diff --git a/src/chronos/chronos2/dataset.py b/src/chronos/chronos2/dataset.py
index 2e1b6a1..53f5257 100644
--- a/src/chronos/chronos2/dataset.py
+++ b/src/chronos/chronos2/dataset.py
@@ -5,13 +5,15 @@
 
 import math
 from enum import Enum
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Iterable, Iterator, Mapping, Sequence, TypeAlias, TypedDict, cast
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Iterable, Iterator, Mapping, Sequence, TypeAlias, cast
 
 import numpy as np
 import torch
 from sklearn.preprocessing import OrdinalEncoder, TargetEncoder
 from torch.utils.data import IterableDataset
 
+from chronos.chronos2.preprocess import PreparedInput
+
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     import datasets
     import fev
@@ -20,16 +22,6 @@ if TYPE_CHECKING:
 TensorOrArray: TypeAlias = torch.Tensor | np.ndarray
 
 
-class PreparedInput(TypedDict):
-    """A preprocessed time series input ready for model training/inference."""
-
-    context: torch.Tensor  # (n_variates, history_length), float32
-    future_covariates: torch.Tensor  # (n_variates, prediction_length), float32
-    n_targets: int
-    n_covariates: int
-    n_future_covariates: int
-
-
 def left_pad_and_cat_2D(tensors: list[torch.Tensor]) -> torch.Tensor:
     """
     Left pads tensors in the list to the length of the longest tensor along the second axis, then concats
diff --git a/src/chronos/chronos2/preprocess.py b/src/chronos/chronos2/preprocess.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..74671b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/chronos/chronos2/preprocess.py
@@ -0,0 +1,328 @@
+# Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+"""
+Preprocessing module for converting various input formats to list[PreparedInput].
+
+Entry points:
+- from_tensor()       : 3D tensor/array → list[PreparedInput]
+- from_tensor_list()  : list of 1D/2D tensors → list[PreparedInput]
+- from_dataframe()    : pd.DataFrame → list[PreparedInput]
+- from_dict_list()    : list[dict] → list[PreparedInput]
+
+The first two are direct conversions (no encoding needed).
+The latter two handle encoding via _build_prepared_inputs().
+"""
+
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, TypedDict
+
+import numpy as np
+import torch
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    import pandas as pd
+
+
+class PreparedInput(TypedDict):
+    """A preprocessed time series input ready for model training/inference."""
+
+    context: torch.Tensor  # (n_variates, context_length), float32
+    future_covariates: torch.Tensor  # (n_variates, prediction_length), float32
+    n_targets: int
+    n_covariates: int
+    n_future_covariates: int
+
+
+def from_tensor(
+    data: "torch.Tensor | np.ndarray",
+    prediction_length: int,
+) -> list[PreparedInput]:
+    """
+    Convert 3D tensor to list[PreparedInput].
+
+    All variates are treated as targets (no covariates).
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    data
+        Shape: (n_series, n_variates, context_length)
+    prediction_length
+        Number of future time steps (for NaN padding in future_covariates)
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    list[PreparedInput], one per series
+    """
+    ...
+
+
+def from_tensor_list(
+    data: "list[torch.Tensor | np.ndarray]",
+    prediction_length: int,
+) -> list[PreparedInput]:
+    """
+    Convert list of 1D/2D tensors to list[PreparedInput].
+
+    All variates are treated as targets (no covariates).
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    data
+        Each item: (context_length,) or (n_variates, context_length)
+    prediction_length
+        Number of future time steps
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    list[PreparedInput], one per input tensor
+    """
+    ...
+
+
+def from_dataframe(
+    df: "pd.DataFrame",
+    target_columns: list[str],
+    prediction_length: int,
+    future_df: "pd.DataFrame | None" = None,
+    id_column: str = "item_id",
+    timestamp_column: str = "timestamp",
+    use_target_encoding: bool = True,
+    validate_inputs: bool = True,
+) -> list[PreparedInput]:
+    """
+    Convert long-format DataFrame to list[PreparedInput].
+
+    Assumptions (when validate_inputs=False)
+    ----------------------------------------
+    - df is sorted by (id_column, timestamp_column)
+    - future_df (if provided) is sorted by (id_column, timestamp_column)
+    - future_df has exactly prediction_length rows per item, same item IDs as df
+    - Target columns are numeric; other columns are numeric or categorical
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    df
+        Long-format DataFrame with columns: id_column, timestamp_column, target_columns, covariates
+    target_columns
+        Column names for target variates
+    prediction_length
+        Number of future time steps
+    future_df
+        Optional DataFrame with future covariate values (same id_column, timestamp_column)
+    id_column
+        Column name for series ID
+    timestamp_column
+        Column name for timestamps
+    use_target_encoding
+        When True (default), use target encoding for categoricals (requires single target).
