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LLM structured output performance depends on schema design, not structure itself

A new arXiv paper challenges the notion that structured output formats like JSON or XML inherently degrade large language model (LLM) performance. Researchers found that the accuracy loss, previously termed the 'structure tax,' is not due to structure itself but rather the design of the schema. Specifically, ordering fields based on reasoning steps, rather than the answer, can match or even exceed free-form output accuracy, particularly for smaller models. This suggests that optimizing schema design is key to preserving LLM reasoning capabilities. AI

IMPACT Optimizing schema design for structured outputs could improve LLM reasoning and reduce performance degradation in production deployments.

RANK_REASON The cluster contains an academic paper detailing research findings on LLM performance. [lever_c_demoted from research: ic=1 ai=1.0]

Read on arXiv cs.AI →

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LLM structured output performance depends on schema design, not structure itself

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The cluster contains an academic paper detailing research findings on LLM performance. [lever_c_demoted from research: ic=1 ai=1.0]
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COVERAGE [1]

  1. arXiv cs.AI TIER_1 English(EN) · Vineet Kumar, Kanishka, Bhuvanesh Mandora ·

    Structure Tax: How Structured Output affects LLMs Performance

    arXiv:2610.12056v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Deploying large language models in production often requires constraining outputs to structured formats such as JSON or XML, and prior work treats the resulting accuracy loss as an inherent `structure tax'. We re-examine this claim …