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RFD 030: Schema DSL ​

  • Status: Implemented
  • Category: Guide
  • Authors: Jean Mertz git@jeanmertz.com
  • Date: 2026-03-05

Summary ​

JP accepts a concise DSL for defining JSON Schema objects via --schema / -s. This guide documents the syntax, rules, and examples for the DSL.

The DSL is designed for the common case: flat or moderately nested objects with typed fields and descriptions. For complex schemas, full JSON Schema is accepted as a passthrough.

Quick Start ​

sh
# Single field — returns {"summary": "..."}
jp q -s 'summary' "summarize this document" -a doc.md

# Multiple typed fields
jp q -s 'name, age int, active bool' "invent a person"

# With descriptions to guide the model
jp q -s 'summary: two sentence summary, sentiment: positive/negative/neutral' "analyze this"

# Enum values
jp q -s 'sentiment "positive"|"negative"|"neutral"' "classify this review" -a review.txt

# Nested objects and arrays
jp q -s 'title, authors [{ name, affiliation }]' "extract metadata" -a paper.pdf

# Full JSON Schema also works
jp q -s '{"type":"object","properties":{"x":{"type":"string"}}}' "..."

Grammar ​

The formal grammar in ABNF notation:

abnf
schema       = field-list

field-list   = field *(separator field) [separator]
separator    = 1*("," / LF)

field        = ["?"] name [type-expr] [":" description]

name         = quoted-string / 1*name-char
name-char    = <any character except whitespace, comma, colon,
                brackets, braces, pipe, question mark, backslash,
                or double quote>
             ; i.e. not: SP / HTAB / LF / "," / ":" / "[" / "]" /
             ;          "{" / "}" / "|" / "?" / "\" / DQUOTE

type-expr    = base-type *("|" base-type)
base-type    = primitive / array-type / object-type / literal
primitive    = "str" / "string"
             / "int" / "integer"
             / "float" / "number"
             / "bool" / "boolean"
             / "any"
literal      = quoted-string               ; string literal: "foo"
             / number-literal              ; number literal: 42, -1, 3.14
             / "true" / "false"            ; boolean literals
             / "null"                      ; null literal
number-literal = ["-"] 1*DIGIT ["." 1*DIGIT]
array-type   = "[" [type-expr] "]"          ; [] is sugar for [any]
object-type  = "{" field-list "}"           ; must have >= 1 field

description  = heredoc / quoted-string / inline-text
heredoc      = 3DQUOTE [LF] *CHAR 3DQUOTE  ; triple-quoted, multiline
quoted-string= DQUOTE *(CHAR / "\" CHAR) DQUOTE
inline-text  = *<any char except comma, LF, or current terminator>

; Line continuation: "\" at end of line joins with the next line.
; Applies both between tokens and inside inline descriptions.
continuation = "\" *WSP LF

Fields ​

A field has four parts, all except the name are optional:

[?] name [type] [: description]

Name ​

Any sequence of non-reserved characters. Reserved characters are:

space  tab  newline  ,  :  [  ]  {  }  |  ?  \  "

Names containing reserved characters (or spaces) can be quoted:

"my field" int
"items[0]" string

Optional marker ​

Prefix a field with ? to exclude it from the required array:

name, ?nickname, ?age int

Produces:

json
{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "name": {"type": "string"},
    "nickname": {"type": "string"},
    "age": {"type": "integer"}
  },
  "required": ["name"]
}

If all fields are optional, the required key is omitted entirely.

Default type ​

When no type is specified, fields default to string.

Types ​

Primitives ​

DSLJSON Schema type
str, string"string"
int, integer"integer"
float, number"number"
bool, boolean"boolean"
any{} (no type constraint)

A word following a field name is always interpreted as a type. If it is not a recognized keyword or literal, the parser produces an error:

age blorp
    ^^^^^ unknown type 'blorp' (expected: str, int, float, bool, any, or a literal value)

Arrays ​

Square brackets define array types:

tags [string]           → array of strings
scores [int]            → array of integers
items [any]             → array of anything
data []                 → same as [any]

Arrays can contain union items (see below) or nested objects:

people [{ name, ?age int }]

Objects ​

Curly braces define nested object types:

address { city, zip, ?state }

Objects must contain at least one field — empty objects ({}) are rejected because LLM providers in strict mode require explicit property definitions.

