[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-study-finds-json-output-tax-is-a-schema-design-problem":10,"sections":35},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":24,"tags":25,"sources":30,"feedback":34,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":34,"total_tokens":34},10907,"study-finds-json-output-tax-is-a-schema-design-problem","Study Finds JSON Output Tax Is a Schema Design Problem","New research finds the accuracy penalty from structured outputs comes from schema design, not structure itself, and reasoning-first fields fix it.","Forcing an LLM to spit out JSON instead of prose doesn't have to cost you accuracy - it depends on where you put the reasoning.\n\nA new study tested a battery of large language models, datasets, and output schemas to measure the so-called structure tax, the accuracy drop widely assumed to come with forcing models into JSON or XML. The researchers found the penalty isn't about structure itself. It comes down to field order. Schemas that ask a model to lay out its reasoning before stating the answer matched or beat free-form accuracy, while schemas that put the answer field first caused steep drops, especially in smaller models.\n\nThat reframes a question every team shipping an LLM API has already answered the lazy way: force JSON, accept the accuracy hit, move on. This research says the hit is optional and fixable with a one-line schema change. Reasoning-first schemas also improved confidence calibration, and the study's internal-representation analysis found correct and incorrect answers were more cleanly separated in the model's middle layers when reasoning came first.\n\nIf your production schema asks for the answer before the reasoning, you may have been taxing your own model for no reason.","[\"llms\",\"structured-output\",\"json\",\"ai-research\"]","2026-10-09T04:00:00.000Z","2026-10-09T21:01:25.404Z","2026-10-09T21:01:31.863Z","published",null,[],"ai",[26,27,28,29],"llms","structured-output","json","ai-research",[31],{"name":32,"url":33},"arXiv cs.AI","https:\u002F\u002Farxiv.org\u002Fabs\u002F2610.12056",0,{"sections":36},[37,40,44,49,54,58,62,67,72,77,82,87,92,97],{"name":38,"slug":24,"count":39,"latest_published_at":18},"AI",6689,{"name":41,"slug":42,"count":43,"latest_published_at":18},"Security","security",930,{"name":45,"slug":46,"count":47,"latest_published_at":48},"Policy","policy",486,"2026-10-08T22:40:11.000Z",{"name":50,"slug":51,"count":52,"latest_published_at":53},"Deals","deals",474,"2026-10-08T22:00:00.000Z",{"name":55,"slug":56,"count":57,"latest_published_at":18},"Hardware","hardware",231,{"name":59,"slug":60,"count":61,"latest_published_at":18},"Science","science",192,{"name":63,"slug":64,"count":65,"latest_published_at":66},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",181,"2026-10-08T23:26:35.000Z",{"name":68,"slug":69,"count":70,"latest_published_at":71},"Startups","startups",117,"2026-10-08T16:45:00.000Z",{"name":73,"slug":74,"count":75,"latest_published_at":76},"Software","software",114,"2026-10-08T17:57:01.000Z",{"name":78,"slug":79,"count":80,"latest_published_at":81},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",105,"2026-10-07T16:59:11.000Z",{"name":83,"slug":84,"count":85,"latest_published_at":86},"General","general",66,"2026-10-09T04:46:11.000Z",{"name":88,"slug":89,"count":90,"latest_published_at":91},"Gaming","gaming",58,"2026-10-08T20:08:45.000Z",{"name":93,"slug":94,"count":95,"latest_published_at":96},"Reviews","reviews",34,"2026-10-08T14:00:22.000Z",{"name":98,"slug":99,"count":100,"latest_published_at":101},"How-To","how-to",8,"2026-10-05T09:00:00.000Z"]