Get predictions from a text classification model

This page shows you how to get online (real-time) predictions and batch predictions from your text classification models using the Google Cloud console or the Vertex AI API.

Difference between online and batch predictions

Online predictions are synchronous requests made to a model endpoint. Use online predictions when you are making requests in response to application input or in situations that require timely inference.

Batch predictions are asynchronous requests. You request batch predictions directly from the model resource without needing to deploy the model to an endpoint. For text data, use batch predictions when you don't require an immediate response and want to process accumulated data by using a single request.

Get online predictions

Deploy a model to an endpoint

You must deploy a model to an endpoint before that model can be used to serve online predictions. Deploying a model associates physical resources with the model so it can serve online predictions with low latency.

You can deploy more than one model to an endpoint, and you can deploy a model to more than one endpoint. For more information about options and use cases for deploying models, see About deploying models.

Use one of the following methods to deploy a model:

Google Cloud console

  1. In the Google Cloud console, in the Vertex AI section, go to the Models page.

    Go to the Models page

  2. Click the name of the model you want to deploy to open its details page.

  3. Select the Deploy & Test tab.

    If your model is already deployed to any endpoints, they are listed in the Deploy your model section.

  4. Click Deploy to endpoint.

  5. To deploy your model to a new endpoint, select Create new endpoint and provide a name for the new endpoint. To deploy your model to an existing endpoint, select Add to existing endpoint and select the endpoint from the drop-down list.

    You can add more than one model to an endpoint, and you can add a model to more than one endpoint. Learn more.

  6. If you deploy your model to an existing endpoint that has one or more models deployed to it, you must update the Traffic split percentage for the model you are deploying and the already deployed models so that all of the percentages add up to 100%.

  7. Select AutoML Text and configure as follows:

    1. If you're deploying your model to a new endpoint, accept 100 for the Traffic split. Otherwise, adjust the traffic split values for all models on the endpoint so they add up to 100.

    2. Click Done for your model, and when all the Traffic split percentages are correct, click Continue.

      The region where your model deploys is displayed. This must be the region where you created your model.

    3. Click Deploy to deploy your model to the endpoint.

API

When you deploy a model using the Vertex AI API, you complete the following steps:

  1. Create an endpoint if needed.
  2. Get the endpoint ID.
  3. Deploy the model to the endpoint.

Create an endpoint

If you are deploying a model to an existing endpoint, you can skip this step.

gcloud

The following example uses the gcloud ai endpoints create command:

gcloud ai endpoints create \
  --region=LOCATION \
  --display-name=ENDPOINT_NAME

Replace the following:

  • LOCATION_ID: The region where you are using Vertex AI.
  • ENDPOINT_NAME: The display name for the endpoint.

The Google Cloud CLI tool might take a few seconds to create the endpoint.

REST

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • LOCATION_ID: Your region.
  • PROJECT_ID: Your project ID.
  • ENDPOINT_NAME: The display name for the endpoint.

HTTP method and URL: 

POST https://LOCATION_ID-aiplatform.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/LOCATION_ID/endpoints

Request JSON body: 

{
  "display_name": "ENDPOINT_NAME"
}

To send your request, expand one of these options:

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "name": "projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/LOCATION_ID/endpoints/ENDPOINT_ID/operations/OPERATION_ID",
  "metadata": {
    "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.cloud.aiplatform.v1.CreateEndpointOperationMetadata",
    "genericMetadata": {
      "createTime": "2020-11-05T17:45:42.812656Z",
      "updateTime": "2020-11-05T17:45:42.812656Z"
    }
  }
}
You can poll for the status of the operation until the response includes "done": true.

