> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.graphext.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# label_encode

> Encode categories with values between 0 and N-1, where N is the number of unique categories. 

In other words, the first category will be assigned the number 0 and the last category a value of N-1.

## Usage

The following example shows how the step can be used in a recipe.

<Accordion title="Examples" icon="code" defaultOpen="true">
  <Tabs>
    <Tab title="Example 1">
      Encode department names as numeric codes

      ```stan theme={null}
      label_encode(ds.department) => (ds.department_encoded)
      ```
    </Tab>

    <Tab title="Signature">
      General syntax for using the step in a recipe. Shows the inputs and outputs the step is expected to receive and will produce respectively. For futher details see sections below.

      ```stan theme={null}
      label_encode(labels: category) -> (label_codes: number)
      ```
    </Tab>
  </Tabs>
</Accordion>

## Inputs & Outputs

The following are the inputs expected by the step and the outputs it produces. These are generally
columns (`ds.first_name`), datasets (`ds` or `ds[["first_name", "last_name"]]`) or models (referenced
by name e.g. `"churn-clf"`).

<Accordion title="Inputs" icon="right-to-bracket">
  <ParamField path="labels" type="column[category]" required>
    A categorical column.
  </ParamField>
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Outputs" icon="right-from-bracket">
  <ParamField path="label_codes" type="column[number]" required>
    A numeric column where labels have been replaced with values between 0 and N-1.
  </ParamField>
</Accordion>

## Configuration

The following parameters can be used to configure the behaviour of the step by including them in
a json object as the last "input" to the step, i.e. `step(..., {"param": "value", ...}) -> (output)`.

<Accordion title="Parameters" defaultOpen="true" icon="sliders">
  This step doesn't expect any configuration.
</Accordion>