Leanpub Header

Skip to main content
Go to Leanpub.com

DSPy in Depth

Programming Language Models from Zero to Production

This book is 100% completeLast updated on 2026-07-09
Steve T. Publications

Learn to build production-ready LLM applications with DSPy through hands-on tutorials, complete runnable examples, and real-world projects. Master DSPy's core abstractions and create AI systems that improve with data instead of endless prompt tweaking.

Minimum price

$19.00

$29.00

You pay

Author earns

$

Also available for 1 book credit with a Reader Membership

PDF
EPUB
WEB
APP
About

About

About the Book

This book teaches you to build production-grade LLM applications using DSPy, the declarative programming framework from Stanford NLP. Through detailed tutorials, complete runnable code, and real-world projects, you will master DSPy's three core abstractions: signatures, modules, and optimizers. By the end, you will be able to design, build, optimize, evaluate, and deploy AI systems that improve with data rather than trial-and-error prompt iteration. No prior DSPy experience is required, but basic Python proficiency and familiarity with how LLM API calls work will help you get the most out of this book.

Share this book

Categories

Computer Programming/Artificial Intelligence/PythonAgentic EngineeringLarge language models

Feedback

Email the Author

Bundle

Bundles that include this book

Author

About the Author

Steve T. Publications

Steve T. is a cybersecurity leader, researcher, and engineer with more than 20 years of experience across application security, infrastructure security, vulnerability management, software development, and secure engineering practices. Having built his career alongside the growth of the modern internet, he has worked through multiple generations of technology, evolving security threats, and changing development methodologies.

He is currently part of the advanced research organization at a leading cybersecurity company, where he focuses on emerging threats, security innovation, and the practical application of research. His work involves investigating new attack techniques, evaluating emerging technologies, conducting deep technical analysis, and helping organizations better understand and manage complex security risks.

In addition to his research responsibilities, Steve leads a team of senior engineers and subject matter experts who create technical books, training programs, and educational resources for security professionals. Through this work, he helps engineers, developers, architects, and security practitioners strengthen their skills and build more secure systems.

Steve's technical expertise spans software development, reverse engineering, web application security, penetration testing, security architecture, incident response, vulnerability research, operating system internals, and secure software development. His ability to analyze systems at both the source code and binary levels enables him to bridge the worlds of software engineering, security research, and practical defense.

Over the course of his career, Steve has worked with organizations across a wide range of industries, helping them identify, assess, and remediate security weaknesses in critical applications and infrastructure. He is recognized for combining deep technical expertise with a pragmatic approach to security, focusing on solutions that are effective, sustainable, and aligned with business goals.

Through his work in research, engineering, leadership, and education, Steve continues to contribute to the advancement of cybersecurity and the development of secure, resilient technology systems.

Contents

Table of Contents

Programming Language Models from Zero to Production

Introduction: The End of Prompt Engineering as We Know It

Chapter 1: What Is DSPy and Why It Matters

  1. The Prompting Crisis
  2. From Prompting to Programming
  3. The DSPy Philosophy
  4. How DSPy Fits in the Ecosystem

Chapter 2: Installation and Your First Program

  1. Installing DSPy
  2. Configuring Your Language Model
  3. Your First Signature and Prediction
  4. Understanding the Output
  5. Switching Between Models
  6. A Complete First Program
  7. Migration Notes from Older Versions

Chapter 3: Signatures in Depth

  1. String-Based Signatures
  2. Class-Based Signatures
  3. Input Fields and Output Fields
  4. Type Annotations and Pydantic Integration
  5. Signature Mutation and Composition
  6. Signature Introspection
  7. Designing Effective Signatures

Chapter 4: Core Modules

  1. dspy.Predict: Basic Prediction
  2. dspy.ChainOfThought: Step-by-Step Reasoning
  3. dspy.ProgramOfThought: Code-Assisted Reasoning
  4. dspy.MultiChainComparison: Comparing Outputs
  5. dspy.BestOfN and dspy.Refine: Output Refinement
  6. dspy.Parallel: Concurrent Execution
  7. Choosing the Right Module

