HTML vs Markdown vs SOM: Which Format Should Your AI Agent Use?

📰 Dev.to · David Hurley

Learn when to use HTML, Markdown, or SOM for your AI agent's web representations and how they impact performance

intermediate Published 28 Mar 2026
Action Steps
  1. Run benchmarks to compare the performance of HTML, Markdown, and SOM on your specific use case
  2. Configure your AI agent to use SOM for tasks that require faster processing and fewer tokens
  3. Test the impact of SOM on your agent's performance using Claude or other models
  4. Compare the results of using HTML, Markdown, and SOM to determine the best format for your application
  5. Apply the findings to optimize your AI agent's web representations and improve overall efficiency
Who Needs to Know This

Developers and AI engineers working on AI-powered web applications can benefit from understanding the trade-offs between HTML, Markdown, and SOM to optimize their agent's performance

Key Insight

💡 SOM can significantly outperform HTML and Markdown in terms of token reduction and processing speed, making it a viable option for AI-powered web applications

Share This
🚀 SOM cuts tokens 4x vs HTML and is faster than markdown on Claude! 🤖 Which format should your AI agent use? 🤔

Key Takeaways

Learn when to use HTML, Markdown, or SOM for your AI agent's web representations and how they impact performance

Full Article

We benchmarked three web representations across 100 tasks and two models. SOM cuts tokens 4x vs HTML and is faster than markdown on Claude.
Read full article → ← Back to Reads

Related Videos

The AI Gateway: Your Agent's Digital Office Manager
The AI Gateway: Your Agent's Digital Office Manager
Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn
Why Every AI Agent Needs a Gateway Layer
Why Every AI Agent Needs a Gateway Layer
Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn
Fable 5 as Advisor: Anthropic's Two-Model Pattern for Smarter, Cheaper Agents (Ep. 1010)
Fable 5 as Advisor: Anthropic's Two-Model Pattern for Smarter, Cheaper Agents (Ep. 1010)
Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn
The AI-Native Startup Playbook (Ep. 1008 with Jon Krohn)
The AI-Native Startup Playbook (Ep. 1008 with Jon Krohn)
Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn
What is AI Agents Swarm Explained with Examples
What is AI Agents Swarm Explained with Examples
VLR Software Training
What is Swarm Robotics Explained with Examples
What is Swarm Robotics Explained with Examples
VLR Software Training