GPTHeader

GPTHeader is a term used in the context of GPT-based systems to refer to a metadata container attached to prompt data to guide model behavior and request handling. It is not part of the official OpenAI API specification, but it appears in some client libraries and documentation as a conceptual abstraction for organizing control information alongside prompt content.

Purpose and concept

The GPTHeader serves to encapsulate control parameters and contextual metadata separate from the user-visible prompt. By grouping settings such as model target, temperature, and token limits with the prompt itself, developers can achieve more consistent parameter handling, easier logging, and clearer auditing across different interfaces or services that invoke GPT models.

Typical contents

A GPTHeader can include fields such as:

- model or target variant

- system instructions or context

- user message content and prior assistant context

- temperature, top_p, max_tokens

- presence_penalty and frequency_penalty

- stop sequences or function_call guidance

- time stamps, version, session identifiers

Formats and usage

GPTHeader is commonly represented as a structured object in JSON or as a language-specific class or record. It is serialized and transmitted together with the prompt payload to the API or processing layer. In practice, some frameworks apply the header to route requests, apply policy checks, or attach metadata for telemetry, while others use it solely for internal organization.

Relation to other concepts

GPTHeader is distinct from HTTP headers; it is a prompt-level metadata construct. It should not be confused with the actual transport-layer headers but can influence how a request is processed or logged within a GPT-based workflow.

See also

Prompt, system message, OpenAI API, prompt engineering, metadata, API tooling.