Structured Outputs And Json Mode

Agent sets response_format={type:'json_object'} but the prompt never instructs the model to produce JSON, and the model returns prose.

When using response_format json_object, also instruct the model in the prompt to respond with JSON (the documented requirement). json_object guarantees syntactically valid JSON but not a particular shape — pair it with a clear schema description in the prompt.

A schema constrains status to enum ['open','closed'] but the model returns 'in_progress'.

Enforce enum membership on validation; an out-of-enum value is a failed result that should be rejected and retried (or repaired), not mapped to a default silently. Surface the violation so the prompt or schema can be tightened.

Agent needs guaranteed schema-valid output and sets response_format with a json_schema, but does not check whether the chosen model supports structured outputs.

Use response_format={type:'json_schema', json_schema:{...}} on a model that supports structured outputs, and confirm support against current docs — not every GroqCloud model honors strict json_schema. Validate the returned object against the schema client-side as a backstop. [REQUIRES-VERIFICATION]…