Instructor

structured outputs for llms

LLM Gateways & Infra Python Listed MIT

Is Instructor safe? Promising trust profile, but some evidence still deserves review.

OSSF Scorecard 5.6 / 10
Provenance None
Signed commits 28%
Last push 3d ago
Advisories None known
Compare Instructor

How does it stack up against its LLM Gateways & Infra neighbours?

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In detail: Instructor scores 64.3/100 (Grade C), ranked #535 of 1378 tracked open-source AI agent projects, on evidence coverage A (4 of 5 independent signal types). The public evidence: no package-provenance attestation found; OSSF Scorecard rates its supply-chain practices 5.6/10; 28% of recent commits are signed; no published advisory affects its latest release (instructor); last pushed 2026-10-14. Every point is earned from checkable signals — never paid placement. How scoring works →

How Instructor could raise its score

Each line changes one public signal and recomputes with the live scoring function. The gains don't add up exactly, because the score is capped near the top.

Chain of custody

Scanners check what the code says. This traces who ships Instructor and whether that has changed: from the source repository, through how changes are reviewed and released, to the package you install. These are the checks for OWASP ASI04 Agentic Supply Chain Vulnerabilities.

  1. Source Partly signed

    github.com/567-labs/instructor, MIT, last pushed 2026-10-14. 28% of the last 100 commits carry a verified signature; the rest can't be tied to a verified identity.

  2. Review and release Mixed

    OpenSSF Scorecard rates the repository's practices 5.6/10 (scanned Oct 14, 2026). The checks that decide who can get a change released:

    • Code Review0
    • Branch Protection6
    • Signed Releases0
    • Dangerous Workflow10
    • Token Permissions9
    • Pinned Dependencies9
    All 18 Scorecard checks
    Binary-Artifacts 10
    Branch-Protection 6
    CI-Tests 10
    CII-Best-Practices 0
    Code-Review 0
    Contributors 10
    Dangerous-Workflow 10
    Dependency-Update-Tool 10
    Fuzzing 0
    License 10
    Maintained 10
    Packaging -1
    Pinned-Dependencies 9
    SAST 0
    Security-Policy 0
    Signed-Releases 0
    Token-Permissions 9
    Vulnerabilities 0
  3. Published packages Not linked

    • PyPI instructor Source link isn't a GitHub repo No build attestation

    Without a build attestation, nothing proves the published files were built from this repository.

  4. What you install today No known advisories

    Latest release checked: instructor 1.17.0. No published advisory affects it (OSV, checked 2026-10-17).

Changes to this chain

No change to package provenance, package source links, Scorecard coverage or license in HVTracker's daily snapshots of Instructor.

Evidence behind this score

Coverage A: 4 of 5 independent evidence types found.

  • GitHub repository data
  • Package downloads
  • Supply-chain checks
  • Public actions (missing)
  • Community mentions

Verify this score yourself

Every build re-issues Instructor’s score as an Ed25519-signed credential, valid for 7 days. You can check it offline against HVTracker’s published key; if anyone changes a number after signing, verification fails.

What this score doesn’t check

It covers who ships the code, not what the code does. It doesn’t read tool descriptions or prompts for injected instructions, watch runtime behaviour, or find bugs nobody has disclosed yet. For that, run a content scanner before you connect it, such as Cisco MCP Scanner or Snyk Agent Scan.

How Instructor compares in LLM Gateways & Infra

  1. #4 LiteLLM 78.3 +14.0
  2. #5 Ollama 66.4 +2.1
  3. #6 Instructor 64.3 this agent
  4. #7 Jan 64.2 −0.1
  5. #8 LLM Gateway 63.3 −1.0

Bars show each HVTrust score; the tick marks Instructor’s 64.3.

Where the 64.3 comes from

HVTrust dimensions vs the LLM Gateways & Infra average

64.3 / 100 · 100.0% confidence

Instructor LLM Gateways & Infra average (14 agents)

Safety / Integrity50% OSSF Scorecard · 30% provenance · 20% signed commits
8.4 / 25
2.0 below avg 10.4
Identity / Provenance60% listing status · 40% build provenance
10.8 / 18
1.0 below avg 11.8
Transparency50% declared license · 50% OSSF Scorecard
13.3 / 17
0.7 above avg 12.7
Maintenance60% last-push freshness · 40% commit activity
16.7 / 20
in line with avg 16.5
AdoptionLog-scaled stars · package downloads
18.4 / 20
5.0 above avg 13.4

Quick Trust Read

What Would Improve It
Publish package provenance or release attestations for stronger supply-chain evidence.
Recent Changes
2026-10-12
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 26 spots (#503 → #529)
2026-10-11
Rank Moved
Rank rose 137 spots (#640 → #503)
2026-10-11
HVTrust Changed
HVTrust up 4.1pts (60.8 → 64.9)
Maintainer Checklist
Raise Scorecard signals Current OSSF Scorecard is 5.6/10. Tighten the weakest checks to improve public safety evidence.
Publish provenance Add package provenance or release attestations so users can verify where shipped artifacts came from.
Increase signed commits Raise the share of verified-signed commits to make maintainer identity and release history easier to trust.
79.4
Activity sub-score · out of 100
#6

How to read this: HVTrust (0–100) weighs supply-chain signals (provenance, OSSF Scorecard, signed commits, open license) alongside real-world adoption. Grade C reflects the trust score band: A ≥ 80, B ≥ 65, C ≥ 50, D < 50. Evidence coverage A is separate — it grades how many independent signal types back the score (4 of 5), so a high score on thin evidence stays visible. Full methodology →

Signals refreshed 2026-10-17 12:07 UTC · Repo last pushed 3 days ago

Rank Trend

2026-09-29 2026-10-17

Activity & Reach

Stars
14.0k
Forks
1.3k
Last Push
2026-10-14
3 days ago
Commits (4 wk)
16
Downloads (7d)
2,182,240
pypi
HN mentions (30d)
4
Open Issues
55
Rank Change
▲1
was #536

Analysis

Activity Inputs

79.4 / 100
StarsRepository reach
24.9 / 30
FreshnessLast push recency
24.6 / 25
ActivityRecent commits
15.3 / 25
CommunityFork signal
14.5 / 20

Common questions about Instructor

Instructor has a mixed signal profile. Some trust indicators are present, others are missing. Whether it is safe for your use case depends on which gaps matter to you — review the breakdown below before adopting in production.
Does Instructor publish package provenance?
No published build provenance is currently detected for Instructor. This is common for open-source projects but means consumers cannot independently verify that the package on the registry matches the GitHub source.
Does Instructor have an OpenSSF Scorecard?
Instructor has an OpenSSF Scorecard score of 5.6/10. The Scorecard checks for branch protection, signed releases, dependency updates, fuzzing, code review, and other supply-chain hygiene items. See the full check breakdown on this page.
Is Instructor actively maintained?
Actively maintained. The repository was pushed to within the last 3 day(s).
What license does Instructor use?
Instructor ships under MIT. A declared, OSI-approved license is one of the transparency signals HVTrust scores.
Are Instructor's commits signed?
28% of the last 100 commits to Instructor are verified-signed (GPG, SSH, S/MIME, or GitHub's signing flow). Signed commits help confirm that code was authored by who the commit claims.

Not a safety endorsement. HVTracker describes what public signals show, not whether a project is safe for your use case. Run your own security review before adopting in production.

Compare Instructor head-to-head

AI agent surface

MCP, providers, tool surface
Scored in HVTrust

These runtime-trust fields — detected from public repo docs and manifests — contribute a bounded adjustment to this project's HVTrust score alongside supply-chain evidence. The exact values each field can add or subtract are documented in the methodology → Compare this surface across every listed agent in the capability matrix →

MCP Server Support
None detected
No MCP server signal detected.
Detailed evidence is not shown in the public view.
External Service Dependencies
high confidence
11 detected
Public provider/service dependencies detected.
Credential signal: No explicit API-key/config marker detected.
Tool / Plugin Surface
medium confidence
1 tags
Broad capability areas detected.
  • database
Detailed evidence is not shown in the public view.
Package Provenance Drift
low confidence
Unknown
Package source metadata is missing or inconclusive
Detailed evidence is not shown in the public view.
  • MCP signal live
  • External deps live
  • Tool / plugin surface live
  • Package provenance drift live

Maintain Instructor?

