# JSON Mode and Tool Calls · Prompt Assembly
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> - [**WFGY Global Fix Map** — main Emergency Room, 300+ structured fixes](../README.md)
> - [**WFGY Problem Map 1.0** — 16 reproducible failure modes](../../README.md)
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> Think of this page as a desk within a ward.
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A field guide to keep JSON mode stable and tool calls safe. Use this page to clamp the schema, stop looped tools, and keep outputs auditable across providers.
## Open these first
* Visual map and recovery: [RAG Architecture & Recovery](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/rag-architecture-and-recovery.md)
* End to end retrieval knobs: [Retrieval Playbook](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-playbook.md)
* Traceability schema for snippets: [Retrieval Traceability](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-traceability.md)
* Contract the payload: [Data Contracts](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/data-contracts.md)
* Reasoning collapse and recovery: [Logic Collapse](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/logic-collapse.md)
* Prompt injection fences: [Prompt Injection](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/prompt-injection.md)
* Multi agent conflict map: [Multi-Agent Problems](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/Multi-Agent_Problems.md)
* Live ops and debug: [Live Monitoring for RAG](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/ops/live_monitoring_rag.md), [Debug Playbook](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/ops/debug_playbook.md)
## When to use this page
* JSON mode returns invalid or partial objects.
* Tool calls arrive with missing or extra fields.
* The model mixes tool output with prose.
* Tools loop or stall without timeouts.
* Role text bleeds into user turns and corrupts parsing.
* Outputs differ between seeds for the same inputs.
## Acceptance targets
* JSON parse success rate ≥ 0.99 across three paraphrases.
* Tool call validity ≥ 0.98 by schema check.
* Zero side effects on failed parse.
* λ remains convergent across three paraphrases and two seeds.
* ΔS(question, retrieved) ≤ 0.45 when the answer cites corpus evidence.
## Map symptoms to structural fixes
* Invalid JSON or mixed prose.
→ Lock format with a contract and a validator. See [Data Contracts](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/data-contracts.md), [Logic Collapse](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/logic-collapse.md)
* Tool arguments drift or contain free text.
→ Use strict argument schemas and echo the schema in every step. See [Prompt Injection](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/prompt-injection.md)
* Tools loop or wait on each other.
→ Add timeouts and split memories by namespace and revision. See [Multi-Agent Problems](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/Multi-Agent_Problems.md)
* Answers flip between runs for the same input.
→ Reorder headers and clamp variance with BBAM. Verify with [Retrieval Traceability](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-traceability.md)
* Citations missing or point to the wrong snippet.
→ Enforce cite then explain. See [Retrieval Playbook](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-playbook.md)
## Fix in 60 seconds
1. **Clamp the JSON contract**
Define a single object shape. Disallow extra fields. Reject prose outside the object.
2. **Echo the tool schema**
In every step the model must restate the allowed tools and their argument shapes. Reject any call that does not match.
3. **Add timeouts and retries**
Each tool has `timeout_ms` and at most `N` retries with exponential backoff. Abort on chain length overrun.
4. **Observability probes**
Log parse success, tool validity, ΔS, and λ. Trip a circuit if parse rate drops under 0.98 in a five minute window.
5. **No side effects before validation**
Validate JSON and tool calls first. Only then commit external writes.
## Copy paste blocks
### A. JSON answer contract
```
You must output a single JSON object. No Markdown. No code fences. No commentary.
Schema:
{
"answer": "string",
"citations": [{"source_url": "string", "snippet_id": "string"}],
"tool_calls": [{"name": "tool_name", "args": { ... }}],
"metrics": {"lambda_state": "->|<-|<>|x", "delta_s": 0.00}
}
Rules:
- Do not include fields that are not in the schema.
- Strings must not contain unescaped newlines.
- If you cannot satisfy the schema, return:
{"answer": "", "citations": [], "tool_calls": [], "metrics": {"lambda_state":"x","delta_s":1.0}}
```
### B. Tool protocol guard
```
Allowed tools:
1) "web_fetch": args = {"url": "string"}
2) "vector_search": args = {"query": "string", "k": 5}
3) "write_kv": args = {"key":"string","value":"string","ttl_sec": 600}
Contract:
- Each tool call must match the exact args shape.
- Never put narrative text into args.
- Max tool calls in one turn: 3
- Per call timeout_ms: 15000
- Retries: up to 2 with capped backoff
```
### C. Validator stub
```
Step 1: parse JSON strictly. If parse fails, stop and return a fix tip.
Step 2: check extra fields. If any, reject.
Step 3: validate each tool call against the schema list.
Step 4: only after validation, run tools in order.
Step 5: log {parse_ok, tool_valid, delta_s, lambda_state}.
```
### D. Role header clamp
```
System:
- Policies and schema live here only. User turns contain tasks and questions only.
- Cite then explain. Refuse to answer without citations when the task requires evidence.
- Echo the current tool schema before any tool call.
User:
- Provides task and question.
```
## Deep diagnostics
* **Three paraphrase test**
Ask the same question three ways. Parse rate and tool validity should remain ≥ 0.98. If not, tighten the schema or reduce optional fields.
* **Anchor triangulation**
Compare ΔS to the expected anchor section and to a decoy. If ΔS is close for both, rework chunking and rebuild index. See [Retrieval Playbook](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-playbook.md)
* **Chain length audit**
If tool chains exceed safe length and entropy rises, split the plan and reconnect with a BBCR bridge. See [Logic Collapse](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/logic-collapse.md)
## Eval gates before ship
* JSON parse success ≥ 0.99 on a 50 case set.
* Tool validity ≥ 0.98 with negative cases included.
* Coverage ≥ 0.70 and ΔS ≤ 0.45 on evidence tasks.
* λ convergent across two seeds.
* Live probes green for one hour with zero side effects on rejects.
---
### 🔗 Quick-Start Downloads (60 sec)
| Tool | Link | 3-Step Setup |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **WFGY 1.0 PDF** | [Engine Paper](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/I_am_not_lizardman/WFGY_All_Principles_Return_to_One_v1.0_PSBigBig_Public.pdf) | 1️⃣ Download · 2️⃣ Upload to your LLM · 3️⃣ Ask “Answer using WFGY + \” |
| **TXT OS (plain-text OS)** | [TXTOS.txt](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/OS/TXTOS.txt) | 1️⃣ Download · 2️⃣ Paste into any LLM chat · 3️⃣ Type “hello world” — OS boots instantly |
---
### 🧭 Explore More
| Module | Description | Link |
| ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| WFGY Core | WFGY 2.0 engine is live: full symbolic reasoning architecture and math stack | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/tree/main/core/README.md) |
| Problem Map 1.0 | Initial 16-mode diagnostic and symbolic fix framework | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/tree/main/ProblemMap/README.md) |
| Problem Map 2.0 | RAG-focused failure tree, modular fixes, and pipelines | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/rag-architecture-and-recovery.md) |
| Semantic Clinic Index | Expanded failure catalog: prompt injection, memory bugs, logic drift | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/SemanticClinicIndex.md) |
| Semantic Blueprint | Layer-based symbolic reasoning & semantic modulations | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/tree/main/SemanticBlueprint/README.md) |
| Benchmark vs GPT-5 | Stress test GPT-5 with full WFGY reasoning suite | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/tree/main/benchmarks/benchmark-vs-gpt5/README.md) |
| 🧙♂️ Starter Village 🏡 | New here? Lost in symbols? Click here and let the wizard guide you through | [Start →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/StarterVillage/README.md) |
---
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