InfluxDB API reference
This page documents an earlier version of InfluxDB. InfluxDB v2.1 is the latest stable version. See the equivalent InfluxDB v2.1 documentation: InfluxDB v2 API.
The InfluxDB API provides a simple way to interact with the database. It uses HTTP response codes, HTTP authentication, JWT Tokens, and basic authentication, and responses are returned in JSON.
The following sections assume your InfluxDB instance is running on localhost
port 8086
and HTTPS is not enabled.
Those settings are configurable.
InfluxDB 2.0 API compatibility endpoints
InfluxDB 1.8.0 introduced forward compatibility APIs for InfluxDB 2.0. There are multiple reasons for introducing these:
- The latest InfluxDB client libraries are built for the InfluxDB 2.0 API, but now also work with InfluxDB 1.8.0+.
- InfluxDB Cloud is a generally available service across multiple cloud service providers and regions that is fully compatible with the latest client libraries.
If you are just getting started with InfluxDB 1.x today, we recommend adopting the latest client libraries. They allow you to easily move from InfluxDB 1.x to InfluxDB 2.0 Cloud or open source, (when you are ready).
The following forward compatible APIs are available:
Endpoint | Description |
---|---|
/api/v2/query | Query data in InfluxDB 1.8.0+ using the InfluxDB 2.0 API and Flux |
/api/v2/write | Write data to InfluxDB 1.8.0+ using the InfluxDB 2.0 API (compatible with InfluxDB 2.0 client libraries) |
/health | Check the health of your InfluxDB instance |
/api/v2/query/
HTTP endpoint
The /api/v2/query
endpoint accepts POST
HTTP requests.
Use this endpoint to query data using Flux and InfluxDB 2.0 client libraries.
Flux is the primary language for working with data in InfluxDB 2.0.
Include the following HTTP headers:
Accept: application/csv
Content-type: application/vnd.flux
- If authentication is enabled,
provide your InfluxDB username and password:
Authorization: Token username:password
curl -XPOST localhost:8086/api/v2/query -sS \
-H 'Accept:application/csv' \
-H 'Content-type:application/vnd.flux' \
-d 'from(bucket:"telegraf")
|> range(start:-5m)
|> filter(fn:(r) => r._measurement == "cpu")'
curl -XPOST localhost:8086/api/v2/query -sS \
-H 'Accept:application/csv' \
-H 'Content-type:application/vnd.flux' \
-H 'Authorization: Token username:password' \
-d 'from(bucket:"telegraf")
|> range(start:-5m)
|> filter(fn:(r) => r._measurement == "cpu")'
/api/v2/write/
HTTP endpoint
The /api/v2/write
endpoint accepts POST
HTTP requests.
Use this endpoint to write to an InfluxDB 1.8.0+ database using InfluxDB 2.0 client libraries.
Both InfluxDB 1.x and 2.0 APIs support the same line protocol format for raw time series data.
For the purposes of writing data, the APIs differ only in the URL parameters and request headers.
InfluxDB 2.0 uses organizations
and buckets
instead of databases and retention policies.
The /api/v2/write
endpoint maps the supplied version 1.8 database and retention policy to a bucket.
Include the following URL parameters:
bucket
: Provide the database name and retention policy separated by a forward slash (/
). For example:database/retention-policy
. Empty retention policies map to the default retention policy.database/weekly
maps to a database named “database” and retention policy named “weekly”.database/
anddatabase
map to a database named “database” and the default retention policy.org
: In InfluxDB 1.x, there is no concept of organization. Theorg
parameter is ignored and can be left empty.precision
: Precision of timestamps in the line protocol. Acceptsns
(nanoseconds),us
(microseconds),ms
(milliseconds) ands
(seconds).
Include the following HTTP header:
Authorization
: In InfluxDB 2.0 uses API Tokens to access the platform and all its capabilities. InfluxDB v1.x uses a username and password combination when accessing the HTTP APIs. Use the Token schema to provide your InfluxDB 1.x username and password separated by a colon (:
). For example:Authorization: Token username:password
.
curl -XPOST "localhost:8086/api/v2/write?bucket=db/rp&precision=s" \
--data-raw "mem,host=host1 used_percent=23.43234543 1556896326"
curl -XPOST "localhost:8086/api/v2/write?bucket=db/rp&precision=s" \
-H 'Authorization: Token <username>:<password>' \
--data-raw "mem,host=host1 used_percent=23.43234543 1556896326"
/health
HTTP endpoint
The /health
endpoint accepts Get
HTTP requests.