+        When False, use ordinal encoding.
+    validate_inputs
+        When True (default), validates dataframes. Set False to skip validation.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    list[PreparedInput], one per unique item_id (in original order)
+    """
+    ...
+
+
+def from_dict_list(
+    data: list[dict],
+    prediction_length: int,
+    use_target_encoding: bool = True,
+    validate_inputs: bool = True,
+) -> list[PreparedInput]:
+    """
+    Convert list of dicts to list[PreparedInput].
+
+    Each dict has:
+    - "target": np.ndarray, shape (context_length,) or (n_targets, context_length)
+    - "past_covariates": optional dict[str, np.ndarray], each shape (context_length,)
+    - "future_covariates": optional dict[str, np.ndarray], each shape (prediction_length,)
+
+    Assumptions (when validate_inputs=False)
+    ----------------------------------------
+    - All dicts have same structure (same keys, same n_targets)
+    - All past_covariates have the same column names across dicts
+    - future_covariates keys are a subset of past_covariates keys
+    - future_covariates arrays have length == prediction_length
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    data
+        List of input dicts
+    prediction_length
+        Number of future time steps
+    use_target_encoding
+        When True (default), use target encoding for categoricals (requires single target).
+        When False, use ordinal encoding.
+    validate_inputs
+        When True (default), validates all dicts have consistent structure.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    list[PreparedInput], one per dict
+    """
+    ...
+
+
+def _build_prepared_inputs(
+    target: np.ndarray,
+    past_covariates: dict[str, np.ndarray],
+    future_covariates: dict[str, np.ndarray],
+    series_lengths: list[int],
+    prediction_length: int,
+    use_target_encoding: bool,
+) -> list[PreparedInput]:
+    """
+    Build list[PreparedInput] from stacked arrays. Handles categorical encoding.
+
+    Assumptions
+    -----------
+    - Arrays are stacked in item order (item 0's rows first, then item 1's, etc.)
+    - future_covariates keys are a subset of past_covariates keys
+    - Categorical columns have object dtype; numeric columns have float32 dtype
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    target
+        Shape: (n_targets, total_context_rows), dtype float32
+    past_covariates
+        {name: values} for all covariates (past-only and known-future)
+        Each array shape: (total_context_rows,)
+    future_covariates
+        {name: values} for known-future covariates only
+        Each array shape: (n_series * prediction_length,)
+    series_lengths
+        Context length of each series (sum = total_context_rows)
+    prediction_length
+        Number of future time steps
+    use_target_encoding
+        When True, use target encoding (requires n_targets == 1). When False, use ordinal.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    list[PreparedInput], one per series
+    """
+    ...
+
+
+def _validate_dataframe(
+    df: "pd.DataFrame",
+    future_df: "pd.DataFrame | None",
+    target_columns: list[str],
+    prediction_length: int,
+    id_column: str,
+    timestamp_column: str,
+) -> None:
+    """
+    Validate DataFrame structure. Raises ValueError on failure.
+
+    Checks:
+    - Required columns exist
+    - Target columns are numeric
+    - All series have >= 3 points
+    - Consistent frequency across series
+    - future_df has same item_ids and exactly prediction_length rows per series
+    """
+    ...
+
+
+def _validate_dict_list(
+    data: list[dict],
+    prediction_length: int,
+) -> None:
+    """
+    Validate list[dict] structure. Raises ValueError on failure.
+
+    Checks:
+    - All dicts have same keys
+    - All targets have same n_targets
+    - All past_covariates have same column names
+    - All future_covariates have same column names and are subset of past_covariates
+    - future_covariates have length == prediction_length
+    """
+    ...
+
+
+def _target_encode(
+    id_codes: np.ndarray,
+    cat_codes: np.ndarray,
+    target: np.ndarray,
+    n_items: int,
+    n_categories: int,
+    future_id_codes: np.ndarray | None = None,
+    future_cat_codes: np.ndarray | None = None,
+    smooth: float = 1.0,
+) -> tuple[np.ndarray, np.ndarray | None]:
+    """
+    Per-item target encoding using vectorized bincount operations.
