diff --git a/src/commands/run.ts b/src/commands/run.ts
index 5db67c0..2e97a47 100644
--- a/src/commands/run.ts
+++ b/src/commands/run.ts
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ export const runCommand = new Command('run')
           runWithOpenAI(agentDir, manifest, { workspace: options.workspace });
           break;
         case 'crewai':
-          runWithCrewAI(agentDir, manifest, { workspace: options.workspace });
+          runWithCrewAI(agentDir, manifest, { prompt: options.prompt, workspace: options.workspace });
           break;
         case 'openclaw':
           runWithOpenClaw(agentDir, manifest, { prompt: options.prompt, workspace: options.workspace });
diff --git a/src/runners/crewai.test.ts b/src/runners/crewai.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0c42b63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/runners/crewai.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { existsSync, mkdtempSync, readFileSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { loadAgentManifest } from '../utils/loader.js';
+import { runWithCrewAI } from './crewai.js';
+
+function makeAgentDir(): string {
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'opengap-crewai-test-'));
+  writeFileSync(
+    join(dir, 'agent.yaml'),
+    "spec_version: '0.1.0'\nname: crew-test\nversion: '0.1.0'\ndescription: A helpful test agent\n",
+    'utf-8',
+  );
+  return dir;
+}
+
+test('runs CrewAI through its Python SDK and passes the user prompt safely', () => {
+  const agentDir = makeAgentDir();
+  const manifest = loadAgentManifest(agentDir);
+  const previousExitCode = process.exitCode;
+  let pythonCommand = '';
+  let scriptPath = '';
+  let configPath = '';
+
+  const fakeSpawn = (command: string, args: readonly string[]) => {
+    pythonCommand = command;
+    scriptPath = args[0];
+    configPath = args[1];
+
+    const script = readFileSync(scriptPath, 'utf-8');
+    assert.match(script, /from crewai import Agent, Crew, Task/);
+    assert.match(script, /crew\.kickoff\(inputs=\{"request": config\["request"\]\}\)/);
+    assert.deepEqual(JSON.parse(readFileSync(configPath, 'utf-8')), {
+      agents: {
+        'crew-test': {
+          role: 'A helpful test agent',
+          goal: 'A helpful test agent',
+          backstory: '',
+          verbose: true,
+          allow_delegation: false,
+        },
+      },
+      primary_agent: 'crew-test',
+      request: 'Answer "safely"\nKeep {braces}',
+    });
+
+    return { status: 0, error: undefined };
+  };
+
+  try {
+    runWithCrewAI(agentDir, manifest, {
+      prompt: '  Answer "safely"\nKeep {braces}  ',
+      workspace: agentDir,
+    }, fakeSpawn);
+
+    assert.equal(pythonCommand, process.platform === 'win32' ? 'python' : 'python3');
+    assert.ok(scriptPath.endsWith('.py'));
+    assert.ok(configPath.endsWith('.json'));
+    assert.equal(process.exitCode, 0);
+    assert.equal(existsSync(scriptPath), false);
+    assert.equal(existsSync(configPath), false);
+  } finally {
+    process.exitCode = previousExitCode;
+    rmSync(agentDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+test('uses the agent description when no prompt is provided', () => {
+  const agentDir = makeAgentDir();
+  const manifest = loadAgentManifest(agentDir);
+  const previousExitCode = process.exitCode;
+  let request = '';
+
+  const fakeSpawn = (command: string, args: readonly string[]) => {
+    request = JSON.parse(readFileSync(args[1], 'utf-8')).request;
+    return { status: 0, error: undefined };
+  };
+
+  try {
+    runWithCrewAI(agentDir, manifest, {}, fakeSpawn);
+
+    assert.equal(request, manifest.description);
+    assert.equal(process.exitCode, 0);
+  } finally {
+    process.exitCode = previousExitCode;
+    rmSync(agentDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+test('returns failure status and cleans temporary files when Python cannot complete', () => {
+  const agentDir = makeAgentDir();
+  const manifest = loadAgentManifest(agentDir);
+  const previousExitCode = process.exitCode;
+  let scriptPath = '';
+  let configPath = '';
+
+  const fakeSpawn = (command: string, args: readonly string[]) => {
+    scriptPath = args[0];
+    configPath = args[1];
+    return { status: 7, error: undefined };
+  };
+
+  try {
+    runWithCrewAI(agentDir, manifest, {}, fakeSpawn);
+
+    assert.equal(process.exitCode, 7);
+    assert.equal(existsSync(scriptPath), false);
+    assert.equal(existsSync(configPath), false);
+  } finally {
+    process.exitCode = previousExitCode;
+    rmSync(agentDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
+
+test('sets a failure exit code and cleans temporary files when Python cannot start', () => {
+  const agentDir = makeAgentDir();
+  const manifest = loadAgentManifest(agentDir);
+  const previousExitCode = process.exitCode;
+  let scriptPath = '';
+  let configPath = '';
+
+  const fakeSpawn = (command: string, args: readonly string[]) => {
+    scriptPath = args[0];
+    configPath = args[1];
+    return { status: null, error: Object.assign(new Error('Python unavailable'), { code: 'ENOENT' }) };
+  };
+
+  try {
+    runWithCrewAI(agentDir, manifest, {}, fakeSpawn);
+
+    assert.equal(process.exitCode, 1);
+    assert.equal(existsSync(scriptPath), false);
+    assert.equal(existsSync(configPath), false);
+  } finally {
+    process.exitCode = previousExitCode;
+    rmSync(agentDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
diff --git a/src/runners/crewai.ts b/src/runners/crewai.ts
index c3dc2c4..d24c3a8 100644
--- a/src/runners/crewai.ts
+++ b/src/runners/crewai.ts
@@ -3,19 +3,66 @@ import { join, resolve } from 'node:path';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
 import { randomBytes } from 'node:crypto';
+import yaml from 'js-yaml';
 import { exportToCrewAI } from '../adapters/crewai.js';
 import { AgentManifest } from '../utils/loader.js';
 import { error, info } from '../utils/format.js';
 
