AI Glossary

Structured output

Also called structured outputs, JSON mode

What does “Structured output” mean?

Structured output: Getting a model to reply in a fixed machine-readable format, typically JSON that matches a schema you define, instead of free text. Some APIs offer a JSON mode that ensures valid JSON, and stricter options that constrain output to a supplied schema. Apps and agents rely on it so other software can parse replies, but the values inside can still be wrong, so they should be validated.

Structured output visual guide: Getting a model to reply in a fixed machine-readable format, typically JSON that matches a schema you define, instead of free text. Some APIs offer a JSON mode that ensures valid JSON, and stricter options that constrain output to a supplied schema. Apps and agents rely on it so other software can parse replies, but the values inside can still be wrong, so they should be validated.
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What is an example of “Structured output”?

An invoice tool can ask for vendor, date and total fields and feed the result straight into accounting software.

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See also

APITermTool schemaTermTool useTermPrompt engineeringTerm

Same topic

System promptTermStreamingTermTemperatureTermSemantic searchTermTokenTerm