Definition
Plain language
Asking a model to answer in a fixed, machine-readable format instead of free-flowing text.
As stated in the literature
Constraining model generation to a specified schema (e.g. a JSON distribution over options), used here to elicit a described distribution rather than per-call samples.
Why it matters: This matters because a fixed, machine-readable format lets other programs reliably read and use the model's answers without guessing at messy free text.
For example, instead of a chatty paragraph, you might require the model to reply with a tidy list like {"yes": 60, "no": 40}.
Heard on the show
“That's category aggregation — collapsing the extracted pieces into the structured output.”Episode 023 — Why a Small Agent Confidently Overwrites Memories It Doesn't Understand