fix(state): persist json checkpoints as utf-8

[Ghraven]

Problem

JsonProvider writes and reads checkpoint JSON using the platform default text encoding. On systems where the default encoding is not UTF-8, checkpoint payloads containing non-ASCII state can fail to persist or restore consistently.

Before / after

Before, sync and async checkpoint reads/writes relied on the process/platform default encoding.

After, both paths use encoding="utf-8" explicitly for checkpoint files, matching the JSON/state portability expectation.

Verification

• uv run pytest lib/crewai/tests/test_checkpoint.py::TestJsonProviderFork::test_checkpoint_round_trips_utf8_text lib/crewai/tests/test_checkpoint.py::TestJsonProviderFork::test_acheckpoint_round_trips_utf8_text -n 0 --allowed-hosts=127.0.0.1,localhost
• git diff --check

I also tried the broader TestJsonProviderFork slice locally on Windows. The new UTF-8 tests passed, but the broader slice still hits existing Windows-local assumptions unrelated to this change: two tests assert POSIX-style /main/ and /fork/exp1/ separators, and one teardown encountered a locked temporary SQLite file.

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Organization UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro Plus

Run ID: 13fdaa13-0ef1-4e54-97a5-312b1e6f9514

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 03e3724 and ad4dbb4.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)

• lib/crewai/src/crewai/state/provider/json_provider.py
• lib/crewai/tests/test_checkpoint.py

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

JsonProvider now uses explicit UTF-8 encoding for synchronous and asynchronous checkpoint file operations. Tests verify exact round-trip preservation for JSON payloads containing non-ASCII text.

Changes

UTF-8 checkpoint persistence

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Encoding behavior and round-trip validation lib/crewai/src/crewai/state/provider/json_provider.py, lib/crewai/tests/test_checkpoint.py	Synchronous and asynchronous checkpoint reads and writes now use UTF-8. Tests verify exact restoration of UTF-8 JSON payloads.
Suggested reviewers: greysonlalonde

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 50.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the UTF-8 checkpoint persistence fix.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description explains the encoding problem, the synchronous and asynchronous changes, and the related verification.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests

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