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What Is the OpenAI Decisions API, and How Does It Fit Into an AI Workflow?

OpenAI’s Decisions API evaluates shared text or inline-image evidence with predicate, choice, or scoring questions, returning ordered typed answers. Here’s how it fits into a workflow and what its beta limits mean.
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The OpenAI Decisions API is a beta endpoint for evaluating shared evidence against ordered classification and scoring questions. You can ask whether a condition is true, choose from predefined options, or assign a score within a numeric range; the API returns typed answers in the same order as the questions. That makes it suited to a bounded decision step in a larger AI workflow—not a general replacement for every model interaction.

What the OpenAI Decisions API does

OpenAI documents the endpoint as a way to “Evaluate ordered classification and scoring questions against shared input. Answers are returned in question order.” A request supplies one shared input and a list of questions. The response provides a corresponding answer for each question, along with usage information.

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The API was listed in OpenAI’s API changelog as released in beta on October 6, 2026, with gpt-6-luna. An OpenAI Developer Community announcement that day also described it as a public beta. These announcements establish beta availability, not general availability.

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What kinds of questions can it answer?

Predicate: assess a condition

Use a predicate when the question is whether a statement or condition applies to the supplied evidence. The response includes a probability, which can help an application decide how to handle the result; it should not be treated as a guarantee of correctness.

Choice: select from fixed options

Use a choice question when the answer must come from a predefined set, such as assigning an item to one of several categories. The response includes confidence-related fields.

Score: rate against a numeric range

Use a score question when you have a numeric range or rubric and want an assessment within it. The response also includes confidence-related fields. The meaning of a score depends on the range and criteria you provide.

How it can fit into an AI workflow

A practical pattern is to gather evidence, submit that evidence with a small set of bounded questions, then use the returned answers in application logic or present them for review. For example, an application might provide supported text describing a support request, ask whether it concerns billing, choose a request category from a fixed list, and score urgency against a defined range. The endpoint’s shared input and ordered answers support this pattern; OpenAI’s documentation does not prescribe a complete workflow architecture.

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  1. Collect and prepare evidence. Gather the material in your application or another workflow step, then format it as a supported string or user message.
  2. Define the decision. Write a predicate, fixed-option choice, or numeric-range score question. Keep each question bounded and make any options or scoring criteria explicit.
  3. Call POST /decisions. Include the shared input and ordered question list in the request.
  4. Use the typed answers. Match answers to questions by their order, and decide how your application should route, display, or review them.

This is a decision step for the endpoint’s supported questions and inputs. It is not documented as a general-purpose interface for arbitrary conversation, tool use, or every kind of evidence.

Which inputs are supported—and which are not?

The OpenAI API reference accepts either a string or user messages containing text and inline images. Within messages, it supports only user roles with input_text and input_image parts. Images must be included as data URLs, not external image URLs or file IDs; the documented limit is 128 image parts in a request.

The reference excludes non-user roles, function calls and outputs, files, audio, and item references. If your workflow depends on one of those, it needs a separate or alternative step to transform or handle that material before using Decisions. Do not assume that an image hosted at a URL or a file uploaded elsewhere can be passed directly to this endpoint.

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How to assess whether it suits your workflow

Start with the shape of the decision, then check the evidence format and the maturity you require. The documented distinctions are:

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  • Decision shape: a truth-like predicate, a choice among fixed options, or a score on a numeric range.
  • Evidence: supported text and inline images, rather than files, audio, tool calls, or file references.
  • Output: typed answers in question order, with a probability for predicates and confidence-related fields for choices and scores.
  • Release status: beta in the October 6, 2026 OpenAI changelog entry, rather than documented general availability.

These facts can help determine whether the endpoint’s task and input model match your use case. The cited sources do not establish competitor-by-competitor feature parity, pricing, rate limits, or production suitability, so those should not be inferred from the endpoint description.

What does OpenAI’s “10x faster” claim mean?

OpenAI’s October 6, 2026 changelog says the Decisions API is “10x faster than the Responses API.” This is OpenAI’s published comparison. The official material cited here does not provide an independent benchmark methodology, workload definition, or third-party replication, so treat the figure as an attributed release claim, not as a guaranteed speedup for a particular application.

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