drop metadata requirement (#1712)

* drop metadata requirement

* fix linting

* Update docs for new knowledge

* more linting

* more linting

* make save_documents private

* update docs to the new way we use knowledge and include clearing memory

docs/concepts/knowledge.mdx

@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ from crewai.knowledge.source.string_knowledge_source import StringKnowledgeSourc
 content = "Users name is John. He is 30 years old and lives in San Francisco."
 string_source = StringKnowledgeSource(
     content=content, 
-    metadata={"preference": "personal"}
 )
 
 # Create an LLM with a temperature of 0 to ensure deterministic outputs
@@ -74,28 +73,14 @@ crew = Crew(
     tasks=[task],
     verbose=True,
     process=Process.sequential,
-    knowledge={
-      "sources": [string_source], 
-      "metadata": {"preference": "personal"}
-    }, # Enable knowledge by adding the sources here. You can also add more sources to the sources list.
+    knowledge_sources=[string_source], # Enable knowledge by adding the sources here. You can also add more sources to the sources list.
 )
 
 result = crew.kickoff(inputs={"question": "What city does John live in and how old is he?"})
 ```
 
 ## Knowledge Configuration
 
-### Metadata and Filtering
-
-Knowledge sources support metadata for better organization and filtering. Metadata is used to filter the knowledge sources when querying the knowledge store.
-
-```python Code
-knowledge_source = StringKnowledgeSource(
-    content="Users name is John. He is 30 years old and lives in San Francisco.",
-    metadata={"preference": "personal"} # Metadata is used to filter the knowledge sources
-)
-```
-
 ### Chunking Configuration
 
 Control how content is split for processing by setting the chunk size and overlap.
@@ -116,21 +101,28 @@ You can also configure the embedder for the knowledge store. This is useful if y
 ...
 string_source = StringKnowledgeSource(
     content="Users name is John. He is 30 years old and lives in San Francisco.",
-    metadata={"preference": "personal"}
 )
 crew = Crew(
     ...
-    knowledge={
-        "sources": [string_source],
-        "metadata": {"preference": "personal"},
-        "embedder_config": {
-          "provider": "openai", # Default embedder provider; can be "ollama", "gemini", e.t.c.
-          "config": {"model": "text-embedding-3-small"} # Default embedder model; can be "mxbai-embed-large", "nomic-embed-tex", e.t.c.
-        },
+    knowledge_sources=[string_source],
+    embedder={
+        "provider": "openai",
+        "config": {"model": "text-embedding-3-small"},
     },
 )
 ```
 
+## Clearing Knowledge
+
+If you need to clear the knowledge stored in CrewAI, you can use the `crewai reset-memories` command with the `--knowledge` option.
+
+```bash Command
+crewai reset-memories --knowledge
+```
+
+This is useful when you've updated your knowledge sources and want to ensure that the agents are using the most recent information.
+
+
 ## Custom Knowledge Sources
 
 CrewAI allows you to create custom knowledge sources for any type of data by extending the `BaseKnowledgeSource` class. Let's create a practical example that fetches and processes space news articles.
@@ -174,12 +166,12 @@ class SpaceNewsKnowledgeSource(BaseKnowledgeSource):
         formatted = "Space News Articles:\n\n"
         for article in articles:
             formatted += f"""
-Title: {article['title']}
-Published: {article['published_at']}
-Summary: {article['summary']}
-News Site: {article['news_site']}
-URL: {article['url']}
--------------------"""
+                Title: {article['title']}
+                Published: {article['published_at']}
+                Summary: {article['summary']}
+                News Site: {article['news_site']}
+                URL: {article['url']}
+                -------------------"""
         return formatted
 
     def add(self) -> None:
@@ -189,17 +181,12 @@ URL: {article['url']}
             chunks = self._chunk_text(text)
             self.chunks.extend(chunks)
 
-        self.save_documents(metadata={
-            "source": "space_news_api",
-            "timestamp": datetime.now().isoformat(),
-            "article_count": self.limit
-        })
+        self._save_documents()
 
 # Create knowledge source
 recent_news = SpaceNewsKnowledgeSource(
     api_endpoint="https://api.spaceflightnewsapi.net/v4/articles",
     limit=10,
-    metadata={"category": "recent_news", "source": "spaceflight_news"}
 )
 
 # Create specialized agent
@@ -265,7 +252,7 @@ The latest developments in space exploration, based on recent space news article
    - Implements three key methods:
      - `load_content()`: Fetches articles from the API
      - `_format_articles()`: Structures the articles into readable text
-     - `add()`: Processes and stores the content with metadata
+     - `add()`: Processes and stores the content
 
