* 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
* Read flow dispatch from FlowDefinition
Store the definition in a `_definition` PrivateAttr at post-init and
convert the dispatch helpers (`_start_method_names`, `_listener_methods`,
`_start_condition`, `_listen_condition`, `_is_router`) from classmethods
to instance methods that read it. Event names now fall back to
`self._definition.name` instead of `self.__class__.__name__`.
Behavior is identical for decorator subclasses, but the engine no longer
assumes the definition comes from the class. This is the seam for
`Flow.from_definition`, where an instance runs a definition that was
loaded rather than built from a Python subclass.
* Add Flow.from_definition to run flows without a subclass
A FlowDefinition (e.g. loaded from YAML) was only usable for dispatch on
decorator-authored subclasses. Now each method definition records an
importable `module:qualname` handler ref, and `Flow.from_definition`
resolves and binds those handlers to build a runnable flow directly.
* Build flow state from FlowDefinition
Definition-driven flows previously always started with a bare dict
state.
* Replace handler string with structured FlowActionDefinition
`handler: str | None` was optional and opaque — missing handlers only
surfaced at kickoff time. `do: FlowActionDefinition` is required, so
Pydantic rejects invalid definitions at parse time.
The `call: "code"` discriminator prepares the schema for future
non-Python action types (e.g. MCP tool, crew) without touching
`FlowMethodDefinition`. Resolution logic is extracted to
`runtime/_action_resolvers.py` to keep the dispatch point isolated.
* Fix conversational start router missing required do field
FlowMethodDefinition.do became required when the handler string was
replaced with FlowActionDefinition, but _conversation_start_router still
built its fragment without it, breaking crewai import entirely.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
* Add event scoping to flow test
* Change lib/crewai/tests/test_flow_from_definition.py
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
* Build FlowDefinition from Flow DSL metadata
Introduce `FlowDefinition`, a serializable model built from the Flow
DSL's runtime metadata. It becomes the structural contract for Flow
methods, triggers, routers, state, and configuration.
The visualization layer is the first consumer: `flow_structure` and
`build_flow_structure` now project from the definition instead of
re-introspecting the class. The runner still executes from live
registries, but the definition gives future runners a single static
contract to read.
This replaces AST source parsing for router return values, crew
references, and state schema with runtime metadata plus explicit
`@router(paths=...)` or `Literal`/`Enum` return hints. AST parsing was
fragile and could silently fail for dynamic or non-inspectable methods.
The refactor removes obsolete introspection and serializer code:
* Delete `flow_serializer.py`, `flow/utils.py`, and
`visualization/schema.py`
* Move flow structure modeling into `flow_definition.py`
* Simplify visualization building around the static definition contract
* Format files
fix: refine nested flow conditionals and ensure router methods and routes are fully parsed
fix: improve docstrings, typing, and logging coverage across all events
feat: update flow.plot feature with new UI enhancements
chore: apply Ruff linting, reorganize imports, and remove deprecated utilities/files
chore: split constants and utils, clean JS comments, and add typing for linters
tests: strengthen test coverage for flow execution paths and router logic
