Encoding

Encoding controls how non-continuous values are represented during onboarding. Most datasets do not need manual encoding configuration. Define the field’s semantic_type in the schema, and let Umnai choose the encoding during processing. Set encoding_type only when you need a specific behaviour.

Choose an encoding

Use encoding for fields that are not already continuous numerical values.

The onboarding configuration also includes one_hot_encoding_max_categories, which controls when categorical fields switch from one-hot encoding to target encoding if encoding is inferred.

Categorical encoding

Categorical features need to be represented numerically before they can be used for modelling.

One-hot encoding

One-hot encoding represents each category as a separate binary feature.

For example, a colour field with values red, blue, and green becomes separate indicators for each category. A row with colour = blue activates the blue indicator and leaves the others inactive.

Use one-hot encoding when a categorical feature has a small, stable set of values.

Target encoding

Target encoding is useful for categorical features with many distinct values.

Instead of creating one binary feature per category, Umnai represents each category using information derived from the target. This can reduce the number of generated features and make high-cardinality categorical fields easier to use.

Use target encoding when a categorical feature has many values and one-hot encoding would create too many features.

Label encoding

Label encoding assigns each category an integer value.

Date and time encoding

Timestamp encoding expands a date or time field into derived temporal features, such as year, month, day, day of week, quarter, and related calendar indicators.

Use TIMESTAMP when a field contains time information that may be useful to the model.

Typical timestamp fields include:

Timestamp-encoded fields are treated as feature groups during modelling and explanations.

Text encodings

The API exposes GLOVE and GPT as encoding types.

Encoding options during onboarding

Some encoding behaviour is controlled in the onboarding configuration rather than the schema.

For most workflows, keep the defaults unless you are addressing a specific data quality or performance issue.

Encoding strategy

encoding_strategy controls how onboarding performs encoding.