research-guidance

# Guidance: Constrained LLM Generation ## When to Use This Skill Use Guidance when you need to: - **Control LLM output syntax** with regex or grammars - **Guarantee valid JSON/XML/code** generation - **Reduce latency** vs traditional prompting approaches - **Enforce structured formats** (dates, emails, IDs, etc.) - **Build multi-step workflows** with Pythonic control flow - **Prevent invalid outputs** through grammatical constraints **GitHub Stars**: 18,000+ | **From**: Microsoft Research ## Installation ```bash # Base installation pip install guidance # With specific backends pip install guidance[transformers] # Hugging Face models pip install guidance[llama_cpp] # llama.cpp models ``` ## Quick Start ### Basic Example: Structured Generation ```python from guidance import models, gen # Load model (supports OpenAI, Transformers, llama.cpp) lm = models.OpenAI("gpt-4") # Generate with constraints result = lm + "The capital of France is " + gen("capital", max_tokens=5) print(result["capital"]) # "Paris" ``` ### With Anthropic Claude ```python from guidance import models, gen, system, user, assistant # Configure Claude lm = models.Anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929") # Use context managers for chat format with system(): lm += "You are a helpful assistant." with user(): lm += "What is the capital of France?" with assistant(): lm += gen(max_tokens=20) ``` ## Core Concepts ### 1. Context Managers Guidance uses Pythonic context managers for chat-style interactions. ```python from guidance import system, user, assistant, gen lm = models.Anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929") # System message with system(): lm += "You are a JSON generation expert." # User message with user(): lm += "Generate a person object with name and age." # Assistant response with assistant(): lm += gen("response", max_tokens=100) print(lm["response"]) ``` **Benefits:** - Natural chat flow - Clear role separation - Easy to read and maintain ### 2. Constrained Generation Guidance ensures outputs match specified patterns using regex or grammars. #### Regex Constraints ```python from guidance import models, gen lm = models.Anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929") # Constrain to valid email format lm += "Email: " + gen("email", regex=r"[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}") # Constrain to date format (YYYY-MM-DD) lm += "Date: " + gen("date", regex=r"\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}") # Constrain to phone number lm += "Phone: " + gen("phone", regex=r"\d{3}-\d{3}-\d{4}") print(lm["email"]) # Guaranteed valid email print(lm["date"]) # Guaranteed YYYY-MM-DD format ``` **How it works:** - Regex converted to grammar at token level - Invalid tokens filtered during generation - Model can only produce matching outputs #### Selection Constraints ```python from guidance import models, gen, select lm = models.Anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929") # Constrain to specific choices lm += "Sentiment: " + select(["positive", "negative", "neutral"], name="sentiment") # Multiple-choice selection lm += "Best answer: " + select( ["A) Paris", "B) London", "C) Berlin", "D) Madrid"], name="answer" ) print(lm["sentiment"]) # One of: positive, negative, neutral print(lm["answer"]) # One of: A, B, C, or D ``` ### 3. Token Healing Guidance automatically "heals" token boundaries between prompt and generation. **Problem:** Tokenization creates unnatural boundaries. ```python # Without token healing prompt = "The capital of France is " # Last token: " is " # First generated token might be " Par" (with leading space) # Result: "The capital of France is Paris" (double space!) ``` **Solution:** Guidance backs up one token and regenerates. ```python from guidance import models, gen lm = models.Anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929") # Token healing enabled by default lm += "The capital of France is " + gen("capital", max_tokens=5) # Result: "The capital of France is Paris" (correct spacing) ``` **Benefits:** - Natural text boundaries - No awkward spacing issues - Better model performance (sees natural token sequences) ### 4. Grammar-Based Generation Define complex structures using context-free grammars. ```python from guidance import models, gen lm = models.Anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929") # JSON grammar (simplified) json_grammar = """ { "name": <gen name regex="[A-Za-z ]+" max_tokens=20>, "age": <gen age