Address lint failures and improve exception handling

- Remove unused imports (os from rag_storage.py, pytest from test_memory_fallback.py)
- Add specific exception handling in fallback mechanism (ConnectionError, ImportError, ValueError)
- Add comprehensive logging to track embedding provider selection and fallback attempts
- Resolves CI lint failures and addresses PR review feedback

Co-Authored-By: João <joao@crewai.com>

src/crewai/knowledge/storage/knowledge_storage.py

@@ -181,13 +181,10 @@ class KnowledgeStorage(BaseKnowledgeStorage):
             raise
 
     def _create_default_embedding_function(self):
-        from chromadb.utils.embedding_functions.openai_embedding_function import (
+        from crewai.utilities.embedding_configurator import EmbeddingConfigurator
-            OpenAIEmbeddingFunction,
+        
-        )
+        configurator = EmbeddingConfigurator()
-
+        return configurator.create_default_embedding_with_fallback()
-        return OpenAIEmbeddingFunction(
-            api_key=os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY"), model_name="text-embedding-3-small"
-        )
 
     def _set_embedder_config(self, embedder: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> None:
         """Set the embedding configuration for the knowledge storage.

src/crewai/memory/storage/rag_storage.py

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import contextlib
 import io
 import logging
-import os
 import shutil
 import uuid
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
@@ -57,7 +56,10 @@ class RAGStorage(BaseRAGStorage):
 
     def _set_embedder_config(self):
         configurator = EmbeddingConfigurator()
-        self.embedder_config = configurator.configure_embedder(self.embedder_config)
+        if self.embedder_config:
+            self.embedder_config = configurator.configure_embedder(self.embedder_config)
+        else:
+            self.embedder_config = configurator.create_default_embedding_with_fallback()
 
     def _initialize_app(self):
         import chromadb
@@ -165,10 +167,7 @@ class RAGStorage(BaseRAGStorage):
                 )
 
     def _create_default_embedding_function(self):
-        from chromadb.utils.embedding_functions.openai_embedding_function import (
+        from crewai.utilities.embedding_configurator import EmbeddingConfigurator
-            OpenAIEmbeddingFunction,
+        
-        )
+        configurator = EmbeddingConfigurator()
-
+        return configurator.create_default_embedding_with_fallback()
-        return OpenAIEmbeddingFunction(
-            api_key=os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY"), model_name="text-embedding-3-small"
-        )

src/crewai/utilities/embedding_configurator.py

@@ -55,6 +55,40 @@ class EmbeddingConfigurator:
             api_key=os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY"), model_name="text-embedding-3-small"
         )
 
+    def create_default_embedding_with_fallback(self) -> EmbeddingFunction:
+        """Create an embedding function with fallback providers when OpenAI API key is not available."""
+        import logging
+        logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+        
+        if os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY"):
+            logger.info("Using OpenAI embeddings")
+            return self._create_default_embedding_function()
+        
+        logger.warning("OpenAI API key not found, attempting fallback providers")
+        
+        try:
+            logger.info("Attempting Ollama embedding provider")
+            return self.configure_embedder({
+                "provider": "ollama",
+                "config": {"url": "http://localhost:11434/api/embeddings"},
+                "model": "nomic-embed-text"
+            })
+        except (ConnectionError, ImportError, ValueError) as e:
+            logger.warning(f"Ollama fallback failed: {str(e)}, trying HuggingFace")
+            try:
+                logger.info("Attempting HuggingFace embedding provider")
+                return self.configure_embedder({
+                    "provider": "huggingface",
+                    "config": {"api_url": "https://api-inference.huggingface.co/pipeline/feature-extraction/sentence-transformers/all-MiniLM-L6-v2"}
+                })
+            except (ConnectionError, ImportError, ValueError) as e:
+                logger.warning(f"HuggingFace fallback failed: {str(e)}, using local SentenceTransformers")
+                from chromadb.utils.embedding_functions.sentence_transformer_embedding_function import (
+                    SentenceTransformerEmbeddingFunction,
+                )
+                logger.info("Using local SentenceTransformers embedding provider")
+                return SentenceTransformerEmbeddingFunction(model_name="all-MiniLM-L6-v2")
+
     @staticmethod
     def _configure_openai(config, model_name):
         from chromadb.utils.embedding_functions.openai_embedding_function import (

tests/crew_test.py

@@ -110,6 +110,40 @@ def test_crew_config_conditional_requirement():
     with pytest.raises(ValueError):
         Crew(process=Process.sequential)
 
