Inconsistency between Output Format and Citation Rules for the Sources section in `compress_research_system_prompt`
Author: youngandbinCreated Jan 22, 2026Updated Jan 22, 2026
There is an inconsistency between the Output Format and the Citation Rules regarding how the Sources section should be structured. Please consider aligning the two sections by choosing one canonical format. Clarifying this will improve determinism and downstream reliability.
- compress research system prompt: https://github.com/langchain-ai/open_deep_research/blob/b419df8d33b4f39ff5b2a34527bb6b85d0ede5d0/src/open_deep_research/prompts.py#L185C1-L222C4
Output Format specifies:
**List of All Relevant Sources (with citations in the report)**This implies a bolded section title as part of the structured report.
Citation Rules specify:
End with ### Sources that lists each source with corresponding numbersThis instead requires a Markdown header (### Sources) at the end of the report.
Because these two instructions conflict, it is unclear which format the model should follow:
- A bolded section title within the structured output, or
- A Markdown level-3 header at the end of the document
Source: langchain-ai/open_deep_research