+
+    Computes smoothed mean target value for each (item, category) pair:
+        encoded = (smooth * item_mean + category_sum) / (smooth + category_count)
+
+    Assumptions
+    -----------
+    - id_codes and cat_codes are non-negative integers in [0, n_items) and [0, n_categories)
+    - future_id_codes (if provided) are valid item IDs that appear in id_codes
+    - future_cat_codes may contain -1 for unseen categories (encoded as NaN)
+
+    Edge cases
+    ----------
+    - NaN values in target are excluded from sum/count computations
+    - Unseen (item, category) pairs get the item mean as fallback (via smoothing formula)
+    - Completely unseen categories in future (cat_code=-1) get the item mean
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    id_codes
+        Item ID for each row, shape: (n_rows,)
+    cat_codes
+        Integer category codes, shape: (n_rows,)
+    target
+        Target values, shape: (n_rows,). May contain NaNs.
+    n_items
+        Number of unique items
+    n_categories
+        Number of unique categories
+    future_id_codes
+        Item ID for each future row, shape: (n_future_rows,). Optional.
+    future_cat_codes
+        Category codes for future rows, shape: (n_future_rows,). Optional.
+        Use -1 for categories not seen in past (will be encoded as NaN).
+    smooth
+        Smoothing parameter. Higher values give more weight to item mean vs category mean.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    encoded_past
+        Encoded values for past rows, shape: (n_rows,), dtype float32
+    encoded_future
+        Encoded values for future rows, shape: (n_future_rows,), dtype float32.
+        None if future_id_codes and future_cat_codes not provided.
+    """
+    mask = np.isfinite(target)
+    target_masked = np.where(mask, target, 0.0)
+
+    item_sums = np.bincount(id_codes, weights=target_masked * mask, minlength=n_items)
+    item_counts = np.bincount(id_codes, weights=mask.astype(float), minlength=n_items)
+    item_means = np.divide(item_sums, item_counts, out=np.zeros(n_items), where=item_counts > 0)
+
+    combined_codes = id_codes * n_categories + cat_codes
+    sums = np.bincount(combined_codes, weights=target_masked * mask, minlength=n_items * n_categories)
+    counts = np.bincount(combined_codes, weights=mask.astype(float), minlength=n_items * n_categories)
+
+    lookup = (smooth * np.repeat(item_means, n_categories) + sums) / (smooth + counts)
+    encoded_past = lookup[combined_codes].astype(np.float32)
+
+    encoded_future = None
+    if future_id_codes is not None and future_cat_codes is not None:
+        valid_future = future_cat_codes >= 0
+        future_combined = np.where(valid_future, future_id_codes * n_categories + future_cat_codes, 0)
+        encoded_future = np.where(
+            valid_future,
+            lookup[future_combined],
+            item_means[future_id_codes]
+        ).astype(np.float32)
+
+    return encoded_past, encoded_future
diff --git a/src/chronos/df_utils2.py b/src/chronos/df_utils2.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 838bc43..0000000
--- a/src/chronos/df_utils2.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,134 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Literal
-
-import numpy as np
-import torch
-
-from chronos.chronos2.dataset import PreparedInput
-
-if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    import pandas as pd
-
-
-def _target_encode(
-    id_codes: np.ndarray,
-    cat_codes: np.ndarray,
-    target: np.ndarray,
-    n_items: int,
-    n_categories: int,
-    smooth: float = 1.0,
-) -> tuple[np.ndarray, np.ndarray]:
-    """Per-item target encoding using bincount. Returns (encoded_values, lookup_table)."""
-    item_sums = np.bincount(id_codes, weights=target, minlength=n_items)
-    item_counts = np.bincount(id_codes, minlength=n_items)
-    item_means = item_sums / item_counts
-
-    combined_codes = id_codes * n_categories + cat_codes
-    sums = np.bincount(combined_codes, weights=target, minlength=n_items * n_categories)
-    counts = np.bincount(combined_codes, minlength=n_items * n_categories)
-
-    lookup = (smooth * np.repeat(item_means, n_categories) + sums) / (smooth + counts)
-    return lookup[combined_codes].astype(np.float32), lookup.reshape(n_items, n_categories)
-
-
-def convert_df_to_prepared_inputs(
-    df: "pd.DataFrame",
-    target_columns: list[str],
-    prediction_length: int,
-    future_df: "pd.DataFrame | None" = None,
-    id_column: str = "item_id",
-    timestamp_column: str = "timestamp",
-    categorical_encoding: Literal["target", "ordinal"] = "target",
-) -> list[PreparedInput]:
-    """Convert long-format DataFrame to list[PreparedInput] efficiently."""