+
+def test_crew_creation_with_memory_true_no_openai_key():
+    """Test that crew can be created with memory=True when no OpenAI API key is available."""
+    import os
+    from unittest.mock import patch
+    
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {}, clear=True):
+        if 'OPENAI_API_KEY' in os.environ:
+            del os.environ['OPENAI_API_KEY']
+        
+        agent = Agent(
+            role="Test Agent",
+            goal="Test goal",
+            backstory="Test backstory"
+        )
+        
+        task = Task(
+            description="Test task",
+            expected_output="Test output",
+            agent=agent
+        )
+        
+        crew = Crew(
+            agents=[agent],
+            tasks=[task],
+            process=Process.sequential,
+            memory=True
+        )
+        
+        assert crew.memory is True
+        assert crew._short_term_memory is not None
+        assert crew._entity_memory is not None
+        assert crew._long_term_memory is not None
+
     config = json.dumps(
         {
             "agents": [

tests/test_memory_fallback.py

@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+import os
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+from crewai import Agent, Task, Crew, Process
+from crewai.memory.short_term.short_term_memory import ShortTermMemory
+from crewai.memory.entity.entity_memory import EntityMemory
+from crewai.utilities.embedding_configurator import EmbeddingConfigurator
+
+
+def test_crew_creation_with_memory_true_no_openai_key():
+    """Test that crew can be created with memory=True when no OpenAI API key is available."""
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {}, clear=True):
+        if 'OPENAI_API_KEY' in os.environ:
+            del os.environ['OPENAI_API_KEY']
+        
+        agent = Agent(
+            role="Test Agent",
+            goal="Test goal",
+            backstory="Test backstory"
+        )
+        
+        task = Task(
+            description="Test task",
+            expected_output="Test output",
+            agent=agent
+        )
+        
+        crew = Crew(
+            agents=[agent],
+            tasks=[task],
+            process=Process.sequential,
+            memory=True
+        )
+        
+        assert crew.memory is True
+        assert crew._short_term_memory is not None
+        assert crew._entity_memory is not None
+        assert crew._long_term_memory is not None
+
+
+def test_short_term_memory_initialization_without_openai():
+    """Test that ShortTermMemory can be initialized without OpenAI API key."""
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {}, clear=True):
+        if 'OPENAI_API_KEY' in os.environ:
+            del os.environ['OPENAI_API_KEY']
+        
+        memory = ShortTermMemory()
+        assert memory is not None
+        assert memory.storage is not None
+
+
+def test_entity_memory_initialization_without_openai():
+    """Test that EntityMemory can be initialized without OpenAI API key."""
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {}, clear=True):
+        if 'OPENAI_API_KEY' in os.environ:
+            del os.environ['OPENAI_API_KEY']
+        
+        memory = EntityMemory()
+        assert memory is not None
+        assert memory.storage is not None
+
+
+def test_embedding_configurator_fallback():
+    """Test that EmbeddingConfigurator provides fallback when OpenAI API key is not available."""
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {}, clear=True):
+        if 'OPENAI_API_KEY' in os.environ:
+            del os.environ['OPENAI_API_KEY']
+        
+        configurator = EmbeddingConfigurator()
+        embedding_function = configurator.create_default_embedding_with_fallback()
+        assert embedding_function is not None
+
+
+def test_embedding_configurator_uses_openai_when_available():
+    """Test that EmbeddingConfigurator uses OpenAI when API key is available."""
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {'OPENAI_API_KEY': 'test-key'}):
+        configurator = EmbeddingConfigurator()
+        embedding_function = configurator.create_default_embedding_with_fallback()
+        assert embedding_function is not None
+        assert hasattr(embedding_function, '_api_key')
+
+
+def test_crew_memory_functionality_without_openai():
+    """Test that crew memory functionality works without OpenAI API key."""
+    with patch.dict(os.environ, {}, clear=True):
+        if 'OPENAI_API_KEY' in os.environ:
+            del os.environ['OPENAI_API_KEY']
+        
+        agent = Agent(
+            role="Test Agent",
+            goal="Test goal", 
+            backstory="Test backstory"
+        )
+        
+        task = Task(
+            description="Test task",
+            expected_output="Test output",
+            agent=agent
+        )
+        
+        crew = Crew(
+            agents=[agent],
+            tasks=[task],
+            process=Process.sequential,
+            memory=True
+        )
+        
+        crew._short_term_memory.save("test data", {"test": "metadata"})
+        results = crew._short_term_memory.search("test")
+        assert isinstance(results, list)