diff --git a/tests/test_detect_created_schema.py b/tests/test_detect_created_schema.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f3df6b8ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_detect_created_schema.py
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
+# Copyright (c) 2026 sol pbc
+
+import importlib
+import json
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from jsonschema import Draft202012Validator
+
+import think.models as models
+
+detect_created_mod = importlib.import_module("think.detect_created")
+
+DETECT_CREATED_SCHEMA_PATH = (
+    Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1] / "think" / "detect_created.schema.json"
+)
+
+
+def _load_detect_created_schema() -> dict:
+    return json.loads(DETECT_CREATED_SCHEMA_PATH.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+
+
+def test_detect_created_schema_file_is_valid_draft_2020_12():
+    Draft202012Validator.check_schema(_load_detect_created_schema())
+
+
+def test_detect_created_schema_accepts_and_rejects_expected_values():
+    schema = _load_detect_created_schema()
+    validator = Draft202012Validator(schema)
+    valid = {
+        "day": "20240315",
+        "time": "143052",
+        "confidence": "high",
+        "source": "QuickTime:CreateDate",
+        "utc": True,
+    }
+
+    assert validator.is_valid(valid)
+    assert not validator.is_valid(
+        {
+            "day": "20240315",
+            "time": "143052",
+            "confidence": "high",
+            "source": "QuickTime:CreateDate",
+        }
+    )
+    assert not validator.is_valid({**valid, "day": "2024-03-15"})
+    assert not validator.is_valid({**valid, "time": "14:30:52"})
+    assert not validator.is_valid({**valid, "confidence": "certain"})
+    assert not validator.is_valid({**valid, "extra": "x"})
+    assert not validator.is_valid({**valid, "source": ""})
+
+
+def test_detect_created_passes_schema_to_generate(monkeypatch):
+    captured = {}
+
+    def fake_generate(**kwargs):
+        captured.update(kwargs)
+        return (
+            '{"day": "20240315", "time": "143052", "confidence": "high", '
+            '"source": "QuickTime:CreateDate", "utc": false}'
+        )
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(models, "generate", fake_generate)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        detect_created_mod,
+        "_extract_metadata",
+        lambda path: "QuickTime Create Date : 2024:03:15 14:30:52",
+    )
+
+    result = detect_created_mod.detect_created("/dev/null")
+
+    assert captured["json_schema"] is detect_created_mod._SCHEMA
+    assert result == {
+        "day": "20240315",
+        "time": "143052",
+        "confidence": "high",
+        "source": "QuickTime:CreateDate",
+        "utc": False,
+    }
diff --git a/think/detect_created.py b/think/detect_created.py
index 273e39965..dc8ebe554 100644
--- a/think/detect_created.py
+++ b/think/detect_created.py
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@ from typing import Optional
 
 from .prompts import load_prompt
 
+_SCHEMA = json.loads(
+    (Path(__file__).parent / "detect_created.schema.json").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+)
+
 
 def _load_system_prompt() -> str:
     """Load the system prompt from detect_created.txt file."""
@@ -99,6 +103,7 @@ def detect_created(
         thinking_budget=4096,
         system_instruction=_load_system_prompt(),
         json_output=True,
+        json_schema=_SCHEMA,
     )
 
     try:
diff --git a/think/detect_created.schema.json b/think/detect_created.schema.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..42fa3259e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/think/detect_created.schema.json
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
+  "type": "object",
+  "additionalProperties": false,
+  "required": ["day", "time", "confidence", "source", "utc"],
+  "properties": {
+    "day": {
+      "type": "string",
+      "pattern": "^\\d{8}$"
+    },
+    "time": {
+      "type": "string",
+      "pattern": "^\\d{6}$"
+    },
+    "confidence": {
+      "type": "string",
+      "enum": ["high", "medium", "low"]
+    },
+    "source": {
+      "type": "string",
+      "minLength": 1
+    },
+    "utc": {
+      "type": "boolean"
+    }
+  }
+}