crewAIInc/crewAI · error · SystemExit

This subcommand requires the full crewai package. Install it

Error message

This subcommand requires the full crewai package.
Install it with: pip install crewai

What it means

Printed and accompanied by SystemExit(1) by _require_project_utils() in crewai_cli/tools/main.py when `from crewai.utilities import project_utils` raises ImportError. The crewai CLI package (crewai-cli) can be installed standalone; tool publish/discovery subcommands depend on utilities that only exist in the full crewai package, so the CLI refuses to continue and tells you to install crewai.

Source

Thrown at lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/tools/main.py:46

console = Console()


_REQUIRES_CREWAI_MSG = (
    "[red]This subcommand requires the full crewai package.\n"
    "Install it with: pip install crewai[/red]"
)


def _require_project_utils() -> Any:
    try:
        from crewai.utilities import project_utils

        return project_utils
    except ImportError:
        console.print(_REQUIRES_CREWAI_MSG)
        raise SystemExit(1) from None


def _require_get_user_id() -> Any:
    try:
        from crewai.events.listeners.tracing.utils import get_user_id

        return get_user_id
    except ImportError:
        console.print(_REQUIRES_CREWAI_MSG)
        raise SystemExit(1) from None


class ToolCommand(BaseCommand, PlusAPIMixin):
    """
    A class to handle tool repository related operations for CrewAI projects.
    """

    def __init__(self) -> None:

View on GitHub (pinned to 754d7323be)

Solutions

1. Install the full package into the active environment: `pip install crewai` (or `uv add crewai`).
2. Verify which environment you are in: `pip show crewai` / `uv pip list` — the shell may be pointing at a different interpreter than the one running crewai.
3. Upgrade both packages together so module paths match: `pip install -U crewai crewai-cli`.
4. If using UV-managed projects, run the command via `uv run crewai tool ...` so the project environment (which has crewai) is used.

Example fix

# before: CLI-only environment
pip install crewai-cli
crewai tool publish --public  # -> SystemExit(1)

# after
pip install crewai crewai-cli
crewai tool publish --public

try:
    from crewai.utilities import project_utils  # noqa: F401
except ImportError:
    raise SystemExit("Install the full package first: pip install crewai")

def has_full_crewai() -> bool:
    try:
        import crewai.utilities.project_utils  # noqa: F401
        return True
    except ImportError:
        return False

When it happens

Trigger: Running `crewai tool publish` or `crewai tool create` in an environment where only crewai-cli (or crewai[tools] partial) is installed — e.g. a lightweight CI container or a venv where the CLI was installed alone via pip install crewai-cli.

Common situations: CI pipelines installing just the CLI; stale virtual environments from before crewai/crewai-cli packaging split; a project that depends on an old crewai version whose module path (crewai.utilities.project_utils) does not exist yet.

Related errors

• Project build failed. Please ensure that the command `uv bui
• CrewAI embedding providers not available. Make sure crewai i
• The 'reset-memories' command requires the full crewai packag
• Running declarative flows requires the full crewai package.
• An error occurred while running the crew: {e}

AI-assisted analysis of crewAIInc/crewAI@754d7323be (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7326f26e2bf44201. Report an issue: GitHub.