Azure AI Text Analytics SDK for Python

Client library for Azure AI Language service NLP capabilities including sentiment, entities, key phrases, and more.

Installation

bash
pip install azure-ai-textanalytics

Environment Variables

bash
AZURE_LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT=https://<resource>.cognitiveservices.azure.com
AZURE_LANGUAGE_KEY=<your-api-key>  # If using API key

Authentication

API Key

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

endpoint = os.environ["AZURE_LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT"]
key = os.environ["AZURE_LANGUAGE_KEY"]

client = TextAnalyticsClient(endpoint, AzureKeyCredential(key))

Entra ID (Recommended)

python
from azure.ai.textanalytics import TextAnalyticsClient
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential

client = TextAnalyticsClient(
    endpoint=os.environ["AZURE_LANGUAGE_ENDPOINT"],
    credential=DefaultAzureCredential()
)

Sentiment Analysis

python
documents = [
    "I had a wonderful trip to Seattle last week!",
    "The food was terrible and the service was slow."
]

result = client.analyze_sentiment(documents, show_opinion_mining=True)

for doc in result:
    if not doc.is_error:
        print(f"Sentiment: {doc.sentiment}")
        print(f"Scores: pos={doc.confidence_scores.positive:.2f}, "
              f"neg={doc.confidence_scores.negative:.2f}, "
              f"neu={doc.confidence_scores.neutral:.2f}")
        
        # Opinion mining (aspect-based sentiment)
        for sentence in doc.sentences:
            for opinion in sentence.mined_opinions:
                target = opinion.target
                print(f"  Target: '{target.text}' - {target.sentiment}")
                for assessment in opinion.assessments:
                    print(f"    Assessment: '{assessment.text}' - {assessment.sentiment}")

Entity Recognition

python
documents = ["Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque."]

result = client.recognize_entities(documents)

for doc in result:
    if not doc.is_error:
        for entity in doc.entities:
            print(f"Entity: {entity.text}")
            print(f"  Category: {entity.category}")
            print(f"  Subcategory: {entity.subcategory}")
            print(f"  Confidence: {entity.confidence_score:.2f}")

PII Detection

python
documents = ["My SSN is 123-45-6789 and my email is john@example.com"]

result = client.recognize_pii_entities(documents)

for doc in result:
    if not doc.is_error:
        print(f"Redacted: {doc.redacted_text}")
        for entity in doc.entities:
            print(f"PII: {entity.text} ({entity.category})")

Key Phrase Extraction

python
documents = ["Azure AI provides powerful machine learning capabilities for developers."]

result = client.extract_key_phrases(documents)

for doc in result:
    if not doc.is_error:
        print(f"Key phrases: {doc.key_phrases}")

Language Detection

python
documents = ["Ce document est en francais.", "This is written in English."]

result = client.detect_language(documents)

for doc in result:
    if not doc.is_error:
        print(f"Language: {doc.primary_language.name} ({doc.primary_language.iso6391_name})")
        print(f"Confidence: {doc.primary_language.confidence_score:.2f}")

Healthcare Text Analytics

python
documents = ["Patient has diabetes and was prescribed metformin 500mg twice daily."]

poller = client.begin_analyze_healthcare_entities(documents)
result = poller.result()

for doc in result:
    if not doc.is_error:
        for entity in doc.entities:
            print(f"Entity: {entity.text}")
            print(f"  Category: {entity.category}")
            print(f"  Normalized: {entity.normalized_text}")
            
            # Entity links (UMLS, etc.)
            for link in entity.data_sources:
                print(f"  Link: {link.name} - {link.entity_id}")

Multiple Analysis (Batch)

python
from azure.ai.textanalytics import (
    RecognizeEntitiesAction,
    ExtractKeyPhrasesAction,
    AnalyzeSentimentAction
)

documents = ["Microsoft announced new Azure AI features at Build conference."]

poller = client.begin_analyze_actions(
    documents,
    actions=[
        RecognizeEntitiesAction(),
        ExtractKeyPhrasesAction(),
        AnalyzeSentimentAction()
    ]
)

results = poller.result()
for doc_results in results:
    for result in doc_results:
        if result.kind == "EntityRecognition":
            print(f"Entities: {[e.text for e in result.entities]}")
        elif result.kind == "KeyPhraseExtraction":
            print(f"Key phrases: {result.key_phrases}")
        elif result.kind == "SentimentAnalysis":
            print(f"Sentiment: {result.sentiment}")

Async Client

python
from azure.ai.textanalytics.aio import TextAnalyticsClient
from azure.identity.aio import DefaultAzureCredential

async def analyze():
    async with TextAnalyticsClient(
        endpoint=endpoint,
        credential=DefaultAzureCredential()
    ) as client:
        result = await client.analyze_sentiment(documents)
        # Process results...

Client Types

| Client | Purpose | |--------|---------| | TextAnalyticsClient | All text analytics operations | | TextAnalyticsClient (aio) | Async version |

Available Operations

| Method | Description | |--------|-------------| | analyze_sentiment | Sentiment analysis with opinion mining | | recognize_entities | Named entity recognition | | recognize_pii_entities | PII detection and redaction | | recognize_linked_entities | Entity linking to Wikipedia | | extract_key_phrases | Key phrase extraction | | detect_language | Language detection | | begin_analyze_healthcare_entities | Healthcare NLP (long-running) | | begin_analyze_actions | Multiple analyses in batch |

Best Practices

1. Use batch operations for multiple documents (up to 10 per request)
2. Enable opinion mining for detailed aspect-based sentiment
3. Use async client for high-throughput scenarios
4. Handle document errors — results list may contain errors for some docs
5. Specify language when known to improve accuracy
6. Use context manager or close client explicitly

When to Use

This skill is applicable to execute the workflow or actions described in the overview.

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
• Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.