def METHOD_NAME(self, data, category=None):
    """
    Prepares input data for vector model.
    Args:
        data: input data
        category: category for instruction-based embeddings
    Returns:
        data formatted for vector model
    """
    # Default instruction category
    category = category if category else "query"
    # Prepend instructions, if applicable
    if self.instructions and category in self.instructions and isinstance(data, str):
        # Prepend category instruction
        data = f"{self.instructions[category]}{data}"
    return data