Not a coder? Still interested in building agentic systems to automate business processes? Don’t worry—You can easily build your agentic systems with no-code tools by using either pre-built templates or Crew Studio, which are available on the crewAI platform. In this blog, we’ll explore exciting, new, and lesser-known features of the CrewAI framework by building agents with no-code tools in just a few easy steps.
CrewAI = Crew (A group of people who work together)+ Artificial Intelligence
CrewAI is a popular multi-agent framework that is rapidly gaining a lot of traction in the world of Generative AI. It is designed to create and manage teams of autonomous AI agents that work collaboratively to solve complex problems using large language models (LLMs). These agents can take on specific roles, interact with each other, make independent decisions, and complete multi-step tasks in coordination, much like human teams.
Now, let’s dive into the CrewAI platform. We’ll start by exploring the ready-to-use templates available for creating agents. Below is a step-by-step guide to help you create agents using these templates.
Head to the CrewAI platform by clicking here and log in using your email ID. You can choose the free plan and fill in the required details.
There are various pre-built agentic templates available on CrewAI. To explore all available templates, select Template from the left side of the screen. This will give you access to a range of ready-to-use templates within the platform.
Here are some interesting agent templates you’ll find:
Let’s try using the Similar Company Finder template.
Within the template, you’ll notice API requirements such as Serper API and OpenAPI keys. You’ll need these keys to deploy this agent. SeperAPI key helps in collecting information from web whereas the openAPI key helps in accessing the OpenAI large language models.
You can access your free Serper API keys by signing in with your email ID here: https://serper.dev/.
To learn how to access OpenAI API keys, visit our blog on How to Generate Your Own OpenAI API Key and Add Credits?
At the bottom of the template you’ll see two options in the Similar Company Finder template: Deploy and Download.
Choose Deploy to directly deploy the agent for immediate use.
Once you click Deploy, enter all the required API keys and deploy the Crew template.
Note: This process may take some time to complete.
Your agent is now deployed and ready for direct use according to your needs.
After deploying your model, go to the Management UI to view all the models deployed from your account. Since we have deployed a Company Finder Agent, you will find this agent on the page.
To check the output of the deployed agent, click Manage Crew. Here. you will find three sections:
1. Waiting Execution: This is the section where you enter your inputs. Click on Trigger Crew, and type in the details asked, as per your chosen template.
For example:
Then, select Trigger Crew.
2. Running: Once you’ve specified the inputs, the agent begins processing in this section.
3. Completion: After the agent has processed the inputs, you’ll see the output reflected here. Once an input appears in the completed section, you can select it to view details such as total tokens, prompt tokens, etc.
Here, you will see two options: Output and Tasks.
Click Output to get the final response.
You can click on Tasks to see the list of tasks completed by the agent.
Congratulations! 🎉 You have built your first agent. Feel free to explore other available templates.
But wait—there’s more! What if you have a unique need that these templates don’t fully address? Don’t worry. CrewAI studio offers solutions for that as well.
Note: This platform is still in the beta phase, so there may be minor modifications in the interface.
You can create your own customized agent without code using Crew Studio. Follow these steps to get started:
Open Crew Studio from the navigation bar on the left side of the screen.
You will see two options:
Complete both these steps before building your agent. Let’s see how that’s done in the next 2 steps.
Start by selecting Create LLM Connection in Crew Studio, or go directly to LLM Connections from the left menu.
Fill in the required details:
Note: You can also choose multiple models if needed.
Ensure your environment variables follow this format (e.g: for Groq: GROQ_API_KEY).
Env-Var-Value: Paste your API key here.
Finally, select Add Connection to complete the setup.
Go back to crew sudio and select Set Default LLM Connection in Crew Studio, or go to Settings to configure the default connection.
(Note: The dropdown will display only the models you added in LLM connections. In this example, only OpenAI options are available.)
Once the above steps are complete, select save default LLM settings.
From the navigation bar go to environment variables and add relevant details
Now, you’re all set! With these prerequisites configured, you’re ready to start building your own agent with Crew studio.
Return to Crew Studio, where you’ll be prompted to describe the type of automation you want to build. Let’s use the prompt “You are a technical blog writer. You write blogs between 1000 to 1500 words based on the technical topic provided.”
You may get a couple of follow-up responses from crewAI, checking about the details of your requirements. Once done you will see an option to generate crew plan.
Upon confirmation, you’ll receive the plan in a tabular format that details each agent’s role, goal, and backstory. It also includes a task breakdown with descriptions, expected outputs, and the agents responsible.
If you need to make changes, you can edit each cell directly by selecting the edit option.
If you’re satisfied with the entire crew plan created for your agent, select Generate Crew.
You can view the entire task flow represented in the flow diagram that is generated. Click Deploy Crew to deploy the agent.
Head to Management UI from the navigation bar and wait for your agent to be built. This may take some time. Once done select Manage Crew. Here also you’ll find sections labelled Waiting Execution, Running, and Completed.
Click Trigger Crew and add the required inputs. You may get different required inputs based on your agent. You could have edited these inputs in the table that was generated earlier in the process.
Then, click on Trigger Crew to start.
Your agent will now appear in the Running section, and once complete, the final output will be available in the Completed section. You can then click on Output to view the response.
Exciting, isn’t it? You’ve just created your own customized agent!
Note: This platform is still in the beta phase, so there may be minor modifications in the interface.
Creating AI agents had never been this easy. With no-code tools, anyone–regardless of technical background can create their own agents. Whether using pre-built templates or designing custom agents from scratch, CrewAI can help you build your agent in just a few steps. So, take the leap, explore what you can build, and start transforming ideas into smart AI agents today!
If you are interested in learning more about AI Agents, checkout our excusive Agentic AI Pioneer Program today!
A. Yes, CrewAI is an open-source framework designed to create and manage teams of AI agents that collaborate to tackle complex tasks.
A. Yes, you can create custom agents in Crew Studio as a no-code tool by describing the automation needed, setting up LLM connections, and configuring the agent’s tasks.
A. Key Components of CrewAI are as follows:
1. Agents: Each agent in CrewAI is assigned a specific role, goal, and backstory, enabling them to operate autonomously within their defined parameters.
2. Tasks: Tasks are discrete units of work assigned to agents. They include a description, expected output, and the agent responsible for execution.
3. Processes: Processes define the workflow and coordination among agents. They can be sequential, in a specific order, or hierarchical.
4. Crews: A crew is a collection of agents working together towards a common objective.
5. Tools: Agents can utilize various tools to enhance their functionality, such as web search engines, data analysis tools, or custom-built utilities.
6. Memory Management: CrewAI incorporates advanced memory management, including short-term, long-term, entity, and contextual memory.
A. Certain agents require specific API keys, such as SerperAPI for web search and OpenAI API key for LLMs to function. Check the template’s requirements before deploying.
A. CrewAI is built to support multi-agent systems, allowing agents to interact and coordinate tasks in a structured workflow, making it ideal for complex, multi-step projects.
A. CrewAI agents can handle various tasks such as content marketing, sales prospect analysis, lead scoring, customer support ticket insights, personalized outreach, and more.
A. CrewAI is open-source, and its code is available on GitHub, allowing users to explore, customize, and contribute to the framework’s development.