π Crawl4AI v0.7.2: CI/CD & Dependency Optimization Update
July 25, 2025 β’ 3 min read
This release introduces automated CI/CD pipelines for seamless releases and optimizes dependencies for a lighter, more efficient package.
π― What's New
π Automated Release Pipeline
- GitHub Actions CI/CD: Automated PyPI and Docker Hub releases on tag push
- Multi-platform Docker images: Support for both AMD64 and ARM64 architectures
- Version consistency checks: Ensures tag, package, and Docker versions align
- Automated release notes: GitHub releases created automatically
π¦ Dependency Optimization
- Moved sentence-transformers to optional dependencies: Significantly reduces default installation size
- Lighter Docker images: Optimized Dockerfile for faster builds and smaller images
- Better dependency management: Core vs. optional dependencies clearly separated
ποΈ CI/CD Pipeline
The new automated release process ensures consistent, reliable releases:
# Trigger releases with a simple tag
git tag v0.7.2
git push origin v0.7.2
# Automatically:
# β
Validates version consistency
# β
Builds and publishes to PyPI
# β
Builds multi-platform Docker images
# β
Pushes to Docker Hub with proper tags
# β
Creates GitHub release
πΎ Lighter Installation
Default installation is now significantly smaller:
# Core installation (smaller, faster)
pip install crawl4ai==0.7.2
# With ML features (includes sentence-transformers)
pip install crawl4ai[transformer]==0.7.2
# Full installation
pip install crawl4ai[all]==0.7.2
π³ Docker Improvements
Enhanced Docker support with multi-platform images:
# Pull the latest version
docker pull unclecode/crawl4ai:0.7.2
docker pull unclecode/crawl4ai:latest
# Available tags:
# - unclecode/crawl4ai:0.7.2 (specific version)
# - unclecode/crawl4ai:0.7 (minor version)
# - unclecode/crawl4ai:0 (major version)
# - unclecode/crawl4ai:latest
π§ Technical Details
Dependency Changes
sentence-transformers
moved from required to optional dependencies- Reduces default installation by ~500MB
- No impact on functionality when transformer features aren't needed
CI/CD Configuration
- GitHub Actions workflows for automated releases
- Version validation before publishing
- Parallel PyPI and Docker Hub deployments
- Automatic tagging strategy for Docker images
π Installation
pip install crawl4ai==0.7.2
No breaking changes - direct upgrade from v0.7.0 or v0.7.1.
Questions? Issues?
- GitHub: github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai
- Discord: discord.gg/crawl4ai
- Twitter: @unclecode
P.S. The new CI/CD pipeline will make future releases faster and more reliable. Thanks for your patience as we improve our release process!