Quickstart: Entity Linking using the client library and REST API

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Use this article to get started with Entity Linking using the client library and REST API. Follow these steps to try out examples code for mining text:

Reference documentation | Library source code | Package (NuGet) | Additional samples

Prerequisites

• Azure subscription - Create one for free
• The Visual Studio IDE
• Once you have your Azure subscription, create a Language resource in the Azure portal to get your key and endpoint. After it deploys, click Go to resource.
  • You will need the key and endpoint from the resource you create to connect your application to the API. You'll paste your key and endpoint into the code below later in the quickstart.
  • You can use the free pricing tier (F0) to try the service, and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.
• To use the Analyze feature, you will need a Language resource with the standard (S) pricing tier.

Setting up

Create a new .NET Core application

Using the Visual Studio IDE, create a new .NET Core console app. This will create a "Hello World" project with a single C# source file: program.cs.

Install the client library by right-clicking on the solution in the Solution Explorer and selecting Manage NuGet Packages. In the package manager that opens select Browse and search for Azure.AI.TextAnalytics. Select version 5.1.0, and then Install. You can also use the Package Manager Console.

Code example

Copy the following code into your program.cs file. Remember to replace the key variable with the key for your resource, and replace the endpoint variable with the endpoint for your resource.

Important

Go to the Azure portal. If the Language resource you created in the Prerequisites section deployed successfully, click the Go to Resource button under Next Steps. You can find your key and endpoint in the resource's key and endpoint page, under resource management.

Remember to remove the key from your code when you're done, and never post it publicly. For production, consider using a secure way of storing and accessing your credentials. For example, Azure key vault.

using Azure;
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using Azure.AI.TextAnalytics;

namespace EntityLinkingExample
{
    class Program
    {
        private static readonly AzureKeyCredential credentials = new AzureKeyCredential("replace-with-your-key-here");
        private static readonly Uri endpoint = new Uri("replace-with-your-endpoint-here");
        
        // Example method for recognizing entities and providing a link to an online data source
        static void EntityLinkingExample(TextAnalyticsClient client)
        {
            var response = client.RecognizeLinkedEntities(
                "Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975, " +
                "to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. " +
                "During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, " +
                "chief executive officer, president and chief software architect, " +
                "while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014.");
            Console.WriteLine("Linked Entities:");
            foreach (var entity in response.Value)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"\tName: {entity.Name},\tID: {entity.DataSourceEntityId},\tURL: {entity.Url}\tData Source: {entity.DataSource}");
                Console.WriteLine("\tMatches:");
                foreach (var match in entity.Matches)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine($"\t\tText: {match.Text}");
                    Console.WriteLine($"\t\tScore: {match.ConfidenceScore:F2}\n");
                }
            }
        }

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var client = new TextAnalyticsClient(endpoint, credentials);
            EntityLinkingExample(client);

            Console.Write("Press any key to exit.");
            Console.ReadKey();
        }

    }
}

Output

Linked Entities:
    Name: Microsoft,        ID: Microsoft,  URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft    Data Source: Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: Microsoft
            Score: 0.55

            Text: Microsoft
            Score: 0.55

    Name: Bill Gates,       ID: Bill Gates, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates   Data Source: Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: Bill Gates
            Score: 0.63

            Text: Gates
            Score: 0.63

    Name: Paul Allen,       ID: Paul Allen, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen   Data Source: Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: Paul Allen
            Score: 0.60

    Name: April 4,  ID: April 4,    URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_4      Data Source: Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: April 4
            Score: 0.32

    Name: BASIC,    ID: BASIC,      URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC        Data Source: Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: BASIC
            Score: 0.33

    Name: Altair 8800,      ID: Altair 8800,        URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800  Data Source: Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: Altair 8800
            Score: 0.88

Reference documentation | Library source code | Package | Samples

Prerequisites

• Azure subscription - Create one for free
• Java Development Kit (JDK) with version 8 or above
• Once you have your Azure subscription, create a Language resource in the Azure portal to get your key and endpoint. After it deploys, click Go to resource.
  • You will need the key and endpoint from the resource you create to connect your application to the API. You'll paste your key and endpoint into the code below later in the quickstart.
  • You can use the free pricing tier (F0) to try the service, and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.
• To use the Analyze feature, you will need a Language resource with the standard (S) pricing tier.

Setting up

Add the client library

Create a Maven project in your preferred IDE or development environment. Then add the following dependency to your project's pom.xml file. You can find the implementation syntax for other build tools online.

<dependencies>
     <dependency>
        <groupId>com.azure</groupId>
        <artifactId>azure-ai-textanalytics</artifactId>
        <version>5.1.0</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Code example

Create a Java file named Example.java. Open the file and copy the below code. Remember to replace the key variable with the key for your resource, and replace the endpoint variable with the endpoint for your resource.

