Add structured-output support (#4793)

pakrym-oai · web-flow · commit 90fe5e4a7e9b · 2025-10-05T18:17:50.000-07:00
Add samples and docs.
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/README.md b/sdk/typescript/README.md
@@ -50,6 +50,41 @@ for await (const event of events) {
 }
 ```
 
+### Structured output
+
+Provide a JSON schema per turn to have Codex respond with structured JSON. Pass schemas as
+plain JavaScript objects.
+
+
+```typescript
+const schema = {
+  type: "object",
+  properties: {
+    summary: { type: "string" },
+    status: { type: "string", enum: ["ok", "action_required"] },
+  },
+  required: ["summary", "status"],
+  additionalProperties: false,
+} as const;
+
+const turn = await thread.run("Summarize repository status", { outputSchema: schema });
+console.log(turn.finalResponse);
+```
+
+You can also create JSON schemas for Zod types using the `zod-to-json-schema` package and setting the `target` to `"openAi"`.
+
+```typescript
+const schema = z.object({
+  summary: z.string(),
+  status: z.enum(["ok", "action_required"]),
+});
+
+const turn = await thread.run("Summarize repository status", {
+  outputSchema: zodToJsonSchema(schema, { target: "openAi" }),
+});
+console.log(turn.finalResponse);
+```
+
 ### Resuming an existing thread
 
 Threads are persisted in `~/.codex/sessions`. If you lose the in-memory `Thread` object, reconstruct it with `resumeThread()` and keep going.
@@ -70,4 +105,3 @@ const thread = codex.startThread({
   skipGitRepoCheck: true,
 });
 ```
-
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/package.json b/sdk/typescript/package.json
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@
     "ts-node": "^10.9.2",
     "tsup": "^8.5.0",
     "typescript": "^5.9.2",
-    "typescript-eslint": "^8.45.0"
+    "typescript-eslint": "^8.45.0",
+    "zod": "^3.24.2",
+    "zod-to-json-schema": "^3.24.6"
   }
 }
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/samples/basic_streaming.ts b/sdk/typescript/samples/basic_streaming.ts
@@ -5,13 +5,9 @@ import { stdin as input, stdout as output } from "node:process";
 
 import { Codex } from "@openai/codex-sdk";
 import type { ThreadEvent, ThreadItem } from "@openai/codex-sdk";
-import path from "node:path";
+import { codexPathOverride } from "./helpers.ts";
 
-const codexPathOverride =
-  process.env.CODEX_EXECUTABLE ??
-  path.join(process.cwd(), "..", "..", "codex-rs", "target", "debug", "codex");
-
-const codex = new Codex({ codexPathOverride });
+const codex = new Codex({ codexPathOverride: codexPathOverride() });
 const thread = codex.startThread();
 const rl = createInterface({ input, output });
 
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/samples/helpers.ts b/sdk/typescript/samples/helpers.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+import path from "node:path";
+
+export function codexPathOverride() {
+  return process.env.CODEX_EXECUTABLE ??
+  path.join(process.cwd(), "..", "..", "codex-rs", "target", "debug", "codex");
+}
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/samples/structured_output.ts b/sdk/typescript/samples/structured_output.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env -S NODE_NO_WARNINGS=1 pnpm ts-node-esm --files
+
+import { Codex } from "@openai/codex-sdk";
+
+import { codexPathOverride } from "./helpers.ts";
+
+const codex = new Codex({ codexPathOverride: codexPathOverride() });
+
+const thread = codex.startThread();
+
+const schema = {
+  type: "object",
+  properties: {
+    summary: { type: "string" },
+    status: { type: "string", enum: ["ok", "action_required"] },
+  },
+  required: ["summary", "status"],
+  additionalProperties: false,
+} as const;
+
+const turn = await thread.run("Summarize repository status", { outputSchema: schema });
+console.log(turn.finalResponse);
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/samples/structured_output_zod.ts b/sdk/typescript/samples/structured_output_zod.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env -S NODE_NO_WARNINGS=1 pnpm ts-node-esm --files
+
+import { Codex } from "@openai/codex-sdk";
+import { codexPathOverride } from "./helpers.ts";
+import z from "zod";
+import zodToJsonSchema from "zod-to-json-schema";
+
+const codex = new Codex({ codexPathOverride: codexPathOverride() });
+const thread = codex.startThread();
+
+const schema = z.object({
+  summary: z.string(),
+  status: z.enum(["ok", "action_required"]),
+});
+
+const turn = await thread.run("Summarize repository status", {
+  outputSchema: zodToJsonSchema(schema, { target: "openAi" }),
+});
+console.log(turn.finalResponse);
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/src/exec.ts b/sdk/typescript/src/exec.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
-
+import path from "node:path";
 import readline from "node:readline";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 
 import { SandboxMode } from "./threadOptions";
-import path from "node:path";
-import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 
 export type CodexExecArgs = {
   input: string;
@@ -20,6 +19,8 @@ export type CodexExecArgs = {
   workingDirectory?: string;
   // --skip-git-repo-check
   skipGitRepoCheck?: boolean;
+  // --output-schema
+  outputSchemaFile?: string;
 };
 
