Structured record

A structured record is a fact stored in labeled fields rather than loose prose, so an assistant can filter, sort, and cross-reference it directly. A contact saved with separate name, role, last contacted, and open topics fields is a structured record.

A structured record is a fact stored in labeled fields rather than loose prose, so an assistant can filter, sort, and cross-reference it directly. Each piece of information sits in its own named slot, which lets you ask precise questions of the whole collection. Picture a contact saved as four fields: name, role, last contacted, and open topics. With that shape, you can tell the assistant to list everyone you have not contacted in thirty days who still has an open topic, and it answers by reading the fields. Stored as a paragraph instead, the same facts would force the assistant to reread and guess at every record.

Builder example

If your assistant keeps people, decisions, and tasks as free text, every query becomes a fuzzy reread that misses entries and invents others. Give it structured records and the same questions become reliable filters. A follow-up tool that reads a status field and a due-date field can surface exactly the overdue items, where one reading prose notes would skip or double-count them. Decide the fields up front and tell the assistant to fill them as it captures.

Common confusion: A structured record organizes the fields you store; structured output shapes what the model returns in one reply. You can ask for structured output and then file it as a structured record, and the record persists across sessions while a single reply does not.