Constrained Decoding vs Post-hoc Validation: Production LLM Extraction Needs Both

Hitarth Desai, publishing under the GitHub handle hitarthbuilds, argues that production LLM extraction systems require both constrained decoding and post-hoc validation. Constrained decoding ensures generation-time control, while post-hoc validation serves as the trust boundary, catching payloads that are valid JSON but wrong for the workflow. Desai's rule of thumb is 'Constrain early. Validate hard. Trust late.'