Portkey Integration

Introduction

Portkey enhances CrewAI with production-readiness features, turning your experimental agent crews into robust systems by providing:

Complete observability of every agent step, tool use, and interaction
Built-in reliability with fallbacks, retries, and load balancing
Cost tracking and optimization to manage your AI spend
Access to 200+ LLMs through a single integration
Guardrails to keep agent behavior safe and compliant
Version-controlled prompts for consistent agent performance

Installation & Setup

Install the required packages

pip install -U crewai portkey-ai

Generate API Key

Create a Portkey API key with optional budget/rate limits from the Portkey dashboard. You can also attach configurations for reliability, caching, and more to this key. More on this later.

Configure CrewAI with Portkey

The integration is simple - you just need to update the LLM configuration in your CrewAI setup:

from crewai import LLM
from portkey_ai import createHeaders, PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL

# Create an LLM instance with Portkey integration
gpt_llm = LLM(
    model="gpt-4o",
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    api_key="dummy",  # We are using a Virtual key, so this is a placeholder
    extra_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY",
        virtual_key="YOUR_LLM_VIRTUAL_KEY",
        trace_id="unique-trace-id",               # Optional, for request tracing
    )
)

#Use them in your Crew Agents like this:

	@agent
	def lead_market_analyst(self) -> Agent:
		return Agent(
			config=self.agents_config['lead_market_analyst'],
			verbose=True,
			memory=False,
			llm=gpt_llm
		)

What are Virtual Keys? Virtual keys in Portkey securely store your LLM provider API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) in an encrypted vault. They allow for easier key rotation and budget management. Learn more about virtual keys here.

Production Features

1. Enhanced Observability

Portkey provides comprehensive observability for your CrewAI agents, helping you understand exactly what’s happening during each execution.

Traces
Logs
Metrics & Dashboards
Metadata Filtering

Traces provide a hierarchical view of your crew’s execution, showing the sequence of LLM calls, tool invocations, and state transitions.

# Add trace_id to enable hierarchical tracing in Portkey
portkey_llm = LLM(
    model="gpt-4o",
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    api_key="dummy",
    extra_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY",
        virtual_key="YOUR_OPENAI_VIRTUAL_KEY",
        trace_id="unique-session-id"  # Add unique trace ID
    )
)

Add custom metadata to your CrewAI LLM configuration to enable powerful filtering and segmentation:

portkey_llm = LLM(
    model="gpt-4o",
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    api_key="dummy",
    extra_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY",
        virtual_key="YOUR_OPENAI_VIRTUAL_KEY",
        metadata={
            "crew_type": "research_crew",
            "environment": "production",
            "_user": "user_123",   # Special _user field for user analytics
            "request_source": "mobile_app"
        }
    )
)

This metadata can be used to filter logs, traces, and metrics on the Portkey dashboard, allowing you to analyze specific crew runs, users, or environments.

2. Reliability - Keep Your Crews Running Smoothly

When running crews in production, things can go wrong - API rate limits, network issues, or provider outages. Portkey’s reliability features ensure your agents keep running smoothly even when problems occur. It’s simple to enable fallback in your CrewAI setup by using a Portkey Config:

from crewai import LLM
from portkey_ai import createHeaders, PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL

# Create LLM with fallback configuration
portkey_llm = LLM(
    model="gpt-4o",
    max_tokens=1000,
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    api_key="dummy",
    extra_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY",
        config={
            "strategy": {
                "mode": "fallback"
            },
            "targets": [
                {
                    "provider": "openai",
                    "api_key": "YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY",
                    "override_params": {"model": "gpt-4o"}
                },
                {
                    "provider": "anthropic",
                    "api_key": "YOUR_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
                    "override_params": {"model": "claude-3-opus-20240229"}
                }
            ]
        }
    )
)

# Use this LLM configuration with your agents

This configuration will automatically try Claude if the GPT-4o request fails, ensuring your crew can continue operating.

Automatic Retries

Handles temporary failures automatically. If an LLM call fails, Portkey will retry the same request for the specified number of times - perfect for rate limits or network blips.

Request Timeouts

Prevent your agents from hanging. Set timeouts to ensure you get responses (or can fail gracefully) within your required timeframes.

Conditional Routing

Send different requests to different providers. Route complex reasoning to GPT-4, creative tasks to Claude, and quick responses to Gemini based on your needs.