 2. **Agent Configuration**:
    - Specialized role as a Space News Analyst
@@ -299,31 +286,27 @@ You can customize the API query by modifying the endpoint URL:
 recent_news = SpaceNewsKnowledgeSource(
     api_endpoint="https://api.spaceflightnewsapi.net/v4/articles",
     limit=20,  # Increase the number of articles
-    metadata={"category": "recent_news"}
 )
 
 # Add search parameters
 recent_news = SpaceNewsKnowledgeSource(
     api_endpoint="https://api.spaceflightnewsapi.net/v4/articles?search=NASA", # Search for NASA news
     limit=10,
-    metadata={"category": "nasa_news"}
 )
 ```
 
 ## Best Practices
 
 <AccordionGroup>
   <Accordion title="Content Organization">
-    - Use descriptive metadata for better filtering
     - Keep chunk sizes appropriate for your content type
     - Consider content overlap for context preservation
     - Organize related information into separate knowledge sources
   </Accordion>
 
   <Accordion title="Performance Tips">
-    - Use metadata filtering to narrow search scope
     - Adjust chunk sizes based on content complexity
     - Configure appropriate embedding models
     - Consider using local embedding providers for faster processing
   </Accordion>
-</AccordionGroup>
+</AccordionGroup>

src/crewai/knowledge/knowledge.py

@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 import os
+from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
 
-from typing import List, Optional, Dict, Any
 from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict, Field
 
 from crewai.knowledge.source.base_knowledge_source import BaseKnowledgeSource
 from crewai.knowledge.storage.knowledge_storage import KnowledgeStorage
-from crewai.utilities.constants import DEFAULT_SCORE_THRESHOLD
 
 os.environ["TOKENIZERS_PARALLELISM"] = "false"  # removes logging from fastembed
 
@@ -46,9 +45,7 @@ def __init__(
             source.storage = self.storage
             source.add()
 
-    def query(
-        self, query: List[str], limit: int = 3, preference: Optional[str] = None
-    ) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
+    def query(self, query: List[str], limit: int = 3) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
         """
         Query across all knowledge sources to find the most relevant information.
         Returns the top_k most relevant chunks.
@@ -57,8 +54,6 @@ def query(
         results = self.storage.search(
             query,
             limit,
-            filter={"preference": preference} if preference else None,
-            score_threshold=DEFAULT_SCORE_THRESHOLD,
         )
         return results
 

src/crewai/knowledge/source/base_file_knowledge_source.py

@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Union, List, Dict, Any
+from typing import Dict, List, Union
 
 from pydantic import Field
 
 from crewai.knowledge.source.base_knowledge_source import BaseKnowledgeSource
-from crewai.utilities.logger import Logger
 from crewai.knowledge.storage.knowledge_storage import KnowledgeStorage
 from crewai.utilities.constants import KNOWLEDGE_DIRECTORY
+from crewai.utilities.logger import Logger
 
 
 class BaseFileKnowledgeSource(BaseKnowledgeSource, ABC):
@@ -49,10 +49,9 @@ def validate_paths(self):
                     color="red",
                 )
 
-    def save_documents(self, metadata: Dict[str, Any]):
+    def _save_documents(self):
         """Save the documents to the storage."""
-        chunk_metadatas = [metadata.copy() for _ in self.chunks]
-        self.storage.save(self.chunks, chunk_metadatas)
+        self.storage.save(self.chunks)
 
     def convert_to_path(self, path: Union[Path, str]) -> Path:
         """Convert a path to a Path object."""

src/crewai/knowledge/source/base_knowledge_source.py

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
-from typing import List, Dict, Any, Optional
+from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
 
 import numpy as np
 from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict, Field
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ class BaseKnowledgeSource(BaseModel, ABC):
 
     model_config = ConfigDict(arbitrary_types_allowed=True)
     storage: KnowledgeStorage = Field(default_factory=KnowledgeStorage)
-    metadata: Dict[str, Any] = Field(default_factory=dict)
+    metadata: Dict[str, Any] = Field(default_factory=dict)  # Currently unused
     collection_name: Optional[str] = Field(default=None)
 
     @abstractmethod
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@ def _chunk_text(self, text: str) -> List[str]:
             for i in range(0, len(text), self.chunk_size - self.chunk_overlap)
         ]
 
-    def save_documents(self, metadata: Dict[str, Any]):
+    def _save_documents(self):
         """
         Save the documents to the storage.
         This method should be called after the chunks and embeddings are generated.
         """
-        self.storage.save(self.chunks, metadata)
+        self.storage.save(self.chunks)

src/crewai/knowledge/source/csv_knowledge_source.py

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import csv
-from typing import Dict, List
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Dict, List
 
 from crewai.knowledge.source.base_file_knowledge_source import BaseFileKnowledgeSource
 
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def add(self) -> None:
         )
