fix(llm): prioritize tool calls over text when available_functions is None

[alvinttang]

Summary

Fixes #4788 — Native tool calls are silently discarded when the LLM returns both text content and tool calls, and available_functions is None.

Root cause: In _handle_non_streaming_response (and its async counterpart), the check at step 5 used (not tool_calls or not available_functions) and text_response, which matched when available_functions=None even if tool_calls were present — returning the text response and discarding the tool calls.

Fix: Reorder the conditional checks so that the "tool calls without available_functions" path is evaluated before the text-return path. The condition for returning text is also tightened from (not tool_calls or not available_functions) to just not tool_calls, making the logic clearer and eliminating the ambiguity.

Both sync (_handle_non_streaming_response) and async (_ahandle_non_streaming_response) code paths are fixed.

Changes

• lib/crewai/src/crewai/llm.py: Swap steps 5 and 6 in both sync and async response handlers so tool calls take precedence over text responses when available_functions is None.

How it was before (buggy)

# Step 5 — matches when tool_calls exist but available_functions is None, discarding tool calls
if (not tool_calls or not available_functions) and text_response:
    return text_response  # BUG: tool calls lost

# Step 6 — never reached in the buggy scenario
if tool_calls and not available_functions:
    return tool_calls

How it is now (fixed)

# Step 5 — tool calls without available_functions: return them for external execution
if tool_calls and not available_functions:
    return tool_calls

# Step 6 — no tool calls: return text
if not tool_calls and text_response:
    return text_response

Test plan

• Verify with an LLM that returns both text + tool calls (e.g. Claude via OpenRouter) that tool calls are properly returned and executed
• Verify that pure text responses (no tool calls) still work correctly
• Verify that tool calls with available_functions provided still execute normally
• Run existing test suite: pytest lib/crewai/tests/

Note: PR #4806 addresses the same issue. This PR takes a minimal approach — it reorders the checks without adding emit-call-event side effects to the tool-call return path, keeping the behavior change focused on the fix.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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Note

Medium Risk
Changes LLM response handling to return tool_calls instead of text when tool calls are present but available_functions is missing, which can change return types for some callers.

Overview
Fixes non-streaming LLM response handling so native tool_calls are no longer dropped when the model returns both text and tool calls but available_functions is None.

In both _handle_non_streaming_response and _ahandle_non_streaming_response, the conditional order is swapped and the text-return condition is tightened to not tool_calls, ensuring tool calls are returned for external execution before falling back to the text response.

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