The chat completions API supports structured response formats, enabling you to receive consistent, predictable outputs in JSON format. This is useful for parsing responses programmatically.
Basic JSON Mode: Getting Valid JSON Without Structure Constraints
JSON mode ensures the model’s output is valid JSON without enforcing a specific structure:
from openai import OpenAIclient = OpenAI( api_key="your_truefoundry_api_key", base_url="{GATEWAY_BASE_URL}")response = client.chat.completions.create( model="openai-main/gpt-4o", messages=[ {"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant designed to output JSON."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Extract information about the 2020 World Series winner"} ], response_format={"type": "json_object"})print(response.choices[0].message.content)
Output:
{ "team": "Los Angeles Dodgers", "year": 2020, "opponent": "Tampa Bay Rays", "games_played": 6, "series_result": "4-2"}
JSON Schema Mode: Enforcing Specific Data Structures
JSON Schema mode provides strict structure validation using predefined schemas:
from openai import OpenAIimport jsonclient = OpenAI( api_key="your_truefoundry_api_key", base_url="{GATEWAY_BASE_URL}")# Define JSON schemauser_info_schema = { "type": "object", "properties": { "name": {"type": "string"}, "age": {"type": "integer", "minimum": 0}, "occupation": {"type": "string"}, "location": {"type": "string"}, "skills": { "type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"} } }, "required": ["name", "age", "occupation", "location", "skills"], "additionalProperties": False}response = client.chat.completions.create( model="openai-main/gpt-4o", messages=[ { "role": "system", "content": "Extract user information and respond according to the provided JSON schema." }, { "role": "user", "content": "My name is Sarah Johnson, I'm 28 years old, and I work as a data scientist in New York. I'm skilled in Python, SQL, and machine learning." } ], response_format={ "type": "json_schema", "json_schema": { "name": "user_info", "schema": user_info_schema, "strict": True } })# Parse responseresult = json.loads(response.choices[0].message.content)
When using JSON schema with strict mode set to true, all properties defined in the schema must be included in the required array. If any property is defined but not marked as required, the API will return a 400 Bad Request Error.
Pydantic provides automatic validation, serialization, and type hints for structured data:
from openai import OpenAIfrom pydantic import BaseModel, Fieldfrom typing import Listclient = OpenAI( api_key="your_truefoundry_api_key", base_url="{GATEWAY_BASE_URL}")# Define Pydantic modelclass UserInfo(BaseModel): name: str = Field(description="Full name of the user") age: int = Field(ge=0, description="Age in years") occupation: str = Field(description="Job title or profession") location: str = Field(description="City or location") skills: List[str] = Field(description="List of professional skills") class Config: extra = "forbid" # Prevent additional fieldsresponse = client.chat.completions.create( model="openai-main/gpt-4o", messages=[ { "role": "system", "content": "Extract user information and respond according to the provided schema." }, { "role": "user", "content": "Hi, I'm Mike Chen, a 32-year-old software architect from Seattle. I specialize in cloud computing, microservices, and Kubernetes." } ], response_format={ "type": "json_schema", "json_schema": { "name": "user_info", "schema": UserInfo.model_json_schema(), "strict": True } })# Parse and validate with Pydanticuser_data = UserInfo.model_validate_json(response.choices[0].message.content)
When using OpenAI models with Pydantic Models, there should not be any optional fields in the pydantic model when strict mode is true. This is because the corresponding JSON schema will have missing fields in the “required” section.
Streamlined Pydantic Integration with OpenAI's Beta Parse API
The beta parse client provides the most streamlined approach for Pydantic integration:
from openai import OpenAIfrom pydantic import BaseModel, Fieldfrom typing import List, Optionalclass UserInfo(BaseModel): name: str = Field(description="Full name of the user") age: int = Field(ge=0, description="Age in years") occupation: str = Field(description="Job title or profession") location: Optional[str] = Field(None, description="City or location") skills: List[str] = Field(default=[], description="List of professional skills")client = OpenAI( api_key="your_truefoundry_api_key", base_url="{GATEWAY_BASE_URL}")completion = client.beta.chat.completions.parse( model="openai-main/gpt-4o", messages=[ { "role": "system", "content": "Extract user information from the provided text." }, { "role": "user", "content": "Hello, I'm Alex Rodriguez, a 29-year-old product manager from Austin. I have experience in agile methodologies, data analysis, and team leadership." } ], response_format=UserInfo,)user_result = completion.choices[0].message.parsed
This approach allows for optional fields in your Pydantic model and provides a cleaner API for structured responses.