Agentic Daily - Ep 2 - JSON Hack: Force AI to Stay Structured (Starter Schema)

Ever asked AI to “summarize this” and gotten back a wall of text that looks like it belongs in a novel?
Yeah. Not helpful.

That’s where JSON comes in.

JSON is basically a universal box for structured data. Spreadsheets, databases, APIs — they all understand it.

By telling AI to reply in JSON, you stop getting rambly answers and start getting clean, machine-readable output you can drop straight into Google Sheets, Airtable, or Zapier.

📝 JSON in 60 Seconds

Think of JSON like a set of labeled boxes. Each label (the “key”) points to a value inside the box.

{ } → the outer box (object)
"label" → the tag on the box (key)
"string" → words in quotes
123 → numbers
true/false → yes or no
[ ] → a list of items
{ } → a box inside a box (nested object)

Example:

{
  "name": "Alice",
  "age": 29,
  "is_member": true,
  "hobbies": ["reading", "running", "chess"]
}

That’s Alice. She’s 29, a member, and loves reading, running, and chess.

🔑 How to Apply This in Prompts

When you want structured output, give the AI a schema (a template) to follow.

Example Schema (Email Summarizer):

{
  "status": "success|needs_more_info",
  "summary": "string",
  "action_items": ["string"]
}

status → success or missing info
summary → one-line recap
action_items → a quick list of to-dos

Prompt Example:

❝

Summarize the following email into structured JSON. Return only valid JSON using this schema:

{schema here}

Email: <<<paste email>>>

📋 Ready-to-Copy Prompt

(Drop this straight into ChatGPT or MindStudio)

You are a professional assistant that converts unstructured text into clean, structured data for easy tracking and automation.

TASK
Summarize the text I provide and extract clear next actions.

RULES
- Be concise and factual.
- If critical details are missing, set "status":"needs_more_info" and list what’s missing.
- Return ONLY valid JSON. No explanations, no markdown.

OUTPUT SCHEMA
{
  "status": "success|needs_more_info",
  "summary": "string",                       
  "action_items": ["string"],                 
  "people": ["string"],                       
  "due_dates": ["YYYY-MM-DD"],                
  "notes": "string"                           
}

EXAMPLE OUTPUT
{
  "status": "success",
  "summary": "Customer reports export freezes after clicking CSV in v2.3.1.",
  "action_items": ["Reproduce on v2.3.1", "Collect console logs", "Verify fix in staging"],
  "people": ["Customer Support", "L2 Engineer"],
  "due_dates": [],
  "notes": "Issue likely tied to recent CSV module update."
}

NOW PROCESS THIS TEXT
<<<PASTE YOUR EMAIL OR NOTES HERE>>>

VALIDATION
If your response is not valid JSON, immediately re-output ONLY valid JSON that conforms exactly to the schema above.

⚡ Try This Today (Your Urgent Win)

Take your next real email or meeting note.
Paste it into the ready-to-copy prompt above.

Get back structured JSON that tells you:

status → is it complete or missing info?
summary → one-line recap
action_items → trackable to-dos

Drop that JSON straight into your tracker, Airtable, or Google Sheet.

🛠 Pro Tips

Always write: “Return only valid JSON, no explanations.”
Start with 3–5 fields, expand later.
Validate output with a free checker like jsonlint.com.