Objects can be nested arbitrarily:

a { b { c } }

Literal Values ​

Quoted strings, numbers, true, false, and null in the type position define literal (constant) values:

kind "fixed"                   → {"const": "fixed"}
version 1                      → {"const": 1}
ratio 0.5                      → {"const": 0.5}
answer true                    → {"const": true}
cleared null                   → {"const": null}

Strings must be quoted in the type position to distinguish them from type keywords. string is the type; "string" is the literal value "string".

Unions ​

The pipe | creates union types. When all variants are literals, the output uses enum (widely supported by LLM providers in strict mode). When the union mixes literals and types, the output uses anyOf.

All literals — enum:

status "active"|"inactive"|"archived"
json
{"enum": ["active", "inactive", "archived"]}

Mixed types — anyOf:

value "special"|int
json
{"anyOf": [{"const": "special"}, {"type": "integer"}]}

Mixed literals (different JSON types) — enum:

value "foo"|"bar"|42
json
{"enum": ["foo", "bar", 42]}

Inside arrays, | defines which item types the array accepts:

data [string|int]
json
{"type": "array", "items": {"anyOf": [{"type": "string"}, {"type": "integer"}]}}

Arrays with literal items:

tags ["foo"|"bar"|"baz"]
json
{"type": "array", "items": {"enum": ["foo", "bar", "baz"]}}

At the field level, | creates a union of the entire type:

value [string]|int
json
{"anyOf": [{"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}}, {"type": "integer"}]}

Descriptions ​

A colon after the type (or name, if no type) starts a description. Descriptions are passed as the description field in JSON Schema, which models use as a generation hint.

Inline ​

The simplest form. Ends at the next comma, newline, or closing }:

summary: a brief two-sentence summary

Quoted ​

Use double quotes when the description contains commas:

bar bool: "hello, universe"

Heredoc ​

Use triple quotes for multi-line descriptions:

baz: """
A longer description that spans
multiple lines.
"""

The opening """ may be followed by a newline (which is stripped). The closing """ must appear on its own. Internal newlines are preserved.

On nested types ​

Descriptions can follow object and array types:

address { city, zip }: the mailing address
people [{ name, age int }]: list of people mentioned

Separators ​

Fields are separated by commas or newlines (or both — a comma followed by a newline counts as one separator). Trailing separators are allowed.

name, age int, active bool      ← commas
name                            ← newlines
age int
active bool
name,                           ← trailing comma
age int,

Commas and newlines are interchangeable. Inside { } objects, the same rules apply.

Line Continuation ​

A backslash before a newline joins the current line with the next, allowing a single field definition to span multiple lines:

?age \
      int

This also works inside inline descriptions:

summary: a long \
  description here

The backslash, any trailing whitespace before it, the newline, and any leading whitespace on the next line are replaced by a single space.

JSON Passthrough ​

If the input starts with { and parses as valid JSON, it is returned as-is without DSL processing. This allows full JSON Schema to be used when the DSL is insufficient:

sh
jp q -s '{"type":"object","properties":{"x":{"type":"string","minLength":1}}}' "..."

Full Example ​

people {
    name
    ?age int
    role "engineer"|"manager"|"designer"
    misc [any]: whatever you want
    ?nested { data [string] }
}: here is the people description,
foo [string]|int, bar bool: "hello, universe",
baz: """
a longer description here
"""

This produces:

json
{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "people": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "name": {"type": "string"},
        "age": {"type": "integer"},
        "role": {"enum": ["engineer", "manager", "designer"]},
        "misc": {"type": "array", "items": {}, "description": "whatever you want"},
        "nested": {
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
            "data": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}}
          },
          "required": ["data"]
        }
      },
      "required": ["name", "role", "misc"],
      "description": "here is the people description"
    },
    "foo": {
      "anyOf": [
        {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
        {"type": "integer"}
      ]
    },
    "bar": {"type": "boolean", "description": "hello, universe"},
    "baz": {"type": "string", "description": "a longer description here"}
  },
  "required": ["people", "foo", "bar", "baz"]
}

References ​