 export interface CrewAIRunOptions {
+  prompt?: string;
   workspace?: string;
 }
 
-export function runWithCrewAI(agentDir: string, _manifest: AgentManifest, options: CrewAIRunOptions = {}): void {
-  const config = exportToCrewAI(agentDir);
-  const tmpFile = join(tmpdir(), `gitagent-${randomBytes(4).toString('hex')}.yaml`);
+interface CrewAISpawnResult {
+  status: number | null;
+  error?: Error;
+}
+
+interface CrewAISpawnOptions {
+  stdio: 'inherit';
+  cwd: string;
+  env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv;
+}
+
+type CrewAISpawn = (
+  command: string,
+  args: readonly string[],
+  options: CrewAISpawnOptions,
+) => CrewAISpawnResult;
+
+const crewAIScript = `import json
+import sys
+
+from crewai import Agent, Crew, Task
 
-  writeFileSync(tmpFile, config, 'utf-8');
+with open(sys.argv[1], encoding="utf-8") as config_file:
+    config = json.load(config_file)
+
+agents = {name: Agent(**settings) for name, settings in config["agents"].items()}
+task = Task(
+    description="Complete the following user request: {request}",
+    expected_output="A clear, complete response to the user's request.",
+    agent=agents[config["primary_agent"]],
+)
+crew = Crew(agents=list(agents.values()), tasks=[task], verbose=True)
+result = crew.kickoff(inputs={"request": config["request"]})
+print(result)
+`;
+
+interface CrewAIConfig {
+  agents: Record<string, Record<string, unknown>>;
+}
+
+export function runWithCrewAI(
+  agentDir: string,
+  manifest: AgentManifest,
+  options: CrewAIRunOptions = {},
+  spawn: CrewAISpawn = spawnSync,
+): void {
+  const config = yaml.load(exportToCrewAI(agentDir)) as CrewAIConfig;
+  const request = options.prompt?.trim() || manifest.description;
+  const configPath = join(tmpdir(), `opengap-crewai-${randomBytes(8).toString('hex')}.json`);
+  const scriptPath = join(tmpdir(), `opengap-crewai-${randomBytes(8).toString('hex')}.py`);
 
   const runCwd = resolve(options.workspace ?? agentDir);
 
@@ -23,7 +70,15 @@ export function runWithCrewAI(agentDir: string, _manifest: AgentManifest, option
   info(`Working directory: ${runCwd}`);
 
   try {
-    const result = spawnSync('crewai', ['kickoff', '--config', tmpFile], {
+    writeFileSync(configPath, JSON.stringify({
+      agents: config.agents,
+      primary_agent: manifest.name,
+      request,
+    }), 'utf-8');
+    writeFileSync(scriptPath, crewAIScript, 'utf-8');
+
+    const python = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'python' : 'python3';
+    const result = spawn(python, [scriptPath, configPath], {
       stdio: 'inherit',
       cwd: runCwd,
       env: { ...process.env },
@@ -31,13 +86,14 @@ export function runWithCrewAI(agentDir: string, _manifest: AgentManifest, option
 
     if (result.error) {
       error(`Failed to run CrewAI: ${result.error.message}`);
-      info('Make sure the crewai CLI is installed: pip install crewai');
+      info('Make sure the crewai Python package is installed in the active environment: pip install crewai');
       process.exitCode = 1;
       return;
     }
 
-    process.exitCode = result.status ?? 0;
+    process.exitCode = result.status ?? 1;
   } finally {
-    try { unlinkSync(tmpFile); } catch { /* ignore */ }
+    try { unlinkSync(configPath); } catch { /* ignore */ }
+    try { unlinkSync(scriptPath); } catch { /* ignore */ }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/runners/git.ts b/src/runners/git.ts
index f0fafec..f901a10 100644
--- a/src/runners/git.ts
+++ b/src/runners/git.ts
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ export async function runWithGit(
         runWithOpenAI(agentDir, manifest, { workspace: options.workspace });
         break;
       case 'crewai':
-        runWithCrewAI(agentDir, manifest, { workspace: options.workspace });
+        runWithCrewAI(agentDir, manifest, { prompt: options.prompt, workspace: options.workspace });
         break;
       case 'openclaw':
         runWithOpenClaw(agentDir, manifest, { prompt: options.prompt, workspace: options.workspace });