Important

Go to the Azure portal. If the Language resource you created in the Prerequisites section deployed successfully, click the Go to Resource button under Next Steps. You can find your key and endpoint in the resource's key and endpoint page, under resource management.

Remember to remove the key from your code when you're done, and never post it publicly. For production, consider using a secure way of storing and accessing your credentials. For example, Azure key vault.

import com.azure.core.credential.AzureKeyCredential;
import com.azure.ai.textanalytics.models.*;
import com.azure.ai.textanalytics.TextAnalyticsClientBuilder;
import com.azure.ai.textanalytics.TextAnalyticsClient;

public class Example {

    private static String KEY = "replace-with-your-key-here";
    private static String ENDPOINT = "replace-with-your-endpoint-here";

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        TextAnalyticsClient client = authenticateClient(KEY, ENDPOINT);
        recognizeLinkedEntitiesExample(client);
    }
    // Method to authenticate the client object with your key and endpoint
    static TextAnalyticsClient authenticateClient(String key, String endpoint) {
        return new TextAnalyticsClientBuilder()
                .credential(new AzureKeyCredential(key))
                .endpoint(endpoint)
                .buildClient();
    }
    // Example method for recognizing entities and providing a link to an online data source
    static void recognizeLinkedEntitiesExample(TextAnalyticsClient client)
    {
        // The text that need be analyzed.
        String text = "Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975, " +
                "to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. " +
                "During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, " +
                "chief executive officer, president and chief software architect, " +
                "while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014.";

        System.out.printf("Linked Entities:%n");
        for (LinkedEntity linkedEntity : client.recognizeLinkedEntities(text)) {
            System.out.printf("Name: %s, ID: %s, URL: %s, Data Source: %s.%n",
                    linkedEntity.getName(),
                    linkedEntity.getDataSourceEntityId(),
                    linkedEntity.getUrl(),
                    linkedEntity.getDataSource());
            System.out.printf("Matches:%n");
            for (LinkedEntityMatch linkedEntityMatch : linkedEntity.getMatches()) {
                System.out.printf("Text: %s, Score: %.2f, Offset: %s, Length: %s%n",
                        linkedEntityMatch.getText(),
                        linkedEntityMatch.getConfidenceScore(),
                        linkedEntityMatch.getOffset(),
                        linkedEntityMatch.getLength());
            }
        }
    }
}

Output

Linked Entities:

Name: Microsoft, ID: Microsoft, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft, Data Source: Wikipedia.
Matches:
Text: Microsoft, Score: 0.55, Offset: 0, Length: 9
Text: Microsoft, Score: 0.55, Offset: 150, Length: 9
Name: Bill Gates, ID: Bill Gates, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates, Data Source: Wikipedia.
Matches:
Text: Bill Gates, Score: 0.63, Offset: 25, Length: 10
Text: Gates, Score: 0.63, Offset: 161, Length: 5
Name: Paul Allen, ID: Paul Allen, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen, Data Source: Wikipedia.
Matches:
Text: Paul Allen, Score: 0.60, Offset: 40, Length: 10
Name: April 4, ID: April 4, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_4, Data Source: Wikipedia.
Matches:
Text: April 4, Score: 0.32, Offset: 54, Length: 7
Name: BASIC, ID: BASIC, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC, Data Source: Wikipedia.
Matches:
Text: BASIC, Score: 0.33, Offset: 89, Length: 5
Name: Altair 8800, ID: Altair 8800, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800, Data Source: Wikipedia.
Matches:
Text: Altair 8800, Score: 0.88, Offset: 116, Length: 11

Reference documentation | Library source code | Package (NPM) | Samples

Prerequisites

• Azure subscription - Create one for free
• The current version of Node.js.
• Once you have your Azure subscription, create a Language resource in the Azure portal to get your key and endpoint. After it deploys, click Go to resource.
  • You will need the key and endpoint from the resource you create to connect your application to the API. You'll paste your key and endpoint into the code below later in the quickstart.
  • You can use the free pricing tier (F0) to try the service, and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.
• To use the Analyze feature, you will need a Language resource with the standard (S) pricing tier.

Setting up

Create a new Node.js application

In a console window (such as cmd, PowerShell, or Bash), create a new directory for your app, and navigate to it.

mkdir myapp 

cd myapp

Run the npm init command to create a node application with a package.json file.

npm init

Install the client library

Install the NPM package:

npm install @azure/ai-text-analytics@5.1.0

Code example

Open the file and copy the below code. Remember to replace the key variable with the key for your resource, and replace the endpoint variable with the endpoint for your resource.

Important

Go to the Azure portal. If the Language resource you created in the Prerequisites section deployed successfully, click the Go to Resource button under Next Steps. You can find your key and endpoint in the resource's key and endpoint page, under resource management.

