Zod
Intermediate2+ years experienceFrameworks & Libraries
Solid understanding with practical experience in multiple projects
My Experience
TypeScript-first schema validation library. Experienced in building type-safe APIs and structured LLM output parsing.
Technical Deep Dive
Core Concepts I'm Proficient In:
• Schema Definition: Creating comprehensive Zod schemas for API validation, type inference, and data structure enforcement
• Type Inference: Leveraging Zod's TypeScript integration for compile-time type safety and IntelliSense support
• LLM Output Parsing: Structuring LLM responses with guaranteed schema compliance for reliable data extraction
• Structured Outputs: Using Zod schemas with LLM structured output features to ensure consistent JSON responses
• API Response Validation: Validating model responses against expected schemas for type-safe data handling
• Fallback Parsing: Implementing graceful degradation when structured outputs fail or models don't support native structuring
Advanced Zod Implementation Patterns:
• LLM-as-Judge Architecture: Designing Zod schemas that define expected judge verdict structures (verdict, rationale, confidence)
• Model Response Handling: Using structured outputs to force LLM judges to respond in specific formats (JSON with required fields)
• Fallback Strategies: Implementing text parsing for models that don't support native structured outputs while preferring structured when available
• Type-Safe APIs: Building CustomBench APIs with Zod validation ensuring all data conforms to expected types
• Verdict Collection: Aggregating per-question verdicts, rationales, and accuracy metrics through validated schemas
• 100% Structured Guarantee: Achieving reliable, parseable outputs from LLM judges through schema enforcement
Complex Problem-Solving Examples:
LLM-as-Judge Evaluation System:
Engineered a sophisticated automated evaluation pipeline for CustomBench using Zod schemas to guarantee 100% structured verdict outputs from LLM judges. Defined comprehensive schemas specifying the exact structure judges must return: per-question verdicts (correct/incorrect), detailed rationales explaining the judgment, confidence scores, and accuracy metrics. For models supporting native structured outputs (like GPT-4 with JSON mode), the system passes the Zod schema to force conformance - the LLM cannot return data that doesn't match the schema. For models without native structured output support, implemented fallback text parsing that extracts structured data from free-form responses, then validates against the Zod schema. This dual approach ensures every judge verdict is reliably parseable and type-safe, enabling automated accuracy calculations and meaningful model comparisons.
Type-Safe Benchmarking Pipeline:
Built CustomBench's entire data validation workflow around Zod schemas, ensuring type safety from API responses through to final result display. When models complete benchmark questions, their responses flow through Zod validation that checks for required fields, correct data types, and valid value ranges. When judges evaluate those responses, their verdicts undergo similar schema validation. This comprehensive validation catches malformed data early, provides clear error messages when something goes wrong, and guarantees that the frontend receives correctly-typed data for visualization. The TypeScript integration means developers get autocomplete and type checking throughout the codebase, while runtime validation ensures data integrity even when dealing with unpredictable LLM outputs.
Areas for Continued Growth:
• Advanced Schema Patterns: Learning Zod transforms, refinements, and branded types for more sophisticated validation logic
• Database Integration: Exploring how to build fast schemas that work across SQL and NoSQL contexts for comprehensive type safety
• Complex Validations: Mastering discriminated unions, recursive schemas, and conditional validation for complex data structures
• Schema Documentation: Learning patterns for generating API documentation and TypeScript types automatically from Zod schemas
Projects Using Zod
2+ years
Experience
1
Projects
Intermediate
Proficiency