Fallbacks

Keep running even if your primary provider fails. Automatically switch to backup providers to maintain availability.

Load Balancing

Spread requests across multiple API keys or providers. Great for high-volume crew operations and staying within rate limits.

3. Prompting in CrewAI

Portkey’s Prompt Engineering Studio helps you create, manage, and optimize the prompts used in your CrewAI agents. Instead of hardcoding prompts or instructions, use Portkey’s prompt rendering API to dynamically fetch and apply your versioned prompts.

Prompt Playground
Using Prompt Templates
Prompt Versioning
Mustache Templating for variables

Prompt Playground is a place to compare, test and deploy perfect prompts for your AI application. It’s where you experiment with different models, test variables, compare outputs, and refine your prompt engineering strategy before deploying to production. It allows you to:

Iteratively develop prompts before using them in your agents
Test prompts with different variables and models
Compare outputs between different prompt versions
Collaborate with team members on prompt development

This visual environment makes it easier to craft effective prompts for each step in your CrewAI agents’ workflow.

The Prompt Render API retrieves your prompt templates with all parameters configured:

from crewai import Agent, LLM
from portkey_ai import createHeaders, PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL, Portkey

# Initialize Portkey admin client
portkey_admin = Portkey(api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY")

# Retrieve prompt using the render API
prompt_data = portkey_client.prompts.render(
    prompt_id="YOUR_PROMPT_ID",
    variables={
        "agent_role": "Senior Research Scientist",
    }
)

backstory_agent_prompt=prompt_data.data.messages[0]["content"]


# Set up LLM with Portkey integration
portkey_llm = LLM(
    model="gpt-4o",
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    api_key="dummy",
    extra_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY",
        virtual_key="YOUR_OPENAI_VIRTUAL_KEY"
    )
)

# Create agent using the rendered prompt
researcher = Agent(
    role="Senior Research Scientist",
    goal="Discover groundbreaking insights about the assigned topic",
    backstory=backstory_agent,  # Use the rendered prompt
    verbose=True,
    llm=portkey_llm
)

You can:

Create multiple versions of the same prompt
Compare performance between versions
Roll back to previous versions if needed
Specify which version to use in your code:

# Use a specific prompt version
prompt_data = portkey_admin.prompts.render(
    prompt_id="YOUR_PROMPT_ID@version_number",
    variables={
        "agent_role": "Senior Research Scientist",
        "agent_goal": "Discover groundbreaking insights"
    }
)

Portkey prompts use Mustache-style templating for easy variable substitution:

You are a {{agent_role}} with expertise in {{domain}}.

Your mission is to {{agent_goal}} by leveraging your knowledge
and experience in the field.

Always maintain a {{tone}} tone and focus on providing {{focus_area}}.

When rendering, simply pass the variables:

prompt_data = portkey_admin.prompts.render(
    prompt_id="YOUR_PROMPT_ID",
    variables={
        "agent_role": "Senior Research Scientist",
        "domain": "artificial intelligence",
        "agent_goal": "discover groundbreaking insights",
        "tone": "professional",
        "focus_area": "practical applications"
    }
)

Prompt Engineering Studio

Learn more about Portkey’s prompt management features

4. Guardrails for Safe Crews

Guardrails ensure your CrewAI agents operate safely and respond appropriately in all situations. Why Use Guardrails? CrewAI agents can experience various failure modes:

Generating harmful or inappropriate content
Leaking sensitive information like PII
Hallucinating incorrect information
Generating outputs in incorrect formats

Portkey’s guardrails add protections for both inputs and outputs. Implementing Guardrails

from crewai import Agent, LLM
from portkey_ai import createHeaders, PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL

# Create LLM with guardrails
portkey_llm = LLM(
    model="gpt-4o",
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    api_key="dummy",
    extra_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY",
        virtual_key="YOUR_OPENAI_VIRTUAL_KEY",
        config={
            "input_guardrails": ["guardrails-id-xxx", "guardrails-id-yyy"],
            "output_guardrails": ["guardrails-id-zzz"]
        }
    )
)

# Create agent with guardrailed LLM
researcher = Agent(
    role="Senior Research Scientist",
    goal="Discover groundbreaking insights about the assigned topic",
    backstory="You are an expert researcher with deep domain knowledge.",
    verbose=True,
    llm=portkey_llm
)

Portkey’s guardrails can:

Detect and redact PII in both inputs and outputs
Filter harmful or inappropriate content
Validate response formats against schemas
Check for hallucinations against ground truth
Apply custom business logic and rules

Learn More About Guardrails

Explore Portkey’s guardrail features to enhance agent safety

5. User Tracking with Metadata

Track individual users through your CrewAI agents using Portkey’s metadata system. What is Metadata in Portkey? Metadata allows you to associate custom data with each request, enabling filtering, segmentation, and analytics. The special _user field is specifically designed for user tracking.

from crewai import Agent, LLM
from portkey_ai import createHeaders, PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL

# Configure LLM with user tracking
portkey_llm = LLM(
    model="gpt-4o",
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    api_key="dummy",
    extra_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY",
        virtual_key="YOUR_OPENAI_VIRTUAL_KEY",
        metadata={
            "_user": "user_123",  # Special _user field for user analytics
            "user_tier": "premium",
            "user_company": "Acme Corp",
            "session_id": "abc-123"
        }
    )
)

# Create agent with tracked LLM
researcher = Agent(
    role="Senior Research Scientist",
    goal="Discover groundbreaking insights about the assigned topic",
    backstory="You are an expert researcher with deep domain knowledge.",
    verbose=True,
    llm=portkey_llm
)

Filter Analytics by User With metadata in place, you can filter analytics by user and analyze performance metrics on a per-user basis:

This enables:

Per-user cost tracking and budgeting
Personalized user analytics
Team or organization-level metrics
Environment-specific monitoring (staging vs. production)

Learn More About Metadata

Explore how to use custom metadata to enhance your analytics

6. Caching for Efficient Crews

Implement caching to make your CrewAI agents more efficient and cost-effective:

Simple Caching
Semantic Caching

from crewai import Agent, LLM
from portkey_ai import createHeaders, PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL

# Configure LLM with simple caching
portkey_llm = LLM(
    model="gpt-4o",
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    api_key="dummy",
    extra_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY",
        virtual_key="YOUR_OPENAI_VIRTUAL_KEY",
        config={
            "cache": {
                "mode": "simple"
            }
        }
    )
)

# Create agent with cached LLM
researcher = Agent(
    role="Senior Research Scientist",
    goal="Discover groundbreaking insights about the assigned topic",
    backstory="You are an expert researcher with deep domain knowledge.",
    verbose=True,
    llm=portkey_llm
)

Simple caching performs exact matches on input prompts, caching identical requests to avoid redundant model executions.

from crewai import Agent, LLM
from portkey_ai import createHeaders, PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL

# Configure LLM with semantic caching
portkey_llm = LLM(
    model="gpt-4o",
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    api_key="dummy",
    extra_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY",
        virtual_key="YOUR_OPENAI_VIRTUAL_KEY",
        config={
            "cache": {
                "mode": "semantic"
            }
        }
    )
)

# Create agent with semantically cached LLM
researcher = Agent(
    role="Senior Research Scientist",
    goal="Discover groundbreaking insights about the assigned topic",
    backstory="You are an expert researcher with deep domain knowledge.",
    verbose=True,
    llm=portkey_llm
)

Semantic caching considers the contextual similarity between input requests, caching responses for semantically similar inputs.

7. Model Interoperability

CrewAI supports multiple LLM providers, and Portkey extends this capability by providing access to over 200 LLMs through a unified interface. You can easily switch between different models without changing your core agent logic:

from crewai import Agent, LLM
from portkey_ai import createHeaders, PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL

# Set up LLMs with different providers
openai_llm = LLM(
    model="gpt-4o",
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    api_key="dummy",
    extra_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY",
        virtual_key="YOUR_OPENAI_VIRTUAL_KEY"
    )
)

anthropic_llm = LLM(
    model="claude-3-5-sonnet-latest",
    max_tokens=1000,
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    api_key="dummy",
    extra_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY",
        virtual_key="YOUR_ANTHROPIC_VIRTUAL_KEY"
    )
)

# Choose which LLM to use for each agent based on your needs
researcher = Agent(
    role="Senior Research Scientist",
    goal="Discover groundbreaking insights about the assigned topic",
    backstory="You are an expert researcher with deep domain knowledge.",
    verbose=True,
    llm=openai_llm  # Use anthropic_llm for Anthropic
)

Portkey provides access to LLMs from providers including:

OpenAI (GPT-4o, GPT-4 Turbo, etc.)
Anthropic (Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 3 Opus, etc.)
Mistral AI (Mistral Large, Mistral Medium, etc.)
Google Vertex AI (Gemini 1.5 Pro, etc.)
Cohere (Command, Command-R, etc.)
AWS Bedrock (Claude, Titan, etc.)
Local/Private Models

Supported Providers

See the full list of LLM providers supported by Portkey

Set Up Enterprise Governance for CrewAI

Why Enterprise Governance? If you are using CrewAI inside your organization, you need to consider several governance aspects:

Cost Management: Controlling and tracking AI spending across teams
Access Control: Managing which teams can use specific models
Usage Analytics: Understanding how AI is being used across the organization
Security & Compliance: Maintaining enterprise security standards
Reliability: Ensuring consistent service across all users

Portkey adds a comprehensive governance layer to address these enterprise needs. Let’s implement these controls step by step.

Create Virtual Key

Virtual Keys are Portkey’s secure way to manage your LLM provider API keys. They provide essential controls like:

Budget limits for API usage
Rate limiting capabilities
Secure API key storage

To create a virtual key: Go to Virtual Keys in the Portkey App. Save and copy the virtual key ID

Save your virtual key ID - you’ll need it for the next step.

Create Default Config

Configs in Portkey define how your requests are routed, with features like advanced routing, fallbacks, and retries.To create your config:

Go to Configs in Portkey dashboard

Create new config with:

{
    "virtual_key": "YOUR_VIRTUAL_KEY_FROM_STEP1",
   	"override_params": {
      "model": "gpt-4o" // Your preferred model name
    }
}

Save and note the Config name for the next step

Configure Portkey API Key

Now create a Portkey API key and attach the config you created in Step 2:

Go to API Keys in Portkey and Create new API key
Select your config from Step 2
Generate and save your API key

Connect to CrewAI

After setting up your Portkey API key with the attached config, connect it to your CrewAI agents:

from crewai import Agent, LLM
from portkey_ai import PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL

# Configure LLM with your API key
portkey_llm = LLM(
    model="gpt-4o",
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    api_key="YOUR_PORTKEY_API_KEY"
)

# Create agent with Portkey-enabled LLM
researcher = Agent(
    role="Senior Research Scientist",
    goal="Discover groundbreaking insights about the assigned topic",
    backstory="You are an expert researcher with deep domain knowledge.",
    verbose=True,
    llm=portkey_llm
)

Step 1: Implement Budget Controls & Rate Limits

Virtual Keys enable granular control over LLM access at the team/department level. This helps you:

Set up budget limits
Prevent unexpected usage spikes using Rate limits
Track departmental spending

Setting Up Department-Specific Controls:

Navigate to Virtual Keys in Portkey dashboard
Create new Virtual Key for each department with budget limits and rate limits
Configure department-specific limits

Step 2: Define Model Access Rules

As your AI usage scales, controlling which teams can access specific models becomes crucial. Portkey Configs provide this control layer with features like:

Access Control Features:

Model Restrictions: Limit access to specific models
Data Protection: Implement guardrails for sensitive data
Reliability Controls: Add fallbacks and retry logic

Example Configuration:

Here’s a basic configuration to route requests to OpenAI, specifically using GPT-4o:

{
	"strategy": {
		"mode": "single"
	},
	"targets": [
		{
			"virtual_key": "YOUR_OPENAI_VIRTUAL_KEY",
			"override_params": {
				"model": "gpt-4o"
			}
		}
	]
}

Create your config on the Configs page in your Portkey dashboard.

Configs can be updated anytime to adjust controls without affecting running applications.

Step 3: Implement Access Controls

Create User-specific API keys that automatically:

Track usage per user/team with the help of virtual keys
Apply appropriate configs to route requests
Collect relevant metadata to filter logs
Enforce access permissions

Create API keys through the Portkey AppExample using Python SDK:

from portkey_ai import Portkey

portkey = Portkey(api_key="YOUR_ADMIN_API_KEY")

api_key = portkey.api_keys.create(
    name="engineering-team",
    type="organisation",
    workspace_id="YOUR_WORKSPACE_ID",
    defaults={
        "config_id": "your-config-id",
        "metadata": {
            "environment": "production",
            "department": "engineering"
        }
    },
    scopes=["logs.view", "configs.read"]
)

For detailed key management instructions, see the Portkey documentation.

