Calculation Features

Private Preview

This feature is currently in Private Preview.

This feature has the following limitations:

• Only available for Realtime Feature Views.
• Set of supported SQL functions is limited and is actively being expanded. See SQL Expression Reference below for details.
• Please reach out to Tecton Support for questions and feedback!

If you would like to participate in the preview, please file a support ticket.

Overview

A Calculation is a Feature Type which allows you to define performant transformations on your source data using a simple SQL-like syntax. By avoiding the overhead of executing a Python function, Calculation features can be an efficient alternative for Feature Views that don't require the expressiveness of a python or pandas mode transformation.

Calculation Features are the recommended path for simple operations such as setting default values, simple arithmetic operations, and DATEDIFFs.

Usage

Calculation Features are defined using SQL-like expressions in the expr field of a Calculation object. Unlike python and pandas mode Realtime Feature Views which use a decorator pattern, Calculation Features are defined by directly instantiating a RealtimeFeatureView object with one or more Calculation features.

caution

Feature Views using Calculation Features can not use a transformation function.

transaction_analysis = RealtimeFeatureView(
    sources=[context, user_metrics],
    features=[
        Calculation(name="transaction_z_score", expr="(context.amount - user_metrics.mean) / user_metrics.stddev"),
        Calculation(
            name="is_amount_above_threshold",
            expr="context.amount > user_metrics.threshold",
        ),
    ],
)

Type System

Calculation Features use Tecton's native type system for validating inputs and output types. When writing expressions, types are automatically inferred from your input features and operations.

Invalid type combinations will raise errors during feature validation rather than runtime:

# This will fail validation - can't add string and int
Calculation(name="invalid", expr="<string_field> + <int_field>")

SQL Expression Reference

A full list of supported SQL functionality can be found in the SDK Reference.