Java

Before trying this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in the Vertex AI quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Vertex AI Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Vertex AI, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 


import com.google.api.gax.longrunning.OperationFuture;
import com.google.cloud.aiplatform.v1.CreateEndpointOperationMetadata;
import com.google.cloud.aiplatform.v1.Endpoint;
import com.google.cloud.aiplatform.v1.EndpointServiceClient;
import com.google.cloud.aiplatform.v1.EndpointServiceSettings;
import com.google.cloud.aiplatform.v1.LocationName;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;

public class CreateEndpointSample {

  public static void main(String[] args)
      throws IOException, InterruptedException, ExecutionException, TimeoutException {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String project = "YOUR_PROJECT_ID";
    String endpointDisplayName = "YOUR_ENDPOINT_DISPLAY_NAME";
    createEndpointSample(project, endpointDisplayName);
  }

  static void createEndpointSample(String project, String endpointDisplayName)
      throws IOException, InterruptedException, ExecutionException, TimeoutException {
    EndpointServiceSettings endpointServiceSettings =
        EndpointServiceSettings.newBuilder()
            .setEndpoint("us-central1-aiplatform.googleapis.com:443")
            .build();

    // Initialize client that will be used to send requests. This client only needs to be created
    // once, and can be reused for multiple requests. After completing all of your requests, call
    // the "close" method on the client to safely clean up any remaining background resources.
    try (EndpointServiceClient endpointServiceClient =
        EndpointServiceClient.create(endpointServiceSettings)) {
      String location = "us-central1";
      LocationName locationName = LocationName.of(project, location);
      Endpoint endpoint = Endpoint.newBuilder().setDisplayName(endpointDisplayName).build();

      OperationFuture<Endpoint, CreateEndpointOperationMetadata> endpointFuture =
          endpointServiceClient.createEndpointAsync(locationName, endpoint);
      System.out.format("Operation name: %s\n", endpointFuture.getInitialFuture().get().getName());
      System.out.println("Waiting for operation to finish...");
      Endpoint endpointResponse = endpointFuture.get(300, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

      System.out.println("Create Endpoint Response");
      System.out.format("Name: %s\n", endpointResponse.getName());
      System.out.format("Display Name: %s\n", endpointResponse.getDisplayName());
      System.out.format("Description: %s\n", endpointResponse.getDescription());
      System.out.format("Labels: %s\n", endpointResponse.getLabelsMap());
      System.out.format("Create Time: %s\n", endpointResponse.getCreateTime());
      System.out.format("Update Time: %s\n", endpointResponse.getUpdateTime());
    }
  }
}

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in the Vertex AI quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Vertex AI Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Vertex AI, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment. 

/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.\
 * (Not necessary if passing values as arguments)
 */

// const endpointDisplayName = 'YOUR_ENDPOINT_DISPLAY_NAME';
// const project = 'YOUR_PROJECT_ID';
// const location = 'YOUR_PROJECT_LOCATION';

// Imports the Google Cloud Endpoint Service Client library
const {EndpointServiceClient} = require('@google-cloud/aiplatform');

// Specifies the location of the api endpoint
const clientOptions = {
  apiEndpoint: 'us-central1-aiplatform.googleapis.com',
};

// Instantiates a client
const endpointServiceClient = new EndpointServiceClient(clientOptions);

async function createEndpoint() {
  // Configure the parent resource
  const parent = `projects/${project}/locations/${location}`;
  const endpoint = {
    displayName: endpointDisplayName,
  };
  const request = {
    parent,
    endpoint,
  };

  // Get and print out a list of all the endpoints for this resource
  const [response] = await endpointServiceClient.createEndpoint(request);
  console.log(`Long running operation : ${response.name}`);

  // Wait for operation to complete
  await response.promise();
  const result = response.result;

  console.log('Create endpoint response');
  console.log(`\tName : ${result.name}`);
  console.log(`\tDisplay name : ${result.displayName}`);
  console.log(`\tDescription : ${result.description}`);
  console.log(`\tLabels : ${JSON.stringify(result.labels)}`);
  console.log(`\tCreate time : ${JSON.stringify(result.createTime)}`);
  console.log(`\tUpdate time : ${JSON.stringify(result.updateTime)}`);
}
createEndpoint();

Vertex AI SDK for Python

To learn how to install the Vertex AI SDK for Python, see Install the Vertex AI SDK for Python. For more information, see the Vertex AI SDK for Python API reference documentation. 

