A clerk extraction workflow must produce a schema tool call rather than free-form chat. Which tool_choice setting fits?

A clerk extraction workflow that must produce a schema tool call rather than free-form chat should set tool_choice to any so Claude must call a tool instead of returning only conversational text. “Any” requires a tool invocation when tools are available, which fits structured filing extraction into a schema tool rather than prose paragraphs.

tool_choice any works because clerk systems need machine-validated structure—parties, case numbers, filing types—not essays. Forcing a tool call keeps outputs in the schema path used by e-filing and records systems.

Setting tool_choice so tools are never allowed guarantees chat-only replies and breaks structured extraction. Relying on chat-only replies with no schema tool available removes the only path to schema-conformant filings. Deleting the schema tool and accepting unstructured paragraphs as filings shifts validation burden onto brittle downstream parsers and raises error rates.

Exam caveat: “any” still requires at least one suitable schema tool in the tool list; combine with clear tool descriptions. Operational check: run a clerk extraction prompt with tool_choice any and confirm the response includes a schema tool call rather than assistant text alone.