 export class CodexExec {
@@ -47,6 +48,10 @@ export class CodexExec {
       commandArgs.push("--skip-git-repo-check");
     }
 
+    if (args.outputSchemaFile) {
+      commandArgs.push("--output-schema", args.outputSchemaFile);
+    }
+
     if (args.threadId) {
       commandArgs.push("resume", args.threadId);
     }
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/src/index.ts b/sdk/typescript/src/index.ts
@@ -31,3 +31,4 @@ export { Codex } from "./codex";
 export type { CodexOptions } from "./codexOptions";
 
 export type { ThreadOptions, ApprovalMode, SandboxMode } from "./threadOptions";
+export type { TurnOptions } from "./turnOptions";
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/src/outputSchemaFile.ts b/sdk/typescript/src/outputSchemaFile.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { promises as fs } from "node:fs";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+export type OutputSchemaFile = {
+  schemaPath?: string;
+  cleanup: () => Promise<void>;
+};
+
+export async function createOutputSchemaFile(schema: unknown): Promise<OutputSchemaFile> {
+  if (schema === undefined) {
+    return { cleanup: async () => {} };
+  }
+
+  if (!isJsonObject(schema)) {
+    throw new Error("outputSchema must be a plain JSON object");
+  }
+
+  const schemaDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "codex-output-schema-"));
+  const schemaPath = path.join(schemaDir, "schema.json");
+  const cleanup = async () => {
+    try {
+      await fs.rm(schemaDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+    catch  {
+      // suppress
+    }
+  };
+
+  try {
+    await fs.writeFile(schemaPath, JSON.stringify(schema), "utf8");
+    return { schemaPath, cleanup };
+  } catch (error) {
+    await cleanup();
+    throw error;
+  }
+}
+
+function isJsonObject(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
+  return typeof value === "object" && value !== null && !Array.isArray(value);
+}
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/src/thread.ts b/sdk/typescript/src/thread.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ import { ThreadEvent, ThreadError, Usage } from "./events";
 import { CodexExec } from "./exec";
 import { ThreadItem } from "./items";
 import { ThreadOptions } from "./threadOptions";
+import { TurnOptions } from "./turnOptions";
+import { createOutputSchemaFile } from "./outputSchemaFile";
 
 /** Completed turn. */
 export type Turn = {
@@ -51,11 +53,15 @@ export class Thread {
   }
 
   /** Provides the input to the agent and streams events as they are produced during the turn. */
-  async runStreamed(input: string): Promise<StreamedTurn> {
-    return { events: this.runStreamedInternal(input) };
+  async runStreamed(input: string, turnOptions: TurnOptions = {}): Promise<StreamedTurn> {
+    return { events: this.runStreamedInternal(input, turnOptions) };
   }
 
-  private async *runStreamedInternal(input: string): AsyncGenerator<ThreadEvent> {
+  private async *runStreamedInternal(
+    input: string,
+    turnOptions: TurnOptions = {},
+  ): AsyncGenerator<ThreadEvent> {
+    const { schemaPath, cleanup } = await createOutputSchemaFile(turnOptions.outputSchema);
     const options = this._threadOptions;
     const generator = this._exec.run({
       input,
@@ -66,24 +72,29 @@ export class Thread {
       sandboxMode: options?.sandboxMode,
       workingDirectory: options?.workingDirectory,
       skipGitRepoCheck: options?.skipGitRepoCheck,
+      outputSchemaFile: schemaPath,
     });
-    for await (const item of generator) {
-      let parsed: ThreadEvent;
-      try {
-        parsed = JSON.parse(item) as ThreadEvent;
-      } catch (error) {
-        throw new Error(`Failed to parse item: ${item}`, { cause: error });
-      }
-      if (parsed.type === "thread.started") {
-        this._id = parsed.thread_id;
+    try {
+      for await (const item of generator) {
+        let parsed: ThreadEvent;
+        try {
+          parsed = JSON.parse(item) as ThreadEvent;
+        } catch (error) {
+          throw new Error(`Failed to parse item: ${item}`, { cause: error });
+        }
+        if (parsed.type === "thread.started") {
+          this._id = parsed.thread_id;
+        }
+        yield parsed;
       }
-      yield parsed;
+    } finally {
+      await cleanup();
     }
   }
 