Remember to remove the key from your code when you're done, and never post it publicly. For production, consider using a secure way of storing and accessing your credentials. For example, Azure key vault.

"use strict";

const { TextAnalyticsClient, AzureKeyCredential } = require("@azure/ai-text-analytics");
const key = '<paste-your-key-here>';
const endpoint = '<paste-your-endpoint-here>';
// Authenticate the client with your key and endpoint
const textAnalyticsClient = new TextAnalyticsClient(endpoint,  new AzureKeyCredential(key));

// Example method for recognizing entities and providing a link to an online data source
async function linkedEntityRecognition(client){

    const linkedEntityInput = [
        "Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975, to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, chief executive officer, president and chief software architect, while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014."
    ];
    const entityResults = await client.recognizeLinkedEntities(linkedEntityInput);

    entityResults.forEach(document => {
        console.log(`Document ID: ${document.id}`);
        document.entities.forEach(entity => {
            console.log(`\tName: ${entity.name} \tID: ${entity.dataSourceEntityId} \tURL: ${entity.url} \tData Source: ${entity.dataSource}`);
            console.log(`\tMatches:`)
            entity.matches.forEach(match => {
                console.log(`\t\tText: ${match.text} \tScore: ${match.confidenceScore.toFixed(2)}`);
        })
        });
    });
}
linkedEntityRecognition(textAnalyticsClient);

Output

Document ID: 0
    Name: Altair 8800       ID: Altair 8800         URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800  Data Source: Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: Altair 8800       Score: 0.88
    Name: Bill Gates        ID: Bill Gates  URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates   Data Source: Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: Bill Gates        Score: 0.63
            Text: Gates     Score: 0.63
    Name: Paul Allen        ID: Paul Allen  URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen   Data Source: Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: Paul Allen        Score: 0.60
    Name: Microsoft         ID: Microsoft   URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft    Data Source: Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: Microsoft         Score: 0.55
            Text: Microsoft         Score: 0.55
    Name: April 4   ID: April 4     URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_4      Data Source: Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: April 4   Score: 0.32
    Name: BASIC     ID: BASIC       URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC        Data Source: Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: BASIC     Score: 0.33

Reference documentation | Library source code | Package (PiPy) | Samples

Prerequisites

• Azure subscription - Create one for free
• Python 3.x
• Once you have your Azure subscription, create a Language resource in the Azure portal to get your key and endpoint. After it deploys, click Go to resource.
  • You will need the key and endpoint from the resource you create to connect your application to the API. You'll paste your key and endpoint into the code below later in the quickstart.
  • You can use the free pricing tier (F0) to try the service, and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.
• To use the Analyze feature, you will need a Language resource with the standard (S) pricing tier.

Setting up

Install the client library

After installing Python, you can install the client library with:

pip install azure-ai-textanalytics==5.1.0

Code example

Create a new Python file and copy the below code. Remember to replace the key variable with the key for your resource, and replace the endpoint variable with the endpoint for your resource.

Important

Go to the Azure portal. If the Language resource you created in the Prerequisites section deployed successfully, click the Go to Resource button under Next Steps. You can find your key and endpoint in the resource's key and endpoint page, under resource management.

Remember to remove the key from your code when you're done, and never post it publicly. For production, consider using a secure way of storing and accessing your credentials. For example, Azure key vault.

key = "paste-your-key-here"
endpoint = "paste-your-endpoint-here"

from azure.ai.textanalytics import TextAnalyticsClient
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential

# Authenticate the client using your key and endpoint 
def authenticate_client():
    ta_credential = AzureKeyCredential(key)
    text_analytics_client = TextAnalyticsClient(
            endpoint=endpoint, 
            credential=ta_credential)
    return text_analytics_client

client = authenticate_client()

# Example function for recognizing entities and providing a link to an online data source
def entity_linking_example(client):

    try:
        documents = ["""Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975, 
        to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. 
        During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman,
        chief executive officer, president and chief software architect, 
        while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014."""]
        result = client.recognize_linked_entities(documents = documents)[0]

        print("Linked Entities:\n")
        for entity in result.entities:
            print("\tName: ", entity.name, "\tId: ", entity.data_source_entity_id, "\tUrl: ", entity.url,
            "\n\tData Source: ", entity.data_source)
            print("\tMatches:")
            for match in entity.matches:
                print("\t\tText:", match.text)
                print("\t\tConfidence Score: {0:.2f}".format(match.confidence_score))
                print("\t\tOffset: {}".format(match.offset))
                print("\t\tLength: {}".format(match.length))
            
    except Exception as err:
        print("Encountered exception. {}".format(err))
entity_linking_example(client)

Output

Linked Entities:

