), short_term_memory=ShortTermMemory( storage=CustomStorage() ), embedder={ "provider": "openai", "config": {"model": "text-embedding-3-small"} } )

Memory helps agents:

- Remember previous interactions

- Build on past work

- Maintain consistency

Flows for Complex Workflows

Event-driven orchestration with state

When to use: Complex, multi-stage workflows

from crewai.flow.flow import Flow, listen, start, and_, or_, router

class ContentFlow(Flow): # State persists across steps model_config = {"extra": "allow"}

@start()
def gather_requirements(self):
    """First step - gather inputs."""
    self.topic = self.inputs.get("topic", "AI")
    self.style = self.inputs.get("style", "professional")
    return {"topic": self.topic}

@listen(gather_requirements)
def research(self, requirements):
    """Research after requirements gathered."""
    research_crew = ResearchCrew()
    result = research_crew.crew().kickoff(
        inputs={"topic": requirements["topic"]}
    )
    self.research = result.raw
    return result

@listen(research)
def write_content(self, research_result):
    """Write after research complete."""
    writing_crew = WritingCrew()
    result = writing_crew.crew().kickoff(
        inputs={
            "research": self.research,
            "style": self.style
        }
    )
    return result

@router(write_content)
def quality_check(self, content):
    """Route based on quality."""
    if self.needs_revision(content):
        return "revise"
    return "publish"

@listen("revise")
def revise_content(self):
    """Revision flow."""
    # Re-run writing with feedback
    pass

@listen("publish")
def publish_content(self):
    """Final publishing."""
    return {"status": "published", "content": self.content}

Run flow

flow = ContentFlow() result = flow.kickoff(inputs={"topic": "AI Agents"})

Custom Tools

Create tools for agents

When to use: Agents need external capabilities

from crewai.tools import BaseTool from pydantic import BaseModel, Field

Method 1: Class-based tool

class SearchInput(BaseModel): query: str = Field(..., description="Search query")

class WebSearchTool(BaseTool): name: str = "web_search" description: str = "Search the web for information" args_schema: type[BaseModel] = SearchInput

def _run(self, query: str) -> str:
    # Implementation
    results = search_api.search(query)
    return format_results(results)

Method 2: Function decorator

from crewai import tool

@tool("Database Query") def query_database(sql: str) -> str: """Execute SQL query and return results.""" # Do not execute model-supplied SQL directly. # Implement an allowlisted read-only query API with bound parameters, # row/time limits and a least-privilege connection before enabling this tool. raise NotImplementedError("Provide a reviewed, parameterized query interface")

Assign tools to agents

researcher = Agent( role="Researcher", goal="Find information", backstory="...", tools=[WebSearchTool(), query_database] )

Collaboration

Delegation Triggers

• langgraph|state machine|graph -> langgraph (Need explicit state management)
• observability|tracing -> langfuse (Need LLM observability)
• structured output|json schema -> structured-output (Need structured responses)

Research and Writing Crew

Skills: crewai, structured-output

Workflow:

1. Define researcher and writer agents
2. Create research → analysis → writing pipeline
3. Use structured output for research format
4. Chain tasks with context

Observable Agent Team

Skills: crewai, langfuse

Workflow:

1. Build crew with agents and tasks
2. Add Langfuse callback handler
3. Monitor agent interactions
4. Evaluate output quality

Complex Workflow with Flows

Skills: crewai, langgraph

Workflow:

1. Design workflow with CrewAI Flows
2. Use LangGraph patterns for state
3. Combine crews in flow steps
4. Handle branching and routing

Related Skills

Works well with: langgraph, autonomous-agents, langfuse, structured-output

When to Use

• User mentions or implies: crewai
• User mentions or implies: multi-agent team
• User mentions or implies: agent roles
• User mentions or implies: crew of agents
• User mentions or implies: role-based agents
• User mentions or implies: collaborative agents

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
• Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.