   /** Provides the input to the agent and returns the completed turn. */
-  async run(input: string): Promise<Turn> {
-    const generator = this.runStreamedInternal(input);
+  async run(input: string, turnOptions: TurnOptions = {}): Promise<Turn> {
+    const generator = this.runStreamedInternal(input, turnOptions);
     const items: ThreadItem[] = [];
     let finalResponse: string = "";
     let usage: Usage | null = null;
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/src/turnOptions.ts b/sdk/typescript/src/turnOptions.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+export type TurnOptions = {
+  /** JSON schema describing the expected agent output. */
+  outputSchema?: unknown;
+};
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/tests/responsesProxy.ts b/sdk/typescript/tests/responsesProxy.ts
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ export type ResponsesApiRequest = {
     role: string;
     content?: Array<{ type: string; text: string }>;
   }>;
+  text?: {
+    format?: Record<string, unknown>;
+  };
 };
 
 export type RecordedRequest = {
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/tests/run.test.ts b/sdk/typescript/tests/run.test.ts
@@ -222,6 +222,63 @@ describe("Codex", () => {
       await close();
     }
   });
+
+  it("writes output schema to a temporary file and forwards it", async () => {
+    const { url, close, requests } = await startResponsesTestProxy({
+      statusCode: 200,
+      responseBodies: [
+        sse(
+          responseStarted("response_1"),
+          assistantMessage("Structured response", "item_1"),
+          responseCompleted("response_1"),
+        ),
+      ],
+    });
+
+    const { args: spawnArgs, restore } = codexExecSpy();
+
+    const schema = {
+      type: "object",
+      properties: {
+        answer: { type: "string" },
+      },
+      required: ["answer"],
+      additionalProperties: false,
+    } as const;
+
+    try {
+      const client = new Codex({ codexPathOverride: codexExecPath, baseUrl: url, apiKey: "test" });
+
+      const thread = client.startThread();
+      await thread.run("structured", { outputSchema: schema });
+
+      expect(requests.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1);
+      const payload = requests[0];
+      expect(payload).toBeDefined();
+      const text = payload!.json.text;
+      expect(text).toBeDefined();
+      expect(text?.format).toEqual({
+        name: "codex_output_schema",
+        type: "json_schema",
+        strict: true,
+        schema,
+      });
+
+      const commandArgs = spawnArgs[0];
+      expect(commandArgs).toBeDefined();
+      const schemaFlagIndex = commandArgs!.indexOf("--output-schema");
+      expect(schemaFlagIndex).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+      const schemaPath = commandArgs![schemaFlagIndex + 1];
+      expect(typeof schemaPath).toBe("string");
+      if (typeof schemaPath !== "string") {
+        throw new Error("--output-schema flag missing path argument");
+      }
+      expect(fs.existsSync(schemaPath)).toBe(false);
+    } finally {
+      restore();
+      await close();
+    }
+  });
   it("runs in provided working directory", async () => {
     const { url, close } = await startResponsesTestProxy({
       statusCode: 200,
diff --git a/sdk/typescript/tests/runStreamed.test.ts b/sdk/typescript/tests/runStreamed.test.ts

Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@`
`58`	`58`	`"ts-node": "^10.9.2",`
`59`	`59`	`"tsup": "^8.5.0",`
`60`	`60`	`"typescript": "^5.9.2",`
`61`		`- "typescript-eslint": "^8.45.0"`
	`61`	`+ "typescript-eslint": "^8.45.0",`
	`62`	`+ "zod": "^3.24.2",`
	`63`	`+ "zod-to-json-schema": "^3.24.6"`
`62`	`64`	`}`
`63`	`65`	`}`
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -31,3 +31,4 @@ export { Codex } from "./codex";`
`31`	`31`	`export type { CodexOptions } from "./codexOptions";`
`32`	`32`
`33`	`33`	`export type { ThreadOptions, ApprovalMode, SandboxMode } from "./threadOptions";`
	`34`	`+export type { TurnOptions } from "./turnOptions";`