def create_endpoint_sample(
    project: str,
    display_name: str,
    location: str,
):
    aiplatform.init(project=project, location=location)

    endpoint = aiplatform.Endpoint.create(
        display_name=display_name,
        project=project,
        location=location,
    )

    print(endpoint.display_name)
    print(endpoint.resource_name)
    return endpoint

Retrieve the endpoint ID

You need the endpoint ID to deploy the model.

gcloud

The following example uses the gcloud ai endpoints list command:

gcloud ai endpoints list \
  --region=LOCATION \
  --filter=display_name=ENDPOINT_NAME

Replace the following:

  • LOCATION_ID: The region where you are using Vertex AI.
  • ENDPOINT_NAME: The display name for the endpoint.

Note the number that appears in the ENDPOINT_ID column. Use this ID in the following step.

REST

Before using any of the request data, make the following replacements:

  • LOCATION_ID: The region where you are using Vertex AI.
  • PROJECT_ID: Your project ID.
  • ENDPOINT_NAME: The display name for the endpoint.

HTTP method and URL: 

GET https://LOCATION_ID-aiplatform.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/LOCATION_ID/endpoints?filter=display_name=ENDPOINT_NAME

To send your request, expand one of these options:

You should receive a JSON response similar to the following:

{
  "endpoints": [
    {
      "name": "projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/LOCATION_ID/endpoints/ENDPOINT_ID",
      "displayName": "ENDPOINT_NAME",
      "etag": "AMEw9yPz5pf4PwBHbRWOGh0PcAxUdjbdX2Jm3QO_amguy3DbZGP5Oi_YUKRywIE-BtLx",
      "createTime": "2020-04-17T18:31:11.585169Z",
      "updateTime": "2020-04-17T18:35:08.568959Z"
    }
  ]
}
Note the ENDPOINT_ID.

Deploy the model

Select the tab below for your language or environment:

gcloud

The following examples use the gcloud ai endpoints deploy-model command.

The following example deploys a Model to an Endpoint without splitting traffic between multiple DeployedModel resources:

Before using any of the command data below, make the following replacements:

  • ENDPOINT_ID: The ID for the endpoint.
  • LOCATION_ID: The region where you are using Vertex AI.
  • MODEL_ID: The ID for the model to be deployed.
  • DEPLOYED_MODEL_NAME: A name for the DeployedModel. You can use the display name of the Model for the DeployedModel as well.
  • MIN_REPLICA_COUNT: The minimum number of nodes for this deployment. The node count can be increased or decreased as required by the prediction load, up to the maximum number of nodes and never fewer than this number of nodes.
  • MAX_REPLICA_COUNT: The maximum number of nodes for this deployment. The node count can be increased or decreased as required by the prediction load, up to this number of nodes and never fewer than the minimum number of nodes. If you omit the --max-replica-count flag, then maximum number of nodes is set to the value of --min-replica-count.

Execute the gcloud ai endpoints deploy-model command:

Linux, macOS, or Cloud Shell

gcloud ai endpoints deploy-model ENDPOINT_ID\
  --region=LOCATION_ID \
  --model=MODEL_ID \
  --display-name=DEPLOYED_MODEL_NAME \
  --traffic-split=0=100

Windows (PowerShell)

gcloud ai endpoints deploy-model ENDPOINT_ID`
  --region=LOCATION_ID `
  --model=MODEL_ID `
  --display-name=DEPLOYED_MODEL_NAME `
  --traffic-split=0=100

Windows (cmd.exe)

gcloud ai endpoints deploy-model ENDPOINT_ID^
  --region=LOCATION_ID ^
  --model=MODEL_ID ^
  --display-name=DEPLOYED_MODEL_NAME ^
  --traffic-split=0=100
 

Splitting traffic

The --traffic-split=0=100 flag in the preceding examples sends 100% of prediction traffic that the Endpoint receives to the new DeployedModel, which is represented by the temporary ID 0. If your Endpoint already has other DeployedModel resources, then you can split traffic between the new DeployedMo