-    import pandas as pd
-
-    df = df.sort_values([id_column, timestamp_column])
-    id_codes, id_categories = pd.factorize(df[id_column], sort=False)
-    n_items = len(id_categories)
-    indptr = np.concatenate([[0], np.cumsum(np.bincount(id_codes, minlength=n_items))])
-
-    # Covariate columns: past-only first, then known-future
-    all_covariate_columns = sorted(set(df.columns) - {id_column, timestamp_column} - set(target_columns))
-    known_future_columns = sorted([c for c in all_covariate_columns if future_df is not None and c in future_df.columns])
-    covariate_columns = [c for c in all_covariate_columns if c not in known_future_columns] + known_future_columns
-    categorical_columns = [c for c in covariate_columns if not pd.api.types.is_numeric_dtype(df[c])]
-
-    use_target_encoding = categorical_encoding == "target" and len(target_columns) == 1
-    target_values = df[target_columns[0]].values if use_target_encoding else None
-
-    # Encode categorical columns
-    encoded_categoricals: dict[str, np.ndarray] = {}
-    encoding_lookups: dict[str, tuple[np.ndarray, np.ndarray]] = {}  # (lookup_table, categories)
-
-    for col in categorical_columns:
-        cat_codes, categories = pd.factorize(df[col], sort=False)
-        if use_target_encoding:
-            encoded_categoricals[col], lookup = _target_encode(
-                id_codes, cat_codes, target_values, n_items, len(categories)
-            )
-            encoding_lookups[col] = (lookup, categories)
-        else:
-            encoded_categoricals[col] = np.where(cat_codes >= 0, cat_codes, np.nan).astype(np.float32)
-            encoding_lookups[col] = (None, categories)
-
-    # Build context array: (n_targets + n_covariates, n_rows)
-    context_arrays = [df[target_columns].to_numpy(dtype=np.float32).T]
-    for col in covariate_columns:
-        if col in categorical_columns:
-            context_arrays.append(encoded_categoricals[col])
-        else:
-            context_arrays.append(df[col].to_numpy(dtype=np.float32))
-    context_full = np.vstack(context_arrays)
-
-    # Build future covariate array if provided
-    future_covariates_full = None
-    future_indptr = None
-    if future_df is not None and known_future_columns:
-        future_df = future_df.sort_values([id_column, timestamp_column])
-        future_id_codes = pd.Categorical(future_df[id_column], categories=id_categories).codes
-        future_indptr = np.concatenate([[0], np.cumsum(np.bincount(future_id_codes, minlength=n_items))])
-
-        future_arrays = []
-        for col in known_future_columns:
-            if col not in categorical_columns:
-                future_arrays.append(future_df[col].to_numpy(dtype=np.float32))
-            else:
-                lookup, categories = encoding_lookups[col]
-                future_cat_codes = pd.Categorical(future_df[col], categories=categories).codes
-                if use_target_encoding:
-                    encoded = np.where(future_cat_codes >= 0, lookup[future_id_codes, future_cat_codes], np.nan)
-                else:
-                    encoded = np.where(future_cat_codes >= 0, future_cat_codes, np.nan)
-                future_arrays.append(encoded.astype(np.float32))
-        future_covariates_full = np.vstack(future_arrays)
-
-    # Assemble PreparedInputs
-    n_targets = len(target_columns)
-    n_covariates = len(covariate_columns)
-    n_future_covariates = len(known_future_columns)
-    nan_padding = np.full((n_targets + n_covariates - n_future_covariates, prediction_length), np.nan, dtype=np.float32)
-
-    inputs = []
-    for i in range(n_items):
-        context = context_full[:, indptr[i]:indptr[i + 1]]
-
-        if future_covariates_full is not None:
-            future_covariates = np.vstack([
-                nan_padding,
-                future_covariates_full[:, future_indptr[i]:future_indptr[i + 1]]
-            ])
-        else:
-            future_covariates = np.full((n_targets + n_covariates, prediction_length), np.nan, dtype=np.float32)
-
-        inputs.append(PreparedInput(
-            context=torch.from_numpy(context.copy()),
-            future_covariates=torch.from_numpy(future_covariates.copy()),
-            n_targets=n_targets,
-            n_covariates=n_covariates,
-            n_future_covariates=n_future_covariates,
-        ))
-
-    return inputs