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Dictionary

Structured Generation

Constraining decoding to match a schema at every token.

1 min readupdated 2026-07-04

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Structured generation (Outlines, Instructor, Gemini controlled generation) uses grammar constraints during decoding so the output is guaranteed valid — no parse-retry loop. Constraining decoding to match a schema at every token.

Constraining decoding to match a schema at every token. Structured generation (Outlines, Instructor, Gemini controlled generation) uses grammar constraints during decoding so the output is guaranteed valid — no parse-retry loop. In practice: A Zod schema is compiled to a JSON grammar and enforced token-by-token.
Definition
Structured generation (Outlines, Instructor, Gemini controlled generation) uses grammar constraints during decoding so the output is guaranteed valid — no parse-retry loop.
Example
A Zod schema is compiled to a JSON grammar and enforced token-by-token.
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What is Structured Generation?

Structured generation (Outlines, Instructor, Gemini controlled generation) uses grammar constraints during decoding so the output is guaranteed valid — no parse-retry loop.

What is an example of Structured Generation?

A Zod schema is compiled to a JSON grammar and enforced token-by-token.

Why does Structured Generation matter?

Constraining decoding to match a schema at every token.

What should I learn after Structured Generation?

Open the related workflows and prompts further down this page: they show how this idea is applied in a real task, step by step.

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