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3. Register Entities

What is an Entity?

In FeatureByte, an Entity represents real-world objects or concepts. While entities are typically associated with a primary key or foreign key in the data, they can also be represented by categorical columns that define groups of related objects. For example, a City entity may represent multiple customers, and a Product Group entity may encompass multiple products, even though neither is explicitly used as a foreign key.


Step 1: Identify Entities in Your Data

In the Loan Applications dataset, we identified six entities.

Name Description
New Application A new loan application
Client A client of the credit institution
BureauReportedCredit A report from the Credit Bureau
PriorApplication A prior loan application
Loan A loan
Installment An installment payment

Step 2: Decide their Serving Name

An Entity's Serving Name is the unique identifier used to recognize the entity during a serving request in FeatureByte. You can choose any name that suits your needs, provided it is not already assigned to another entity.

Name Description Serving Name
New Application A new loan application SK_ID_CURR
Client A client of the credit institution ClientID
BureauReportedCredit A report from the Credit Bureau SK_ID_BUREAU
PriorApplication A prior loan application APPLICATION_ID
Loan A loan LOAN_ID
Installment An installment payment INSTALMENT_ID

Step 3: Register Entities

Navigate to the Entity catalog from the 'Explore' section of the menu.

Repeat this for each entity:

  1. Click Register Entities.
  2. Fill in the form: the Entity's Name, its Serving Name and optionally its description.
  3. Confirm by clicking Save Entity.

Register Entities


Register Entities


Register Entities


Register Entities


Register Entities


Register Entities


Step 4: Review Registered Entities

Verify the registration by checking the Entity Catalog under the 'Explore' section.

Register Entities


Step 5: Tag Columns Representing Entities

From the menu, navigate to the 'Explore' section and access the Table catalog.

Table Description

For each table, navigate to the 'Columns' tab and associate relevant columns with the entities they represent.

Tag Entity


In NEW_APPLICATION,

  • SK_ID_CURR represents New Application.
  • ClientID identifies Client.

Register Entities In Table


In CLIENT_PROFILE,

  • ClientID identifies Client.

Register Entities In Table


In BUREAU,

  • SK_ID_BUREAU represents BureauReportedCredit.
  • ClientID identifies Client.

Register Entities In Table


In PREVIOUS_APPLICATIONS,

  • APPLICATION_ID represents PriorApplication.
  • ClientID identifies Client.

Register Entities In Table


In LOAN_STATUS,

  • LOAN_ID represents Loan.
  • APPLICATION_ID identifies PriorApplication.

Register Entities In Table


In INSTALLMENTS_PAYMENTS,

  • INSTALMENT_ID represents Installment.
  • APPLICATION_ID represents PriorApplication.

Register Entities In Table


In CREDIT_CARD_MONTHLY_BALANCE,

  • ClientID represents Client.

Register Entities In Table


Step 6: Review Entities Relationships

Verify the relationships established by the tagging.

Register Entities

Navigate to the Table Catalog, click Table Diagram to verify the table diagram established by the tagging.

Table Catalog

Table Diagram