forced decoding

**Forced decoding** is the **decoding mode where specific tokens or token spans are mandated at defined positions in the output** - it enforces strict structural or lexical constraints during generation. **What Is Forced decoding?** - **Definition**: Generation process with hard constraints on required token emission. - **Constraint Scope**: Can force prefixes, delimiters, labels, or full schema scaffolds. - **Implementation**: Runtime masks candidate sets to ensure required tokens are selected. - **Use Cases**: Template filling, form completion, and controlled protocol responses. **Why Forced decoding Matters** - **Format Compliance**: Guarantees mandatory tokens appear in required locations. - **Integration Reliability**: Prevents malformed output for downstream deterministic parsers. - **Policy Enforcement**: Ensures critical disclaimers or headers are always present. - **Operational Predictability**: Reduces variance in generated structure across requests. - **Automation Enablement**: Makes model output safer for direct machine consumption. **How It Is Used in Practice** - **Constraint Authoring**: Define forced token positions relative to prompt and output schema. - **Conflict Testing**: Check for collisions between forced tokens and other penalties or stop rules. - **Fallback Handling**: Provide graceful error path when constraints become unsatisfiable. Forced decoding is **a strict control mechanism for schema-critical generation** - forced decoding trades flexibility for deterministic compliance and integration safety.