crewai-multi-agent
CrewAI is a multi-agent orchestration framework that enables teams of specialized AI agents to collaborate autonomously on complex tasks with role-based delegation, memory management, and sequential execution. Use it when building production workflows requiring autonomous agent collaboration with defined roles, task delegation, and built-in memory, or when you need a lightweight alternative to LangChain without external dependencies for multi-agent systems.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/davila7/claude-code-templates /tmp/crewai-multi-agent && cp -r /tmp/crewai-multi-agent/cli-tool/components/skills/ai-research/agents-crewai ~/.claude/skills/crewai-multi-agentSKILL.md
# CrewAI - Multi-Agent Orchestration Framework
Build teams of autonomous AI agents that collaborate to solve complex tasks.
## When to use CrewAI
**Use CrewAI when:**
- Building multi-agent systems with specialized roles
- Need autonomous collaboration between agents
- Want role-based task delegation (researcher, writer, analyst)
- Require sequential or hierarchical process execution
- Building production workflows with memory and observability
- Need simpler setup than LangChain/LangGraph
**Key features:**
- **Standalone**: No LangChain dependencies, lean footprint
- **Role-based**: Agents have roles, goals, and backstories
- **Dual paradigm**: Crews (autonomous) + Flows (event-driven)
- **50+ tools**: Web scraping, search, databases, AI services
- **Memory**: Short-term, long-term, and entity memory
- **Production-ready**: Tracing, enterprise features
**Use alternatives instead:**
- **LangChain**: General-purpose LLM apps, RAG pipelines
- **LangGraph**: Complex stateful workflows with cycles
- **AutoGen**: Microsoft ecosystem, multi-agent conversations
- **LlamaIndex**: Document Q&A, knowledge retrieval
## Quick start
### Installation
```bash
# Core framework
pip install crewai
# With 50+ built-in tools
pip install 'crewai[tools]'
```
### Create project with CLI
```bash
# Create new crew project
crewai create crew my_project
cd my_project
# Install dependencies
crewai install
# Run the crew
crewai run
```
### Simple crew (code-only)
```python
from crewai import Agent, Task, Crew, Process
# 1. Define agents
researcher = Agent(
role="Senior Research Analyst",
goal="Discover cutting-edge developments in AI",
backstory="You are an expert analyst with a keen eye for emerging trends.",
verbose=True
)
writer = Agent(
role="Technical Writer",
goal="Create clear, engaging content about technical topics",
backstory="You excel at explaining complex concepts to general audiences.",
verbose=True
)
# 2. Define tasks
research_task = Task(
description="Research the latest developments in {topic}. Find 5 key trends.",
expected_output="A detailed report with 5 bullet points on key trends.",
agent=researcher
)
write_task = Task(
description="Write a blog post based on the research findings.",
expected_output="A 500-word blog post in markdown format.",
agent=writer,
context=[research_task] # Uses research output
)
# 3. Create and run crew
crew = Crew(
agents=[researcher, writer],
tasks=[research_task, write_task],
process=Process.sequential, # Tasks run in order
verbose=True
)
# 4. Execute
result = crew.kickoff(inputs={"topic": "AI Agents"})
print(result.raw)
```
## Core concepts
### Agents - Autonomous workers
```python
from crewai import Agent
agent = Agent(
role="Data Scientist", # Job title/role
goal="Analyze data to find insights", # What they aim to achieve
backstory="PhD in statistics...", # Background context
llm="gpt-4o", # LLM to use
tools=[], # Tools available
memory=True, # Enable memory
verbose=True, # Show reasoning
allow_delegation=True, # Can delegate to others
max_iter=15, # Max reasoning iterations
max_rpm=10 # Rate limit
)
```
### Tasks - Units of work
```python
from crewai import Task
task = Task(
description="Analyze the sales data for Q4 2024. {context}",
expected_output="A summary report with key metrics and trends.",
agent=analyst, # Assigned agent
context=[previous_task], # Input from other tasks
output_file="report.md", # Save to file
async_execution=False, # Run synchronously
human_input=False # No human approval needed
)
```
### Crews - Teams of agents
```python
from crewai import Crew, Process
crew = Crew(
agents=[researcher, writer, editor], # Team members
tasks=[research, write, edit], # Tasks to complete
process=Process.sequential, # Or Process.hierarchical
verbose=True,
memory=True, # Enable crew memory
cache=True, # Cache tool results
max_rpm=10, # Rate limit
share_crew=False # Opt-in telemetry
)
# Execute with inputs
result = crew.kickoff(inputs={"topic": "AI trends"})
# Access results
print(result.raw) # Final output
print(result.tasks_output) # All task outputs
print(result.token_usage) # Token consumption
```
## Process types
### Sequential (default)
Tasks execute in order, each agent completing their task before the next:
```python
crew = Crew(
agents=[researcher, writer],
tasks=[research_task, write_task],
process=Process.sequential # Task 1 → Task 2 → Task 3
)
```
### Hierarchical
Auto-creates a manager agent that delegates and coordinates:
```python
crew = Crew(
agents=[researcher, writer, analyst],
tasks=[research_task, write_task, analyze_task],
process=Process.hierarchical, # Manager delegates tasks
manager_llm="gpt-4o" # LLM for manager
)
```
## Using tools
### Built-in tools (50+)
```bash
pip install 'crewai[tools]'
```
```python
from crewai_tools import (
SerperDevTool, # Web search
ScrapeWebsiteTool, # Web scraping
FileReadTool, # Read files
PDFSearchTool, # Search PDFs
WebsiteSearchTool, # Search websites
CodeDocsSearchTool, # Search code docs
YoutubeVideoSearchTool, # Search YouTube
)
# Assign tools to agent
researcher = Agent(
role="Researcher",
goal="Find accurate information",Testing and benchmarking LLM agents including behavioral testing, capability assessment, reliability metrics, and production monitoring—where even top agents achieve less than 50% on real-world benchmarks Use when: agent testing, agent evaluation, benchmark agents, agent reliability, test agent.
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A hybrid memory system that provides persistent, searchable knowledge management for AI agents (Architecture, Patterns, Decisions).
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