Json Structured Output

An integrator wants strict JSON back and sets response_format to an invented {type:'json_schema'} value DeepSeek does not document, then treats the error as a bug.

Set response_format={type:'json_object'} — the documented DeepSeek JSON-output mode. The model then returns a JSON-parseable string. Do not pass undocumented response_format variants.

response_format=json_object is set but the prompt never mentions JSON or shows the desired shape; the output is empty or non-JSON.

Per docs, when using json_object the prompt must include the word 'json' and describe the expected schema/keys. Add an explicit instruction and an example shape; do not rely on response_format alone to induce well-formed JSON.

The JSON-mode response is fed straight into json.loads with no error handling; an occasional malformed payload crashes the worker.

Parse JSON-mode output defensively — wrap json.loads, validate against the expected schema, and on failure retry or route to a fallback. json_object makes valid JSON likely but the client must still guard against parse and schema-mismatch errors.