azureai.mdx

---
title: "TimeGEN-1 Quickstart (Azure)"
description: "Quickstart guide to deploy and use TimeGEN-1 on Azure with the Nixtla Python SDK for time series forecasting."
icon: "rocket"
---

<Info>
  TimeGEN-1 is TimeGPT optimized for Azure infrastructure. It is a production-ready generative pretrained transformer for time series, capable of accurately predicting domains such as retail, electricity, finance, and IoT with minimal code.
</Info>


<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Key Benefit">
    Azure-native generative forecasting with TimeGEN-1 for streamlined deployments.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Use Cases">
    • Demand forecasting\

    • Electricity load prediction\

    • Financial time series\

    • IoT data analysis
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Steps>
  <Step title="Step 1: Set up a TimeGEN-1 endpoint on Azure and generate an API key">
    1. Visit [ml.azure.com](https://ml.azure.com) and sign in (or create a Microsoft account if needed).
    2. Click **Models** in the sidebar.
    3. Search for **TimeGEN** in the catalog and select **TimeGEN-1**.
    4. Click **Deploy** to create an endpoint.

    <Frame caption="TimeGEN-1 model catalog deployment option.">
      ![TimeGEN-1 model catalog deployment option](https://github.com/Nixtla/nixtla/blob/main/nbs/img/azure-deploy.png?raw=true)
    </Frame>
    5. Click **Endpoint** in the sidebar.
    6. Copy the **base URL** and **API Key** shown for your TimeGEN-1 endpoint.

    <Frame caption="Endpoint URL and API key for TimeGEN-1.">
      ![Endpoint URL and API key](https://github.com/Nixtla/nixtla/blob/main/nbs/img/azure-endpoint.png?raw=true)
    </Frame>
  </Step>
  <Step title="Step 2: Install Nixtla Python SDK">
    Install the **nixtla** package using pip:

    ```shell Install nixtla SDK
    pip install nixtla
    ```
  </Step>
  <Step title="Step 3: Import and instantiate the Nixtla client">
    Import the Nixtla client into your Python environment:

    ```python Import NixtlaClient
    from nixtla import NixtlaClient
    ```

    Then create a client instance using your TimeGEN-1 endpoint credentials:

    ```python Instantiate NixtlaClient
    nixtla_client = NixtlaClient(
        base_url="YOUR_BASE_URL",
        api_key="YOUR_API_KEY"
    )
    ```
  </Step>
  <Step title="Step 4: Load your time series data">
    In this example, we'll use the classic **AirPassengers** dataset to demonstrate forecasting. The dataset shows monthly passenger counts in Australia between 1949 and 1960.

    ```python Load AirPassengers dataset
    import pandas as pd

    df = pd.read_csv(
        'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Nixtla/transfer-learning-time-series/main/datasets/air_passengers.csv'
    )
    df.head()
    ```

    Use the Nixtla client to quickly visualize your data:

    ```python Visualize time series
    nixtla_client.plot(df, time_col='timestamp', target_col='value')
    ```

    <Frame caption="AirPassengers time series sample visualized.">
      ![AirPassengers time series visualization](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Nixtla/nixtla/readme_docs/nbs/_docs/docs/getting-started/22_azure_quickstart_files/figure-markdown_strict/cell-12-output-1.png)
    </Frame>
    <AccordionGroup>
      <Accordion title="Data Requirements">
        <Info>
          • Ensure the target column has no missing or non-numeric values.\

          • Avoid gaps in date stamps (for the specific frequency) from the initial to final timestamp—missing dates are not automatically imputed.\

          • Datestamps must be in a pandas-readable format. ([See Pandas reference](https://pandas.pydata.org/docs/reference/api/pandas.to_datetime.html))
        </Info>
        See [Data Requirements](/data_requirements/data_requirements) for details.
      </Accordion>
      <Accordion title="Saving Figures">
        <Check>
          In most notebook environments, figures display automatically. To save a figure locally, run:
        </Check>
        ```python Save plot figure
        fig = nixtla_client.plot(df, time_col='timestamp', target_col='value')
        fig.savefig('plot.png', bbox_inches='tight')
        ```
      </Accordion>
    </AccordionGroup>
  </Step>
  <Step title="Step 5: Generate forecasts">
    Use the `forecast` method from the Nixtla client to forecast the next 12 months.

    <Card title="Parameters">
      • `df`: Pandas DataFrame with time series data\

      • `h`: Forecast horizon (number of steps ahead)\

      • `freq`: Time series frequency ([pandas frequency aliases](https://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/user_guide/timeseries.html#offset-aliases))\

      • `time_col`: Name of timestamp column\

      • `target_col`: Name of forecast variable
    </Card>
    ```python Generate 12-month forecast
    timegen_fcst_df = nixtla_client.forecast(
        df=df,
        h=12,
        freq='MS',
        time_col='timestamp',
        target_col='value'
    )
    timegen_fcst_df.head()
    ```

    <Info>
      Forecast endpoint call logs will be displayed for validation and preprocessing steps.
    </Info>
    <Accordion title="Forecast API Call Log">
      ```bash Forecast API call logs
      INFO:nixtla.nixtla_client:Validating inputs...
      INFO:nixtla.nixtla_client:Preprocessing dataframes...
      INFO:nixtla.nixtla_client:Inferred freq: MS
      INFO:nixtla.nixtla_client:Restricting input...
      INFO:nixtla.nixtla_client:Calling Forecast Endpoint...
      ```
    </Accordion>
    Example output:

    |   | timestamp  | TimeGPT    |
    | --- | ---------- | ---------- |
    | 0 | 1961-01-01 | 437.837921 |
    | 1 | 1961-02-01 | 426.062714 |
    | 2 | 1961-03-01 | 463.116547 |
    | 3 | 1961-04-01 | 478.244507 |
    | 4 | 1961-05-01 | 505.646484 |

    Visualize the forecast results:

    ```python Visualize forecast results
    nixtla_client.plot(df, timegen_fcst_df, time_col='timestamp', target_col='value')
    ```

    <Frame caption="Forecast visualization for the AirPassengers dataset.">
      ![Forecast visualization AirPassengers](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Nixtla/nixtla/readme_docs/nbs/_docs/docs/getting-started/22_azure_quickstart_files/figure-markdown_strict/cell-14-output-1.png)
    </Frame>
  </Step>
</Steps>