fix(tools): strip single quotes when matching coworker roles by CodeAlex52 · Pull Request #7620 · crewAIInc/crewAI

CodeAlex52 · 2026-09-19T09:53:06Z

Summary

Closes #7614.

Weak models frequently emit the coworker argument as a Python repr list (coworker="['Senior Researcher']", what str(list) produces). _get_coworker unwraps the list but keeps the entry's quotes, and sanitize_agent_name only removed double quotes — so the single-quote spelling (and quoted scalars like 'Senior Researcher') never matched the role, while the error message then printed that same role as an available option.

This strips both quote styles during sanitization. Roles containing apostrophes still match themselves, because both sides of the comparison (agent.role and the caller's name) go through the same sanitizer.

Reproduction (from the issue)

# coworker="['Senior Researcher']"
# before: "coworker mentioned not found, it must be one of the following options: - senior researcher"
# after: delegates correctly

Changes

lib/crewai/src/crewai/tools/agent_tools/base_agent_tools.py: sanitize removes ' in addition to `"\u0023 +1 line
lib/crewai/tests/tools/agent_tools/test_agent_tools.py: 5-spelling parametrized delegation test (mocked execute_task, no LLM/VCR) + sanitize unit test

Verification

uv run pytest lib/crewai/tests/tools/agent_tools/test_agent_tools.py → 14 passed
Mutation check: reverting the guard makes the 3 new tests fail (ZeroDivision-style self-contradiction reproduced)
All existing VCR tests unchanged and passing

Weak models frequently emit the coworker argument as a Python repr list (coworker="['Senior Researcher']", what str(list) produces). _get_coworker unwraps the list but keeps the entry's quotes, and sanitize_agent_name only removed double quotes, so the single-quote spelling — and quoted scalars — never matched the role while the same name was printed as an available option. Strip both quote styles during sanitization. Roles containing apostrophes still match themselves because both sides of the comparison go through the same sanitizer. Closes crewAIInc#7614

coderabbitai · 2026-09-19T09:53:33Z

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lib/crewai/src/crewai/tools/agent_tools/base_agent_tools.py
lib/crewai/tests/tools/agent_tools/test_agent_tools.py

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lib/crewai/tests/tools/agent_tools/test_agent_tools.py
lib/crewai/src/crewai/tools/agent_tools/base_agent_tools.py

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Agent name sanitization now removes only matching outer single or double quotes. Internal apostrophes remain part of the normalized role name. Delegation tests cover plain, quoted, and list-form coworker values.

Changes

Agent name normalization

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Sanitize agent names and validate delegation `lib/crewai/src/crewai/tools/agent_tools/base_agent_tools.py`, `lib/crewai/tests/tools/agent_tools/test_agent_tools.py`	`sanitize_agent_name` removes a matching outer quote pair before case-folding. Tests cover plain, quoted, and list-form coworker values and verify that internal apostrophes remain significant.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Severity of issue fixed: Medium

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 40.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 5 functions across 2 files.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly identifies the main change: supporting single-quoted coworker roles during matching.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description includes the linked issue, problem statement, solution, reproduction details, changed files, and verification results. It omits the template's separate Additional context section and c…
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	The PR satisfies the coding requirements in [`#7614`]. `sanitize_agent_name()` normalizes whitespace and case, then removes only a matching outer single- or double-quote pair. This supports plain, list-…
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	The changes stay within [`#7614`]. The production change updates shared coworker role normalization. The tests cover the reported spellings and the required distinction for internal apostrophes. No unre…

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Inline comments:
In `@lib/crewai/src/crewai/tools/agent_tools/base_agent_tools.py`:
- Line 35: Update sanitize_agent_name to remove quotes only when they form a
matching outer pair after whitespace normalization, preserving apostrophes
inside the role name; then adjust its test to expect internal apostrophes to
remain.

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Run ID: 6f05678d-559a-40a9-ad0f-9e14338c025b

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lib/crewai/src/crewai/tools/agent_tools/base_agent_tools.py
lib/crewai/tests/tools/agent_tools/test_agent_tools.py

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Review feedback: removing every apostrophe made distinct roles such as O'Brien and Obrien compare equal, so delegation could select the wrong agent. Strip a matching outer quote pair instead (same quote character on both ends after whitespace normalization) so repr-list and quoted-scalar spellings still resolve while internal apostrophes are preserved.

CodeAlex52 · 2026-09-21T02:35:36Z

Addressed in 1f00380 — switched to stripping only a matching outer quote pair (same quote character on both ends after whitespace normalization), so internal apostrophes are preserved and distinct roles like O'Brien / Obrien no longer collide. All 6 spellings from the issue still resolve (covered by the parametrized test), 14 tests pass locally.

coderabbitai Bot reviewed Sep 19, 2026

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Comment thread lib/crewai/src/crewai/tools/agent_tools/base_agent_tools.py Outdated

Lesereingrape mentioned this pull request Sep 19, 2026

fix(tools): resolve a coworker that a model spelled as a quoted list #7615

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fix(tools): strip single quotes when matching coworker roles - #7620

fix(tools): strip single quotes when matching coworker roles#7620
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CodeAlex52:fix/coworker-single-quote-role-matching

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CodeAlex52 commented Sep 19, 2026

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