         new_chunks = self._chunk_text(content_str)
         self.chunks.extend(new_chunks)
-        self.save_documents(metadata=self.metadata)
+        self._save_documents()
 
     def _chunk_text(self, text: str) -> List[str]:
         """Utility method to split text into chunks."""

src/crewai/knowledge/source/excel_knowledge_source.py

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-from typing import Dict, List
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Dict, List
+
 from crewai.knowledge.source.base_file_knowledge_source import BaseFileKnowledgeSource
 
 
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ def add(self) -> None:
 
         new_chunks = self._chunk_text(content_str)
         self.chunks.extend(new_chunks)
-        self.save_documents(metadata=self.metadata)
+        self._save_documents()
 
     def _chunk_text(self, text: str) -> List[str]:
         """Utility method to split text into chunks."""

src/crewai/knowledge/source/json_knowledge_source.py

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import json
-from typing import Any, Dict, List
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any, Dict, List
 
 from crewai.knowledge.source.base_file_knowledge_source import BaseFileKnowledgeSource
 
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def add(self) -> None:
         )
         new_chunks = self._chunk_text(content_str)
         self.chunks.extend(new_chunks)
-        self.save_documents(metadata=self.metadata)
+        self._save_documents()
 
     def _chunk_text(self, text: str) -> List[str]:
         """Utility method to split text into chunks."""

src/crewai/knowledge/source/pdf_knowledge_source.py

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-from typing import List, Dict
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Dict, List
 
 from crewai.knowledge.source.base_file_knowledge_source import BaseFileKnowledgeSource
 
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def add(self) -> None:
         for _, text in self.content.items():
             new_chunks = self._chunk_text(text)
             self.chunks.extend(new_chunks)
-        self.save_documents(metadata=self.metadata)
+        self._save_documents()
 
     def _chunk_text(self, text: str) -> List[str]:
         """Utility method to split text into chunks."""

src/crewai/knowledge/source/string_knowledge_source.py

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ def add(self) -> None:
         """Add string content to the knowledge source, chunk it, compute embeddings, and save them."""
         new_chunks = self._chunk_text(self.content)
         self.chunks.extend(new_chunks)
-        self.save_documents(metadata=self.metadata)
+        self._save_documents()
 
     def _chunk_text(self, text: str) -> List[str]:
         """Utility method to split text into chunks."""

src/crewai/knowledge/source/text_file_knowledge_source.py

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-from typing import Dict, List
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Dict, List
 
 from crewai.knowledge.source.base_file_knowledge_source import BaseFileKnowledgeSource
 
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ def add(self) -> None:
         for _, text in self.content.items():
             new_chunks = self._chunk_text(text)
             self.chunks.extend(new_chunks)
-        self.save_documents(metadata=self.metadata)
+        self._save_documents()
 
     def _chunk_text(self, text: str) -> List[str]:
         """Utility method to split text into chunks."""

src/crewai/knowledge/storage/knowledge_storage.py

@@ -1,18 +1,20 @@
 import contextlib
+import hashlib
 import io
 import logging
-import chromadb
 import os
+from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Union, cast
 
+import chromadb
 import chromadb.errors
-from crewai.utilities.paths import db_storage_path
-from typing import Optional, List, Dict, Any, Union
-from crewai.utilities import EmbeddingConfigurator
-from crewai.knowledge.storage.base_knowledge_storage import BaseKnowledgeStorage
-import hashlib
-from chromadb.config import Settings
 from chromadb.api import ClientAPI
+from chromadb.api.types import OneOrMany
+from chromadb.config import Settings
+
+from crewai.knowledge.storage.base_knowledge_storage import BaseKnowledgeStorage
+from crewai.utilities import EmbeddingConfigurator
 from crewai.utilities.logger import Logger
+from crewai.utilities.paths import db_storage_path
 
 
 @contextlib.contextmanager
@@ -116,11 +118,16 @@ def reset(self):
     def save(
         self,
         documents: List[str],
-        metadata: Union[Dict[str, Any], List[Dict[str, Any]]],
+        metadata: Optional[Union[Dict[str, Any], List[Dict[str, Any]]]] = None,
     ):
         if self.collection:
             try:
-                metadatas = [metadata] if isinstance(metadata, dict) else metadata
+                if metadata is None:
+                    metadatas: Optional[OneOrMany[chromadb.Metadata]] = None
+                elif isinstance(metadata, list):
+                    metadatas = [cast(chromadb.Metadata, m) for m in metadata]
+                else:
+                    metadatas = cast(chromadb.Metadata, metadata)
 
                 ids = [
                     hashlib.sha256(doc.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest() for doc in documents