Chapter 5: Composing Custom Modules

  1. The dspy.Module Base Class
  2. Building Your First Compound Module
  3. Forward Method Design Patterns
  4. Nested Modules and Sub-modules
  5. Module Inspection and Introspection
  6. Deep Copy and State Management

Chapter 6: Language Models and Configuration

  1. The dspy.LM Interface
  2. OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google Providers
  3. Local Models and OpenAI-Compatible Endpoints
  4. Context Management with dspy.context()
  5. Caching and Performance
  6. Tracking Usage and Costs
  7. Adapter Selection

Chapter 7: Evaluation and Metrics

  1. Writing Metric Functions
  2. The dspy.Evaluate Class
  3. Built-in Metrics
  4. LLM-as-a-Judge Evaluation
  5. Debugging with inspect_history()
  6. Composite Metrics
  7. Evaluation Best Practices

Chapter 8: Optimizers (Teleprompters)

  1. The Optimization Paradigm
  2. BootstrapFewShot Family
  3. COPRO: Instruction Optimization
  4. MIPROv2: Joint Instruction and Demo Search
  5. GEPA: Reflective Prompt Evolution
  6. SIMBA and Other Specialized Optimizers
  7. Choosing the Right Optimizer
  8. Saving and Loading Compiled Programs

Chapter 9: Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

  1. The dspy.Retrieve Module
  2. ColBERTv2 Integration
  3. Building a Basic RAG Pipeline
  4. Multi-Hop RAG
  5. Optimizing RAG Programs
  6. Custom Retriever Integration

Chapter 10: Agents and Tool Use

  1. The ReAct Paradigm
  2. dspy.ReAct Module
  3. Defining Tools as Functions
  4. Building Production Agents
  5. Advanced Tool Patterns

Chapter 11: Structured Outputs and Type Safety

  1. Typed Predictors
  2. Pydantic Models in Signatures
  3. JSON Schema Generation
  4. Output Validation Strategies
  5. Complex Nested Structures

Chapter 12: Advanced Patterns and Workflows

  1. Assertions and Constraints (Refine Module)
  2. Multimodal Programs with Images and Audio
  3. Conversation History Management
  4. Async and Streaming Support
  5. MCP Integration
  6. Caching Strategies for Production

Chapter 13: Production Deployment

  1. Saving and Loading Optimized Programs
  2. FastAPI Deployment
  3. MLflow Integration
  4. Caching Strategies
  5. Monitoring and Observability

Chapter 14: Performance Optimization and Best Practices

  1. Cost Optimization
  2. Latency Reduction
  3. Error Handling Patterns
  4. Testing DSPy Programs
  5. Common Pitfalls and Anti-Patterns

Chapter 15: Real-World Projects

  1. Project 1: Intelligent Customer Service Agent
  2. Project 2: Multi-Document Research Assistant
  3. Project 3: Automated Code Review System

Conclusion: The Future of LLM Programming

References

Get the free sample chapters

Click the buttons to get the free sample in PDF or EPUB, or read the sample online here

Download Sample PDFDownload Sample EPUB

The Leanpub 60 Day 100% Happiness Guarantee

Within 60 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.

See full terms...

Earn $8 on a $10 Purchase, and $16 on a $20 Purchase

We pay 80% royalties on purchases of $7.99 or more, and 80% royalties minus a 50 cent flat fee on purchases between $0.99 and $7.98. You earn $8 on a $10 sale, and $16 on a $20 sale. So, if we sell 5000 non-refunded copies of your book for $20, you'll earn $80,000.

(Yes, some authors have already earned much more than that on Leanpub.)

In fact, authors have earned over $15 million writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub

Free Updates. DRM Free.

If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).

Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers) and EPUB (for phones, tablets and Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.

Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.

Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them

Write and Publish on Leanpub

You can use Leanpub to easily write, publish and sell in-progress and completed ebooks and online courses!

Leanpub is a powerful platform for serious authors, combining a simple, elegant writing and publishing workflow with a store focused on selling in-progress ebooks.

Leanpub is a magical typewriter for authors: just write in plain text, and to publish your ebook, just click a button. (Or, if you are producing your ebook your own way, you can even upload your own PDF and/or EPUB files and then publish with one click!) It really is that easy.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub