Open Source AI Data Format

GuinRank Record Format (GRF)

An ultra-resilient plain-text data format designed to eliminate AI parsing failures, open-sourced by GuinRank on GitHub and published as a zero-dependency npm package.

v1.0 Specification Version

.grf File Extension

0 Deps Zero Dependency Engine

MIT Open Source License

HashemGo / grf

Official open-source repository, parser implementation, and test suites.

npm i grf-format View on GitHub

What is GRF?

GuinRank Record Format (GRF) is a lightweight, line-oriented text format designed specifically to solve the frequent breakdown of standard data formats (JSON, CSV, and Markdown) when generated by Small Language Models (SLMs) and generative AI engines.

It is utilized throughout GuinRank AI tools (including Topic Angles, Ask Radar, and Hook Generator) to stream structured data from generative AI models directly into clean application objects with zero parsing failures.

Why GRF? (Comparison Table)

Challenge / Issue	In JSON	In CSV	In GRF (GuinRank Record Format)
Quote & Bracket Escaping	Strictly required; small models fail easily	Not required, but commas collide with text	Not required — No quotes or brackets needed
Common Text Delimiters	`"` and `{}`	`,` (frequent in natural text)	`¦` (Broken bar - extremely rare in prose)
Positional Dependence	No (explicit object keys)	Yes (a missing cell corrupts all columns)	No (every line has an explicit key name)
Multi-line Prose Handling	Complex (requires `\n` escaping)	Complex (requires quoted multi-line wrapping)	Single line constraint — Simple and safe
Missing / Extra Orphan Lines	Fatal SyntaxError; breaks the whole JSON	Column shifting & misalignment	Self-healing — Orphan lines append automatically

Specification Architecture

A GRF document consists of one or more records. Each record begins with a marker line and contains key-value fields and optional tabular data.

GRF Syntax Example

~RECORD
text_h1: Product Title
text_h2: Short summary description
reason: The reason here, even with a normal comma, will never break parsing!
table_fields: name¦price¦stock
table_row: Pen¦10¦50
table_row: Notebook¦5¦200
~RECORD
text_h1: Second Product
table_fields: name¦price
table_row: Book¦20

1. Regular Fields (Key: Value)

The separator between key and value is the first colon (:) on the line only (non-greedy split).
The field key must be a single word without spaces (e.g. text_h1, reason, angle_type).
If the part before the colon contains spaces (e.g. Date: 2026-09-03), it is not treated as a new field, but safely treated as natural text (an orphan line) belonging to the previous field.
Values must reside on a single continuous line. Any commas, quotes, or extra colons in the value are 100% safe.

2. Tabular Data (table_fields & table_row)

table_fields: col1¦col2¦col3 — Defines the column names separated by the broken bar (¦).
table_row: val1¦val2¦val3 — Can repeat for any number of rows in the same column order.
The official column separator is the broken bar (¦, Unicode U+00A6), which is practically nonexistent in standard human prose.

3. Self-Healing Orphan Lines

If an AI model hallucinatingly outputs an unkeyed line, wraps text mid-sentence, or outputs an explanation line without a valid key:, GRF does not crash. Instead, the parser automatically appends the rogue line to the preceding field's value separated by a space, logs a console warning, and continues processing without interruption.

LIVE RUNTIME ENGINE

Interactive GRF Playground & Converter

Test live parsing and bidirectional conversion between GRF, JSON, and CSV in real time using the grf-parser engine.

Input (GRF or JSON) Source

Output (Result)

Installation & Quick Start

The GRF parser has zero external dependencies and weighs less than 4KB minified. You can install it via NPM or embed it directly in HTML:

NPM Installation

npm install grf-format

HTML Script Tag (Direct Include)

<script src="/script/grf-parser.min.js"></script>
<script>
  const json = window.GRF.grfToJson(grfText);
</script>

JavaScript API Reference

Function	Direction	Description
`parseCustomFormat(grfText)`	`GRF ➔ Raw JS Object`	Parses text into an array of records: `{ fields: {}, table: { fields: [], rows: [] } }`.
`toJSON(records, pretty = true)`	`Records ➔ JSON string`	Converts raw parsed records into a clean JSON string, turning table rows into keyed objects.
`grfToJson(grfText, pretty = true)`	`GRF ➔ JSON string`	One-step conversion from raw GRF text straight to a ready-to-use JSON string.
`jsonToGrf(jsonInput)`	`JSON ➔ GRF string`	Converts a JSON string or array of objects back into standard GRF text.
`grfToCsv(grfText)`	`GRF ➔ CSV string`	Flattens records into denormalized CSV rows, repeating regular fields for each table row.
`csvToGrf(csvText)`	`CSV ➔ GRF string`	Reconstructs GRF records from a flattened CSV document.

Node.js / CommonJS Example

const { grfToJson, jsonToGrf, grfToCsv } = require('grf-format');

const grfData = `
~RECORD
title: GuinRank SEO Analyzer
score: 98
table_fields: keyword¦volume¦cpc
table_row: ai writing¦12000¦1.85
table_row: seo tools¦45000¦3.20
`;

// 1. Convert to JSON
const jsonOutput = grfToJson(grfData);
console.log(jsonOutput);

// 2. Convert to CSV
const csvOutput = grfToCsv(grfData);
console.log(csvOutput);

AI Model System Prompt (Copy & Paste)

Instruct your AI models (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Mistral, Ollama) to strictly output in GRF format by appending this instruction to your system prompt:

System Prompt Instruction

You must format your entire response in GRF (GuinRank Record Format) with no markdown fences, no json brackets, and no quotes.
Rules:
1. Every record begins with: ~RECORD
2. Single-line fields use: field_name: value (field_name must be a single word without spaces).
3. If tabular data is needed, use:
   table_fields: col1¦col2¦col3
   table_row: val1¦val2¦val3
   (Column delimiter is strictly the broken bar symbol '¦').
4. Do not wrap values in quotes. Keep each field value on a single line.