How to Properly Handle Claude API Refusals in Structured Output Parsing

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When using Anthropic's Claude API, an HTTP 200 response does not guarantee the returned content contains valid, schema-compliant JSON. Claude can return a stop_reason of 'refusal' or halt early due to max_tokens, both of which can break applications that immediately attempt to deserialize response text. Developers are advised to inspect the response envelope and classify the stop_reason before attempting any JSON deserialization. The current stable API uses output_config.format for JSON schema definitions, replacing an older beta format that no longer requires a special request header. Modeling the decoding process as a result type rather than an exception-driven flow helps applications handle all documented response states deliberately and safely.

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