    Name:  Microsoft        Id:  Microsoft  Url:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft
    Data Source:  Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: Microsoft
            Confidence Score: 0.55
            Offset: 0
            Length: 9
            Text: Microsoft
            Confidence Score: 0.55
            Offset: 168
            Length: 9
    Name:  Bill Gates       Id:  Bill Gates         Url:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates
    Data Source:  Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: Bill Gates
            Confidence Score: 0.63
            Offset: 25
            Length: 10
            Text: Gates
            Confidence Score: 0.63
            Offset: 179
            Length: 5
    Name:  Paul Allen       Id:  Paul Allen         Url:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen
    Data Source:  Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: Paul Allen
            Confidence Score: 0.60
            Offset: 40
            Length: 10
    Name:  April 4  Id:  April 4    Url:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_4
    Data Source:  Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: April 4
            Confidence Score: 0.32
            Offset: 54
            Length: 7
    Name:  BASIC    Id:  BASIC      Url:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC
    Data Source:  Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: BASIC
            Confidence Score: 0.33
            Offset: 98
            Length: 5
    Name:  Altair 8800      Id:  Altair 8800        Url:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800
    Data Source:  Wikipedia
    Matches:
            Text: Altair 8800
            Confidence Score: 0.88
            Offset: 125
            Length: 11

Reference documentation

Prerequisites

• The current version of cURL.
• Once you have your Azure subscription, create a Language resource in the Azure portal to get your key and endpoint. After it deploys, click Go to resource.
  • You will need the key and endpoint from the resource you create to connect your application to the API. You'll paste your key and endpoint into the code below later in the quickstart.
  • You can use the free pricing tier (F0) to try the service, and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.

Note

• The following BASH examples use the \ line continuation character. If your console or terminal uses a different line continuation character, use that character.
• You can find language specific samples on GitHub.
• Go to the Azure portal and find the key and endpoint for the Language resource you created in the prerequisites. They will be located on the resource's key and endpoint page, under resource management. Then replace the strings in the code below with your key and endpoint. To call the API, you need the following information:

parameter	Description
-X POST <endpoint>	Specifies your endpoint for accessing the API.
-H Content-Type: application/json	The content type for sending JSON data.
-H "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key:<key>	Specifies the key for accessing the API.
-d <documents>	The JSON containing the documents you want to send.

The following cURL commands are executed from a BASH shell. Edit these commands with your own resource name, resource key, and JSON values.

Entity linking

1. Copy the command into a text editor.
2. Make the following changes in the command where needed:
   1. Replace the value <your-text-analytics-key-here> with your key.
   2. Replace the first part of the request URL <your-text-analytics-endpoint-here> with the your own endpoint URL.
3. Open a command prompt window.
4. Paste the command from the text editor into the command prompt window, and then run the command.

curl -X POST https://<your-text-analytics-endpoint-here>/text/analytics/v3.1/entities/linking \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: <your-text-analytics-key-here>" \
-d '{ documents: [{ id: "1", language:"en", text: "Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975."}]}'

JSON response

{
   "documents":[
      {
         "id":"1",
         "entities":[
            {
               "bingId":"a093e9b9-90f5-a3d5-c4b8-5855e1b01f85",
               "name":"Microsoft",
               "matches":[
                  {
                     "text":"Microsoft",
                     "offset":0,
                     "length":9,
                     "confidenceScore":0.48
                  }
               ],
               "language":"en",
               "id":"Microsoft",
               "url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft",
               "dataSource":"Wikipedia"
            },
            {
               "bingId":"0d47c987-0042-5576-15e8-97af601614fa",
               "name":"Bill Gates",
               "matches":[
                  {
                     "text":"Bill Gates",
                     "offset":25,
                     "length":10,
                     "confidenceScore":0.52
                  }
               ],
               "language":"en",
               "id":"Bill Gates",
               "url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates",
               "dataSource":"Wikipedia"
            },
            {
               "bingId":"df2c4376-9923-6a54-893f-2ee5a5badbc7",
               "name":"Paul Allen",
               "matches":[
                  {
                     "text":"Paul Allen",
                     "offset":40,
                     "length":10,
                     "confidenceScore":0.54
                  }
               ],
               "language":"en",
               "id":"Paul Allen",
               "url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen",
               "dataSource":"Wikipedia"
            },
            {
               "bingId":"52535f87-235e-b513-54fe-c03e4233ac6e",
               "name":"April 4",
               "matches":[
                  {
                     "text":"April 4",
                     "offset":54,
                     "length":7,
                     "confidenceScore":0.38
                  }
               ],
               "language":"en",
               "id":"April 4",
               "url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_4",
               "dataSource":"Wikipedia"
            }
         ],
         "warnings":[
            
         ]
      }
   ],
   "errors":[
      
   ],
   "modelVersion":"2020-02-01"
}

Clean up resources

If you want to clean up and remove a Cognitive Services subscription, you can delete the resource or resource group. Deleting the resource group also deletes any other resources associated with it.

• Portal
• Azure CLI

Next steps

• Entity Linking overview