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.

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 numbers

This 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