Choose Tool Calling When the Next Step Is Action
Recognize when function or tool calling is a better contract than asking the model for a JSON blob.
When the next step is a side effect, make the contract an operation, not a narrative about an operation. The control stack Prompt wording teaches meaning. Structured output features protect parseability. Schemas protect shape. Validators protect live correctness and policy. The common mistake Teams often celebrate valid JSON and miss that their downstream system still has no reliable contract for required fields, enums, or extra-key handling. The practical test Ask what the next consumer needs, what breaks if a field drifts, and whether the workflow is only informative or actually action-driving. Why this holds up Separating the layers makes debugging…
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