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Author SHA1 Message Date
Devin AI
09141d9a78 docs: add flow persistence section
Co-Authored-By: Joe Moura <joao@crewai.com>
2025-01-19 07:18:06 +00:00

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@@ -323,6 +323,91 @@ flow.kickoff()
By providing both unstructured and structured state management options, CrewAI Flows empowers developers to build AI workflows that are both flexible and robust, catering to a wide range of application requirements.
## Flow Persistence
The @persist decorator enables automatic state persistence in CrewAI Flows, allowing you to maintain flow state across restarts or different workflow executions. This decorator can be applied at either the class level or method level, providing flexibility in how you manage state persistence.
### Class-Level Persistence
When applied at the class level, the @persist decorator automatically persists all flow method states:
```python
@persist # Using SQLiteFlowPersistence by default
class MyFlow(Flow[MyState]):
@start()
def initialize_flow(self):
# This method will automatically have its state persisted
self.state.counter = 1
print("Initialized flow. State ID:", self.state.id)
@listen(initialize_flow)
def next_step(self):
# The state (including self.state.id) is automatically reloaded
self.state.counter += 1
print("Flow state is persisted. Counter:", self.state.counter)
```
### Method-Level Persistence
For more granular control, you can apply @persist to specific methods:
```python
class AnotherFlow(Flow[dict]):
@persist # Persists only this method's state
@start()
def begin(self):
if "runs" not in self.state:
self.state["runs"] = 0
self.state["runs"] += 1
print("Method-level persisted runs:", self.state["runs"])
```
### How It Works
1. **Unique State Identification**
- Each flow state automatically receives a unique UUID
- The ID is preserved across state updates and method calls
- Supports both structured (Pydantic BaseModel) and unstructured (dictionary) states
2. **Default SQLite Backend**
- SQLiteFlowPersistence is the default storage backend
- States are automatically saved to a local SQLite database
- Robust error handling ensures clear messages if database operations fail
3. **Error Handling**
- Comprehensive error messages for database operations
- Automatic state validation during save and load
- Clear feedback when persistence operations encounter issues
### Important Considerations
- **State Types**: Both structured (Pydantic BaseModel) and unstructured (dictionary) states are supported
- **Automatic ID**: The `id` field is automatically added if not present
- **State Recovery**: Failed or restarted flows can automatically reload their previous state
- **Custom Implementation**: You can provide your own FlowPersistence implementation for specialized storage needs
### Technical Advantages
1. **Precise Control Through Low-Level Access**
- Direct access to persistence operations for advanced use cases
- Fine-grained control via method-level persistence decorators
- Built-in state inspection and debugging capabilities
- Full visibility into state changes and persistence operations
2. **Enhanced Reliability**
- Automatic state recovery after system failures or restarts
- Transaction-based state updates for data integrity
- Comprehensive error handling with clear error messages
- Robust validation during state save and load operations
3. **Extensible Architecture**
- Customizable persistence backend through FlowPersistence interface
- Support for specialized storage solutions beyond SQLite
- Compatible with both structured (Pydantic) and unstructured (dict) states
- Seamless integration with existing CrewAI flow patterns
The persistence system's architecture emphasizes technical precision and customization options, allowing developers to maintain full control over state management while benefiting from built-in reliability features.
## Flow Control
### Conditional Logic: `or`