It’s significantly easier to output an integer than a JSON with a key value structure where the value is an integer and everything else is exactly as desired
That's because you've dumbed down the problem. If it was just about outputting one integer, there would be nothing to discuss. Now add a bunch more fields, add some nesting and other constraints into it...
The more complexity you add the less likely the LLM is to give you a valid response in one shot. It’s still going to be easier to get the LLM to supply values to a fixed scheme than to get the LLM to give the answers and the scheme