regex="[0-9]+" max_tokens=3>, "email": <gen email regex="[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}" max_tokens=50> } """ # Generate valid JSON lm += gen("person", grammar=json_grammar) print(lm["person"]) # Guaranteed valid JSON structure ``` **Use cases:** - Complex structured outputs - Nested data structures - Programming language syntax - Domain-specific languages ### 5. Guidance Functions Create reusable generation patterns with the `@guidance` decorator. ```python from guidance import guidance, gen, models @guidance def generate_person(lm): """Generate a person with name and age.""" lm += "Name: " + gen("name", max_tokens=20, stop="\n") lm += "\nAge: " + gen("age", regex=r"[0-9]+", max_tokens=3) return lm # Use the function lm = models.Anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929") lm = generate_person(lm) print(lm["name"]) print(lm["age"]) ``` **Stateful Functions:** ```python @guidance(stateless=False) def react_agent(lm, question, tools, max_rounds=5): """ReAct agent with tool use.""" lm += f"Question: {question}\n\n" for i in range(max_rounds): # Thought lm += f"Thought {i+1}: " + gen("thought", stop="\n") # Action lm += "\nAction: " + select(list(tools.keys()), name="action") # Execute tool tool_result = tools[lm["action"]]() lm += f"\nObservation: {tool_result}\n\n" # Check if done lm += "Done? " + select(["Yes", "No"], name="done") if lm["done"] == "Yes": break # Final answer lm += "\nFinal Answer: " + gen("answer", max_tokens=100) return lm ``` ## Backend Configuration ### Anthropic Claude ```python from guidance import models lm = models.Anthropic( model="claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929", api_key="your-api-key" # Or set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var ) ``` ### OpenAI ```python lm = models.OpenAI( model="gpt-4o-mini", api_key="your-api-key" # Or set OPENAI_API_KEY env var ) ``` ### Local Models (Transformers) ```python from guidance.models import Transformers lm = Transformers( "microsoft/Phi-4-mini-instruct", device="cuda" # Or "cpu" ) ``` ### Local Models (llama.cpp) ```python from guidance.models import LlamaCpp lm = LlamaCpp( model_path="/path/to/model.gguf", n_ctx=4096, n_gpu_layers=35 ) ``` ## Common Patterns ### Pattern 1: JSON Generation ```python from guidance import models, gen, system, user, assistant lm = models.Anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929") with system(): lm += "You generate valid JSON." with user(): lm += "Generate a user profile with name, age, and email." with assistant(): lm += """{ "name": """ + gen("name", regex=r'"[A-Za-z ]+"', max_tokens=30) + """, "age": """ + gen("age", regex=r"[0-9]+", max_tokens=3) + """, "email": """ + gen("email", regex=r'"[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}"', max_tokens=50) + """ }""" print(lm) # Valid JSON guaranteed ``` ### Pattern 2: Classification ```python from guidance import models, gen, select lm = models.Anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929") text = "This product is amazing! I love it." lm += f"Text: {text}\n" lm += "Sentiment: " + select(["positive", "negative", "neutral"], name="sentiment") lm += "\nConfidence: " + gen("confidence", regex=r"[0-9]+", max_tokens=3) + "%" print(f"Sentiment: {lm['sentiment']}") print(f"Confidence: {lm['confidence']}%") ``` ### Pattern 3: Multi-Step Reasoning ```python from guidance import models, gen, guidance @guidance def chain_of_thought(lm, question): """Generate answer with step-by-step reasoning.""" lm += f"Question: {question}\n\n" # Generate multiple reasoning steps for i in range(3): lm += f"Step {i+1}: " + gen(f"step_{i+1}", stop="\n", max_tokens=100) + "\n" # Final answer lm += "\nTherefore, the answer is: " + gen("answer", max_tokens=50) return lm lm = models.Anthropic("claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929") lm = chain_of_thought(lm, "What is 15% of 200?") print(lm["answer"]) ``` ### Pattern 4: ReAct Agent ```python from guidance import models, gen, select, guidance @guidance(stateless=False) def react_agent(lm, question): """ReAct agent with tool use.""" tools = { "calculator": lambda expr: eval(expr), "search": lambda query: f"Search results for: {query}", } lm += f"Question: {question}\n\n" for round in range(5): # Thought lm += f"Thought: " + gen("thought", stop="\n") + "\n" # Action selection lm += "Action: " + select(["calculator", "search", "answer"], name="action") if lm["action"] == "answer": lm += "\nFinal Answer: " + gen("answer", max_tokens=100) break # Action input