# Structured Output
### Overview
Parasail APIs offer built-in support for structured outputs, enabling easy integration and reliable data parsing.
### Best Practices
* Clearly define your schema in the prompt.
* Use simple and direct parameters to facilitate predictable responses.
* Validate responses against your expected schema.
By using structured outputs, Parasail helps developers maintain consistency and integration simplicity across applications.
## Currently Supported Models:
| Models | Structured Outputs | JSON Schema | Python Object | Regex |
| -------------------------------------- | ------------------ | ----------- | ------------- | ----- |
| parasail-llama-33-70b-fp8 | Y | Y | | Y |
| parasail-llama-4-scout-instruct | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| parasail-llama-4-maverick-instruct-fp8 | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| parasail-qwen3-30b-a3b | Y | Y | Y | |
| parasail-qwen3-235b-a22b | Y | Y | Y | |
| parasail-qwen3-32b | Y | Y | Y | |
| parasail-gemma3-27b-it | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| parasail-mistral-devstral-small | Y | Y | Y | Y |
### Structured Output Formats
Parasail supports several structured output formats based on OpenAI specifications:
#### 1. JSON Schema
Define structured responses using JSON schema to ensure clear data contracts.
**Prompt Example:**
```
{
"prompt": "What's the weather like in Manhattan Beach on 2025-06-03?",
"structured_output": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"location": {"type": "string"},
"date": {"type": "string", "format": "date"}
},
"required": ["location", "date"]
}
}
```
**Expected Response:**
```
{
"location": "Manhattan Beach",
"date": "2025-06-03"
}
```
#### 2. Python Object
Responses structured directly as Python dictionaries for seamless Python integrations.
**Prompt Example:**
```
{
"prompt": "Return the weather info for Manhattan Beach on 2025-06-03.",
"structured_output": "dict"
}
```
**Expected Response (Model Dependent):**
```
{
"location": "Manhattan Beach",
"date": "2025-06-03"
}
```
#### 3. Regex
Define structured outputs using regular expressions to match specific response patterns.
**Prompt Example:**
```
{
"prompt": "Extract the date from: 'Weather forecast for Manhattan Beach on 2025-06-03'.",
"structured_output": "\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}"
}
```
**Expected Response:**
```
"2025-06-03"
```
### Making an API Call
Send structured output requests using Parasail's inference endpoint:
```python
from openai import OpenAI
# Configure the OpenAI client to point at the Parasail-compatible endpoint
client = OpenAI(
base_url="https://api.parasail.ai/v1", # Parasail OpenAI‑compatible server
api_key="YOUR_API_KEY",
)
# Build and send the request with an OpenAI‑style guided_json parameter
completion = client.chat.completions.create(
model="parasail-qwen3-32b",
messages=[
{
"role": "user",
"content": "What's the weather like in Manhattan Beach on 2025-06-03?",
}
],
extra_body={
"guided_json": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"location": {"type": "string"},
"date": {"type": "string", "format": "date"},
},
"required": ["location", "date"],
}
},
)
# The response is already validated by guided decoding to match the schema
print(completion.choices[0].message.content)
```
***
### Examples:
Using the Parasail Serverless Chat Example:
```
curl https://api.parasail.io/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $PARASAIL_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "parasail-qwen3-32b",
"messages": [{"role":"user","content":"Return today’s date only."}],
"structured_output":"\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}"
}'
```
**JSON Example:**
**Using**: parasail-qwen3-32b (to enable thinking, remove /no\_think in the prompt to remove thinking)
**Input:**
```
/no_think
{
"prompt": "What's the weather like in Manhattan Beach on 2025-06-03?",
"structured_output": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"location": {"type": "string"},
"date": {"type": "string", "format": "date"}
},
"required": ["location", "date"]
}
}
```
**Output**
````
```json
{
"location": "Manhattan Beach",
"date": "2025-06-03"
}
```
````
**Python Object:**
**Using**: parasail-qwen3-32b (to enable thinking, remove /no\_think in the prompt to remove thinking)
**Input:**
```
/no_think
{
"prompt": "Return the weather info for Manhattan Beach on 2025-06-03.",
"structured_output": "dict"
}
```
**Output:**
````
```json
{
"location": "Manhattan Beach, CA",
"date": "2025-06-03",
"weather": {
"condition": "Partly Cloudy",
"high_temperature": "72°F",
"low_temperature": "60°F",
"wind": {
"speed": "10 mph",
"direction": "WNW"
},
"precipitation": "0%",
"humidity": "68%",
"uv_index": 5
}
}
```
````
**Regex:**
JSON Example:
**Using**: parasail-qwen3-32b (to enable thinking, remove /no\_think in the prompt to remove thinking)
**Input:**
```
/no_think
{
"prompt": "Extract the date from: 'Weather forecast for Manhattan Beach on 2025-06-03'.",
"structured_output": "\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}"
}
```
**Output:**
The extracted date is: **2025-06-03**.
***
#### Parasail Structured Output—**5-Minute Quick-Start**
> *Perfect for someone who just wants to see it work once before reading the details.*
***
1. **Prerequisites**
```bash
bashCopyEditpip install openai # Parasail is OpenAI-compatible
export PARASAIL_API_KEY="sk-..." # paste your key
```
2. **One-file demo**
Save this as `structured_demo.py`:
```python
pythonCopyEditimport openai, json
openai.api_key = "sk-..." # or rely on the env-var
openai.api_base = "https://api.parasail.io/v1"
# Ask a question and force the model to answer in JSON
schema = {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"capital": {"type": "string"},
"country": {"type": "string"}
},
"required": ["capital", "country"],
"additionalProperties": False
}
resp = openai.ChatCompletion.create(
model="parasail-qwen3-32b", # any listed compatible model
messages=[{"role": "user",
"content": "What is the capital of France?"}],
structured_output=schema # <—— the only new field
)
data = resp.choices[0].message.content # already valid JSON
print(json.dumps(json.loads(data), indent=2))
```
3. **Run it**
```bash
bashCopyEditpython structured_demo.py
```
Expected output:
```json
jsonCopyEdit{
"capital": "Paris",
"country": "France"
}
```
4. **Swap constraints in one line**
*Want a date instead?*\
Replace the `schema` with a regex:
```python
pythonCopyEditstructured_output = r"\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}" # ISO date
```
*Want a fixed choice?*
```python
pythonCopyEditstructured_output = ["red", "green", "blue"]
```
***
### Troubleshooting tips:
| Symptom | Likely Cause | Fix |
| ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Model ignores constraint | Prompt overshadowed parameter | Put the schema/regex in **both** your prompt and `structured_output`. |
| Response is valid JSON but wrong keys | `additionalProperties` not set | Add `"additionalProperties": false` to your schema. |
| Streaming needed | Large JSON output | Use `stream=True`—constraints still apply. |
---
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```
GET https://docs.parasail.io/parasail-docs/cookbooks/structured-output.md?ask=
```
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The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.
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