Step 4: Deploy & Monitor

After distributing API keys to your team members, your enterprise-ready CrewAI setup is ready to go. Each team member can now use their designated API keys with appropriate access levels and budget controls.Monitor usage in Portkey dashboard:

Cost tracking by department
Model usage patterns
Request volumes
Error rates

Enterprise Features Now Available

Your CrewAI integration now has:

Departmental budget controls
Model access governance
Usage tracking & attribution
Security guardrails
Reliability features

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Portkey enhance CrewAI?

Portkey adds production-readiness to CrewAI through comprehensive observability (traces, logs, metrics), reliability features (fallbacks, retries, caching), and access to 200+ LLMs through a unified interface. This makes it easier to debug, optimize, and scale your agent applications.

Can I use Portkey with existing CrewAI applications?

Yes! Portkey integrates seamlessly with existing CrewAI applications. You just need to update your LLM configuration code with the Portkey-enabled version. The rest of your agent and crew code remains unchanged.

Does Portkey work with all CrewAI features?

Portkey supports all CrewAI features, including agents, tools, human-in-the-loop workflows, and all task process types (sequential, hierarchical, etc.). It adds observability and reliability without limiting any of the framework’s functionality.

Can I track usage across multiple agents in a crew?

Yes, Portkey allows you to use a consistent trace_id across multiple agents in a crew to track the entire workflow. This is especially useful for complex crews where you want to understand the full execution path across multiple agents.

How do I filter logs and traces for specific crew runs?

Portkey allows you to add custom metadata to your LLM configuration, which you can then use for filtering. Add fields like crew_name, crew_type, or session_id to easily find and analyze specific crew executions.

Can I use my own API keys with Portkey?

Yes! Portkey uses your own API keys for the various LLM providers. It securely stores them as virtual keys, allowing you to easily manage and rotate keys without changing your code.

Portkey Integration

Introduction

Installation & Setup

Production Features

1. Enhanced Observability

2. Reliability - Keep Your Crews Running Smoothly

Automatic Retries

Request Timeouts

Conditional Routing

Fallbacks

Load Balancing

3. Prompting in CrewAI

Prompt Engineering Studio

4. Guardrails for Safe Crews

Learn More About Guardrails

5. User Tracking with Metadata

Learn More About Metadata

6. Caching for Efficient Crews

7. Model Interoperability

Supported Providers

Set Up Enterprise Governance for CrewAI

Step 1: Implement Budget Controls & Rate Limits

Setting Up Department-Specific Controls:

Step 2: Define Model Access Rules

Access Control Features:

Example Configuration:

Step 3: Implement Access Controls

Step 4: Deploy & Monitor

Enterprise Features Now Available

Frequently Asked Questions

Resources

CrewAI Docs

Book a Demo

​Introduction

​Installation & Setup

​Production Features

​1. Enhanced Observability

​2. Reliability - Keep Your Crews Running Smoothly

Automatic Retries

Request Timeouts

Conditional Routing

Fallbacks

Load Balancing

​3. Prompting in CrewAI

Prompt Engineering Studio

​4. Guardrails for Safe Crews

Learn More About Guardrails

​5. User Tracking with Metadata

Learn More About Metadata

​6. Caching for Efficient Crews

​7. Model Interoperability

Supported Providers

​Set Up Enterprise Governance for CrewAI

​Step 1: Implement Budget Controls & Rate Limits

​Setting Up Department-Specific Controls:

​Step 2: Define Model Access Rules

​Access Control Features:

​Example Configuration:

​Step 3: Implement Access Controls

​Step 4: Deploy & Monitor

​Enterprise Features Now Available

​Frequently Asked Questions

​Resources

CrewAI Docs

Book a Demo

Introduction

Installation & Setup

Production Features

1. Enhanced Observability

2. Reliability - Keep Your Crews Running Smoothly

3. Prompting in CrewAI

4. Guardrails for Safe Crews

5. User Tracking with Metadata

6. Caching for Efficient Crews

7. Model Interoperability

Set Up Enterprise Governance for CrewAI

Step 1: Implement Budget Controls & Rate Limits

Setting Up Department-Specific Controls:

Step 2: Define Model Access Rules

Access Control Features:

Example Configuration:

Step 3: Implement Access Controls

Step 4: Deploy & Monitor

Enterprise Features Now Available

Frequently Asked Questions

Resources