For maintainers

HVTrust scores Instructor from public signals only — we never contact maintainers first. If a signal is wrong, stale, or missing (provenance you publish, a Scorecard you run, signed releases), tell us and we'll review it. Corrections are public and tracked on GitHub.

Reputation Timeline

Signal history
Rank 32Score 3HVTrust 3Grade 2
2026-10-12
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 26 spots (#503 → #529)
2026-10-11
Rank Moved
Rank rose 137 spots (#640 → #503)
2026-10-11
HVTrust Changed
HVTrust up 4.1pts (60.8 → 64.9)
2026-10-11
Activity Score Changed
Activity score up 10pts (70 → 80)
2026-10-10
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 28 spots (#612 → #640)
2026-10-09
Grade Changed
Trust grade B → C
2026-10-09
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 151 spots (#461 → #612)
2026-10-09
HVTrust Changed
HVTrust down 3.9pts (65.7 → 61.8)
2026-10-09
Activity Score Changed
Activity score down 12pts (82 → 70)
2026-10-06
Rank Moved
Rank rose 12 spots (#469 → #457)
2026-10-05
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 12 spots (#457 → #469)
2026-09-27
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 23 spots (#422 → #445)
2026-09-26
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 19 spots (#403 → #422)
2026-09-23
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 247 spots (#153 → #400)
2026-09-21
Rank Moved
Rank rose 241 spots (#395 → #154)
2026-09-16
Rank Moved
Rank rose 11 spots (#403 → #392)
2026-09-12
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 22 spots (#371 → #393)
2026-09-11
Rank Moved
Rank rose 11 spots (#382 → #371)
2026-09-09
Rank Moved
Rank rose 20 spots (#398 → #378)
2026-09-08
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 16 spots (#382 → #398)
2026-09-07
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 32 spots (#350 → #382)
2026-09-05
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 64 spots (#278 → #342)
2026-09-03
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 13 spots (#258 → #271)
2026-09-01
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 13 spots (#237 → #250)
2026-08-31
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 28 spots (#209 → #237)
2026-08-27
Rank Moved
Rank rose 19 spots (#235 → #216)
2026-08-26
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 19 spots (#216 → #235)
2026-08-24
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 18 spots (#202 → #220)
2026-08-22
Rank Moved
Rank rose 17 spots (#221 → #204)
2026-08-19
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 11 spots (#207 → #218)
2026-08-17
Rank Moved
Rank rose 12 spots (#216 → #204)
2026-08-13
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 18 spots (#194 → #212)
2026-08-10
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 29 spots (#170 → #199)
2026-08-08
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 19 spots (#161 → #180)
2026-08-03
Grade Changed
Trust grade C → B
2026-08-03
Rank Moved
Rank rose 44 spots (#184 → #140)
2026-08-03
HVTrust Changed
HVTrust up 3.8pts (62.6 → 66.4)
2026-08-03
Activity Score Changed
Activity score up 8pts (72 → 80)
2026-07-28
Rank Moved
Rank dropped 12 spots (#169 → #181)
2026-07-21
Rank Moved
Rank rose 11 spots (#178 → #167)

Embed Badge Badge guide for maintainers →

For maintainers
HVTrust 64.3 Grade C
Markdown:
[![HVTrust](https://hvtracker.net/badge/instructor.svg)](https://hvtracker.net/agents/instructor)
HTML:
<a href="https://hvtracker.net/agents/instructor"><img src="https://hvtracker.net/badge/instructor.svg" alt="HVTrust"></a>

Other agents in LLM Gateways & Infra

Data sources
GitHub REST API (repo, commits, stars, forks, license) · PyPI / pypistats (downloads, provenance) · OpenSSF Scorecard CLI · Algolia HN Search API
Each agent's signals refresh once daily across 6 staggered batches. Methodology v4.4 · Raw JSON