Making Predictions

The pgml.predict() function is the key value proposition of PostgresML. It provides online predictions using the best, automatically deployed model for a project.

API

The API for predictions is very simple and only requires two arguments: the project name and the features used for prediction.

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pgml.predict (
project_name TEXT,
features REAL[]
)

Parameters

Parameter Description Example
project_name The project name used to train models in pgml.train(). My First PostgresML Project
features The feature vector used to predict a novel data point. ARRAY[0.1, 0.45, 1.0]
code
Example
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SELECT pgml.predict(
'My Classification Project',
ARRAY[0.1, 2.0, 5.0]
) AS prediction;

where ARRAY[0.1, 2.0, 5.0] is the same type of features used in training, in the same order as in the training data table or view. This score can be used in other regular queries.

code
Example
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SELECT *,
pgml.predict(
'Buy it Again',
ARRAY[
user.location_id,
NOW() - user.created_at,
user.total_purchases_in_dollars
]
) AS buying_score
FROM users
WHERE tenant_id = 5
ORDER BY buying_score
LIMIT 25;

Example

If you've already been through the Training Overview, you can see the results of those efforts:

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SELECT
target,
pgml.predict('Handwritten Digit Image Classifier', image) AS prediction
FROM pgml.digits
LIMIT 10;

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target | prediction
--------+------------
0 | 0
1 | 1
2 | 2
3 | 3
4 | 4
5 | 5
6 | 6
7 | 7
8 | 8
9 | 9
(10 rows)

Active Model

Since it's so easy to train multiple algorithms with different hyperparameters, sometimes it's a good idea to know which deployed model is used to make predictions. You can find that out by querying the pgml.deployed_models view:

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SELECT * FROM pgml.deployed_models;

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id | name | task | algorithm | runtime | deployed_at
----+------------------------------------+----------------+-----------+---------+----------------------------
4 | Handwritten Digit Image Classifier | classification | xgboost | rust | 2022-10-11 13:06:26.473489
(1 row)

PostgresML will automatically deploy a model only if it has better metrics than existing ones, so it's safe to experiment with different algorithms and hyperparameters.

Take a look at Deploying Models documentation for more details.

Specific Models

You may also specify a model_id to predict rather than a project name, to use a particular training run. You can find model ids by querying the pgml.models table.

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SELECT models.id, models.algorithm, models.metrics
FROM pgml.models
JOIN pgml.projects
ON projects.id = models.project_id
WHERE projects.name = 'Handwritten Digit Image Classifier';

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id | algorithm | metrics
----+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | linear | {"f1": 0.9190376400947571, "mcc": 0.9086633324623108, "recall": 0.9205743074417114, "accuracy": 0.9175946712493896, "fit_time": 0.8388963937759399, "p
recision": 0.9175060987472534, "score_time": 0.019625699147582054}

For example, making predictions with model_id = 1:

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SELECT
target,
pgml.predict(1, image) AS prediction
FROM pgml.digits
LIMIT 10;

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target | prediction
--------+------------
0 | 0
1 | 1
2 | 2
3 | 3
4 | 4
5 | 5
6 | 6
7 | 7
8 | 8
9 | 9
(10 rows)

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