> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://alphacastio.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Fetch Alphacast Series

> Pull individual Alphacast series into a pipeline by series ID, in wide or long format, with optional scale conversion.

The **Fetch Alphacast Series** step imports one or more individual series rather than a whole dataset. Use it when you need a handful of specific indicators that live in different datasets.

## Configuration

| Field         | Description                                                                                                                          |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Series        | The series to import. Each entry is identified by its series ID.                                                                     |
| Output format | **Wide** gives one column per series, joined on date. **Long** gives `Date`, `Country` and `Value` columns, with the series stacked. |
| Scale         | Optional. Converts every series to a single unit scale so values are comparable.                                                     |

## Wide vs long

**Wide** is the default. Series are merged on `Date` with an outer join, so the output covers the union of all dates and leaves gaps where a series has no observation.

**Long** stacks the series instead, adding a `Country` entity column. Pick this when the series share a meaning and differ by country — it keeps the data in the shape most Alphacast charts and dashboards expect.

<Note>
  If every series resolves to the same country and that country is unknown, the `Country` column is dropped rather than filled with a placeholder.
</Note>

<Warning>
  The step fails if a configured series ID cannot be found, or if a scale conversion is impossible between the source and target units. It does not skip the series silently.
</Warning>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Fetch Alphacast Dataset" icon="database" href="/steps/fetch-dataset">
    Import a whole dataset instead of individual series.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Select Series" icon="filter" href="/steps/select-series">
    Reduce an existing dataset down to specific series.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>