CrewAI

What is CrewAI?

CrewAI enables developers to build multi-agent systems where specialized agents with specific roles work together. Each agent can have access to tools, can delegate tasks, and can communicate with other agents. It emphasizes sequential task execution with agent roles, tools, and goals.

Core Concepts

• Agents: Autonomous entities with specific roles and capabilities
• Tasks: Specific work items assigned to agents
• Tools: Functions agents can call to gather info or perform actions
• Processes: Workflow definitions (Sequential, Hierarchical)
• Callbacks: Event hooks for monitoring agent activities

Typical Use Cases

• Research & Analysis

  Multi-agent research pipelines gathering and synthesizing information from diverse sources.

• Content Generation

  Teams of specialized agents creating high-quality, multi-format content collaboratively.

• Software Development

  Agent teams handling planning, development, testing, and documentation cycles.

• Customer Support

  Coordinated agents for problem resolution, escalation, and customer satisfaction.

Mental Model

Think of CrewAI as a team manager. You define team members with specific roles and expertise (agents), give them tasks to complete, and the manager coordinates their work. Each agent does their part, collaborates with teammates, and together they accomplish complex objectives.

Architecture Overview

[Task Queue]
       ↓
[Crew Manager]
       ├─ Agent 1 (Role: Researcher)
       ├─ Agent 2 (Role: Analyzer)
       └─ Agent 3 (Role: Writer)
       ↓
[Tool Registry] ← → [External APIs]
       ↓
[Execution Process] (Sequential, Hierarchical)
       ↓
[Output / Results]
      

Tasks flow through the crew manager, which delegates to agents based on their roles. Each agent uses available tools and communicates results. The process orchestrator determines execution order and coordination.

Key Concepts Glossary

• Agent: Specialized autonomous entity with a defined role, goal, and backstory
• Task: Specific unit of work assigned to an agent with expected outputs
• Process: Execution strategy (Sequential tasks in order, Hierarchical with delegation)
• Tool: Function or API that agents can invoke to gather info or perform actions
• Crew: Collection of agents and their orchestration strategy

When to Use CrewAI

Choose CrewAI if you need:

• Role-based multi-agent teams with clear task assignment
• Sequential or hierarchical workflow execution
• Specialized agents collaborating on complex projects

Consider alternatives if:

• You need infrastructure orchestration (try Terraform)
• You prefer flexible component composition (try LangChain)

Getting Started

Install CrewAI and create your first crew:

pip install crewai
crewai create crew my-crew

→ CrewAI Documentation

Resources for Further Learning

• Official Documentation - Complete guides and API reference
• GitHub Repository - Source code and examples
• Tutorials - Step-by-step guides for common patterns
• Discord Community - Active developer community