def _preprocess_search_method(cls, value):
        """Preprocess the searchMethod value for validation.

        1. Set the default search method to SearchMethod.TENSOR if None is provided.
        2. Return the search method in uppercase if it is a string.
        """
        if value is None:
            return SearchMethod.TENSOR
        elif isinstance(value, str):
            return value.upper()
        else:
            return value
Preprocess the searchMethod value for validation.

        1. Set the default search method to SearchMethod.TENSOR if None is provided.
        2. Return the search method in uppercase if it is a string.
        
src/marqo/tensor_search/models/api_models.py