* Require explicit CrewAI project definitions
JSON crews and declarative flows now resolve from `[tool.crewai]`
metadata instead of implicit filename discovery. This makes project type
selection deterministic, prevents stray `crew.json(c)` files from changing
CLI behavior, and centralizes definition path validation for run, install,
deploy validation, plotting, and memory reset paths.
`[tool.crewai].definition` must be a project-local file path. Absolute
paths, `~`, missing files, directories, and paths escaping the project root
are rejected so deploy and runtime commands use the same contract.
Breaking changes and migration paths:
* JSON crew projects are no longer discovered from `crew.json` or
`crew.jsonc` alone. Add explicit metadata:
```toml
[tool.crewai]
type = "crew"
definition = "crew.jsonc"
```
* Declarative flow projects must use a valid project-local definition path:
```toml
[tool.crewai]
type = "flow"
definition = "flows/research.yaml"
```
* `Flow.from_definition(definition)` is removed. Use:
```python
Flow.from_declaration(contents=definition)
```
* `FlowDefinition.to_json()` and `FlowDefinition.to_yaml()` are removed.
Use `FlowDefinition.to_dict()` and serialize with the caller's JSON or
YAML library.
* `FlowDefinition.from_dict()` is removed. Use:
```python
FlowDefinition.from_declaration(contents=data)
```
* `FlowDefinition.json_schema()` is removed. Use Pydantic's schema API only
where schema generation is intentionally needed:
```python
FlowDefinition.model_json_schema(by_alias=True)
```
* `crewai_cli.run_crew.find_crew_json_file()` and `_has_json_crew()` are
removed. Use `configured_project_json_crew()` or the shared
`crewai_core.project.configured_project_definition("crew")` helper.
* `crewai reset-memories` now only loads JSON crews declared through
`[tool.crewai].definition`, and invalid declared JSON crew definitions
fail instead of silently falling back to classic crew discovery.
* Address code review comments
Add a single declaration loader shared by API and CLI callers.
- Add FlowDefinition.from_declaration for FlowDefinition instances, dictionaries, YAML/JSON strings, and file paths
- Add Flow.from_declaration to build runnable flows directly from the same inputs
- Route declarative flow CLI loading through Flow.from_declaration so path handling and validation stay centralized
```
# Load just the serializable definition when you do not need to run it yet.
definition = FlowDefinition.from_declaration(path="flows/research.crewai")
definition = FlowDefinition.from_declaration(contents=flow_yaml)
definition = FlowDefinition.from_declaration(contents=flow_dict)
# Build a runnable flow directly from the same declaration inputs.
flow = Flow.from_declaration(path="flows/research.crewai")
flow = Flow.from_declaration(contents=flow_yaml)
flow = Flow.from_declaration(contents=flow_dict)
flow = Flow.from_declaration(contents=definition)
# Run it like any other flow.
result = flow.kickoff(inputs={"topic": "AI agents"})
# The CLI now goes through the same path-based loader.
# crewai run --definition flows/research.crewai
```
* Add declarative Flow CLI support
Currently, declarative flows can be loaded by the runtime, but the CLI
still treats them as an experimental definition file instead of a
first-class Flow project shape.
With this PR, `crewai create flow --declarative` scaffolds a YAML-backed
Flow project, and `crewai run`, `crewai flow kickoff`, and `crewai flow
plot` can run against the configured definition.
This also lets crew actions reference reusable crew definition files or
folders and override their inputs from the Flow definition, so
declarative flows can compose existing declarative crews without
inlining everything.
* Address code review comments
