How do you get reliable table output from an LLM?
mediumAnswer
- Options ranked by reliability: (1) structured output / function calling with an array-of-objects schema — guaranteed.
- (2) Markdown table with explicit format instructions + few-shot example — mostly reliable but occasional format drift.
- (3) CSV with explicit delimiter — brittle around commas/quotes.
- Best practice: array-of-objects JSON via structured output, render as a table in the UI.
- Never rely on prose 'table' output for downstream code.
Check yourself — multiple choice
- Prose tables always
- Array-of-objects JSON via structured output → render in UI; markdown tables OK for humans; CSV brittle
- Only markdown
- Impossible reliably
Table output: array-of-objects via structured output → reliable; render as table in UI.
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