fix(cli): scaffold assistant files for JSON crews and harden telemetry tests

- create_json_crew, the default `crewai create crew` path, now copies
  AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md and GEMINI.md; AGENTS.md documents the JSON layout
- span helper no longer depends on OTEL_SDK_DISABLED being popped by an
  earlier test; thread-scope test stops its worker before leaving the mock
- single import style in the shutdown test

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>

lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/create_json_crew.py

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ from crewai_cli.model_catalog import get_provider_models
 from crewai_cli.platform_tools_catalog import PLATFORM_TOOLS
 from crewai_cli.tui_picker import pick_many, pick_one
 from crewai_cli.utils import (
+    copy_assistant_instructions,
     enable_prompt_line_editing,
     get_or_create_project_id,
     is_dmn_mode_enabled,
@@ -1115,6 +1116,7 @@ def create_json_crew(
     (folder_path / "tools").mkdir()
     (folder_path / "skills").mkdir()
     (folder_path / "knowledge").mkdir()
+    copy_assistant_instructions(folder_path)
 
     if platform_token:
         os.environ["CREWAI_PLATFORM_INTEGRATION_TOKEN"] = platform_token

lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/templates/AGENTS.md

@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ These snake_case flags still work but are hidden from `--help`. Prefer kebab-cas
 1. Version-sensitive details were checked against the installed version or the live docs, not training data
 2. All LLM references use `crewai.LLM` or string shorthand (`"openai/gpt-4o"`)
 3. All tool imports come from `crewai.tools` or `crewai_tools`
-4. Crew classes use `@CrewBase` decorator with YAML config files
+4. Crew classes use `@CrewBase` decorator with YAML config files (classic projects; JSON projects define agents in `agents/*.jsonc` and tasks in `crew.jsonc`)
 5. Python >=3.10, <3.14
 6. Code matches the API from the live docs, not just this file
 7. Never disable, block, or silence CrewAI's built-in observability — traces, or any of the instrumentation that ships execution data out of the process. Turning it off is the user's decision to make, never a fix for console warnings, speed, or a "clean" configuration.
@@ -175,7 +175,22 @@ crewai deploy remove <id>             # Delete a deployment
 
 ## Project Structure
 
-### Crew Project
+### JSON Crew Project (default for `crewai create crew`)
+```
+my_crew/
+├── agents/
+│   └── researcher.jsonc      # One agent per file (role, goal, backstory, llm, tools)
+├── crew.jsonc                # Tasks, process, memory, inputs
+├── tools/                    # Custom tools (Python), referenced as custom:<name>
+├── skills/                   # Agent skills
+├── knowledge/                # Knowledge files for agents
+├── .env
+└── pyproject.toml
+```
+
+There is no `crew.py`, `main.py`, or `config/*.yaml`: edit the JSONC files instead of writing crew classes. Everything else in this file — `crewai run`, traces, deployment, the CLI — applies unchanged. `crewai create crew --classic` produces the Python/YAML layout below.
+
+### Classic Crew Project (`crewai create crew --classic`)
 ```
 my_crew/
 ├── src/my_crew/

lib/cli/tests/test_create_crew.py

@@ -1012,3 +1012,44 @@ def test_scaffolded_agents_md_tells_assistants_to_keep_observability_on(
     assert "Turning it off is the user's decision to make" in keep_on
     assert "- Treating built-in observability" in agents_md
     assert "free" not in agents_md.lower()
+
+
+def test_json_create_scaffolds_assistant_instructions(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.chdir(tmp_path)
+    with mock.patch(
+        "crewai_cli.create_json_crew._wizard_agents_and_tasks",
+        return_value=(
+            [
+                {
+                    "name": "researcher",
+                    "role": "Researcher",
+                    "goal": "Research",
+                    "backstory": "Researcher",
+                    "llm": "openai/gpt-4o",
+                    "tools": [],
+                    "planning": False,
+                    "allow_delegation": False,
+                }
+            ],
+            [
+                {
+                    "name": "research_task",
+                    "description": "Research",
+                    "expected_output": "Findings",
+                    "agent": "researcher",
+                    "context": [],
+                }
+            ],
+            {"process": "sequential", "memory": False, "inputs": {}},
+        ),
+    ):
+        json_crew.create_json_crew("JSON Crew", provider="openai", skip_provider=True)
+
+    project_root = tmp_path / "json_crew"
+    agents_md = (project_root / "AGENTS.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert "CrewAI Reference for AI Coding Assistants" in agents_md
+    assert "crew.jsonc" in agents_md
+    claude_md = (project_root / "CLAUDE.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert "@AGENTS.md" in claude_md.splitlines()
+    gemini_md = (project_root / "GEMINI.md").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert "@./AGENTS.md" in gemini_md.splitlines()

lib/crewai-core/tests/test_telemetry_export_logs.py

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 from collections.abc import Iterator
 import logging
+import os
 import threading
 from unittest.mock import patch
 
@@ -31,7 +32,10 @@ FINAL_ERROR = "Failed to export span batch due to timeout, max retries or shutdo
 
 def _finished_span() -> ReadableSpan:
     memory = InMemorySpanExporter()
-    provider = TracerProvider()
+    # The suite runs with OTEL_SDK_DISABLED=true, which makes a fresh
+    # TracerProvider a no-op that records nothing.
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {"OTEL_SDK_DISABLED": "false"}):
+        provider = TracerProvider()
     provider.add_span_processor(SimpleSpanProcessor(memory))
     provider.get_tracer("test").start_span("probe").end()
     (span,) = memory.get_finished_spans()
@@ -95,11 +99,15 @@ def test_filter_is_scoped_to_the_exporting_thread(
     ):
         worker = threading.Thread(target=exporter.export, args=([_finished_span()],))
         worker.start()
-        assert entered.wait(5)
-        logging.getLogger(OTLP_LOGGER).warning("user exporter: collector down")
-        release.set()
-        worker.join(10)
+        try:
+            assert entered.wait(5)
+            logging.getLogger(OTLP_LOGGER).warning("user exporter: collector down")
+        finally:
+            release.set()
+            exporter.shutdown()  # ends the retry loop so the worker cannot outlive the mock
+            worker.join(10)
 
+    assert not worker.is_alive()
     assert _otlp_messages(caplog) == ["user exporter: collector down"]
 
 

lib/crewai-core/tests/test_telemetry_shutdown.py

@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import time
 from typing import cast
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 
-import crewai_core.telemetry as telemetry_module
 from crewai_core.telemetry import SafeOTLPSpanExporter, Telemetry
 from opentelemetry.exporter.otlp.proto.http.trace_exporter import OTLPSpanExporter
 import pytest
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ def test_exit_hook_stops_waiting_at_the_flush_deadline(
     monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
     caplog: pytest.LogCaptureFixture,
 ) -> None:
-    monkeypatch.setattr(telemetry_module, "FINAL_FLUSH_SECONDS", 1)
+    monkeypatch.setattr("crewai_core.telemetry.FINAL_FLUSH_SECONDS", 1)
     live_telemetry.provider.get_tracer("test").start_span("probe").end()
 
     with (