fix: make lancedb an optional dependency under [memory] extras

[devin-ai-integration]

Summary

Moves lancedb from a mandatory core dependency to an optional [memory] extras group (pip install crewai[memory]). This fixes #5327 — lancedb>=0.29.2 dropped macOS x86_64 (Intel) wheels, making crewai completely uninstallable on all Intel Macs, even for projects that never use memory features.

Changes:

• lib/crewai/pyproject.toml: Removed lancedb from core deps, added new memory = ["lancedb>=0.29.2,<0.30.1"] optional extras group
• lancedb_storage.py: Wrapped import lancedb in try/except; LanceDBStorage.__init__ raises a clear ImportError with install instructions when lancedb is absent
• Added 6 new tests validating optional dependency behavior (missing lancedb raises helpful error, custom storage backends bypass lancedb, pyproject.toml structure is correct, etc.)

Review & Testing Checklist for Human

• Breaking change assessment: This is a breaking change for users who rely on memory features. pip install crewai will no longer include lancedb. Users must switch to pip install crewai[memory]. Verify this tradeoff is acceptable vs. a deprecation warning period.
• Flow auto-creates Memory with storage="lancedb" by default: Any Flow subclass will hit the new ImportError at runtime if lancedb is not installed, even if the user never calls remember()/recall(). Consider whether the default should change to a no-op or lazy check only when memory is actually used.
• Documentation: No docs were updated. The install guides, memory docs, and changelog should reflect pip install crewai[memory].
• Test on Intel Mac: Verify pip install crewai succeeds on macOS x86_64 without lancedb, and pip install crewai[memory] still works on supported platforms.

Notes

• The memory_tui.py and unified_memory.py already use lazy/guarded imports of LanceDBStorage, so the ImportError from lancedb_storage.py propagates naturally through existing error paths.
• The uv.lock diff is auto-generated from the pyproject.toml change.

Link to Devin session: https://app.devin.ai/sessions/e6e9627734c640b7a42ec4c85d5ab96f

---

Note

Medium Risk
Changes packaging so lancedb is no longer installed by default, which can break runtime for users relying on the default Memory(storage='lancedb') unless they add the new crewai[memory] extra. Runtime impact is limited to memory/LanceDB usage and now fails fast with a clear ImportError.

Overview
Makes lancedb an optional dependency by moving it from core requirements to a new memory extra (pip install crewai[memory]), and updates uv.lock accordingly.

Updates LanceDBStorage to tolerate missing lancedb at import time and to raise a clear ImportError with installation instructions when instantiated. Adds tests ensuring crewai can be imported without lancedb, memory initialization fails with the expected message when LanceDB is selected, and custom storage backends don’t require lancedb.

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Cursor Bugbot has reviewed your changes and found 2 potential issues.

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Test module restoration happens inside patched context

Low Severity

The importlib.reload(mod) calls intended to "restore the module to its original state" execute inside the with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"lancedb": None}) block. Since sys.modules["lancedb"] is still None during the reload, the module's lancedb variable remains None after the test. This causes test pollution — subsequent tests in the same session that use LanceDBStorage will see lancedb as None and fail unexpectedly.

Additional Locations (2)

• lib/crewai/tests/memory/test_lancedb_optional.py#L51-L53
• lib/crewai/tests/memory/test_lancedb_optional.py#L73-L75

 

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