Use this endpoint to check the health of your InfluxDB instance.
curl -XGET "localhost:8086/health"
/health endpoint responses
Response code | Health | Message | Status |
---|---|---|---|
200 | Healthy | ready for queries and writes |
pass |
503 | Unhealthy | fail |
InfluxDB 1.x HTTP endpoints
The following InfluxDB 1.x API endpoints are available:
Endpoint | Description |
---|---|
/debug/pprof | Generate profiles for troubleshooting |
/debug/requests | Track HTTP client requests to the /write and /query endpoints |
/debug/vars | Collect internal InfluxDB statistics |
/ping | Check the status of your InfluxDB instance and your version of InfluxDB |
/query | Query data using InfluxQL, manage databases, retention policies, and users |
/write | Write data to a database |
/debug/pprof
HTTP endpoint
InfluxDB supports the Go net/http/pprof
HTTP endpoints, which are useful for troubleshooting. The pprof
package serves runtime profiling data in the format expected by the pprof visualization tool.
Definition
curl http://localhost:8086/debug/pprof/
The /debug/pprof/
endpoint generates an HTML page with a list of built-in Go profiles and hyperlinks for each.
Profile | Description |
---|---|
block | Stack traces that led to blocking on synchronization primitives. |
goroutine | Stack traces of all current goroutines. |
heap | Sampling of stack traces for heap allocations. |
mutex | Stack traces of holders of contended mutexes. |
threadcreate | Stack traces that led to the creation of new OS threads. |
To access one of the /debug/pprof/
profiles listed above, use the following cURL request, substituting <profile>
with the name of the profile. The resulting profile is output to a file specified in <path/to/output-file>
.
curl -o <path/to/output-file> http://localhost:8086/debug/pprof/<profile>
In the following example, the cURL command outputs the resulting heap profile to a file:
curl -o <path/to/output-file> http://localhost:/8086/debug/pprof/heap
You can also use the Go pprof
interactive tool to access the InfluxDB /debug/pprof/
profiles.
For example, to look at the heap profile of a InfluxDB instance using this tool, you would use a command like this:
go tool pprof http://localhost:8086/debug/pprof/heap
For more information about the Go /net/http/pprof
package and the interactive pprof analysis and visualization tool, see:
- Package pprof (
net/http/pprof
) pprof
analysis and visualization tool- Profiling Go programs
- Diagnostics - Profiling
/debug/pprof/all
HTTP endpoint
The /debug/pprof/all
endpoint is a custom /debug/pprof
profile intended primarily for use by InfluxData support.
This endpoint generates a profile.tar.gz
archive containing text files with the standard Go profiling information and additional debugging data.
An optional CPU profile is generated when using the cpu=
option followed by a duration in seconds (e.g., cpu=30s
).
To create a profile.tar.gz
archive, use the following cURL command to generate a profile.tar.gz
file for sharing with InfluxData support.
curl -o profiles.tar.gz "http://localhost:8086/debug/pprof/all?cpu=30s"
As the following example shows, the cURL output includes “Time Spent,” the time elapsed (in seconds). After 30 seconds of data has been collected, the results are output to a file.
➜ ~ curl -o profiles.tar.gz "http://localhost:8086/debug/pprof/all?cpu=30s"
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 237k 0 237k 0 0 8025 0 --:--:-- 0:00:30 --:--:-- 79588
If using InfluxDB 1.8.3 or earlier, use /debug/pprof/all?cpu=true
.
/debug/requests
HTTP endpoint
Use this endpoint to track HTTP client requests to the /write
and /query
endpoints.
The /debug/requests
endpoint returns the number of writes and queries to InfluxDB per username and IP address.
Definition
curl http://localhost:8086/debug/requests
Query string parameters
Query String Parameter | Optional/Required | Definition |
---|---|---|
seconds=<integer> | Optional | Sets the duration (in seconds) over which the client collects information. The default duration is ten seconds. |
Examples
Track requests over a ten-second interval
$ curl http://localhost:8086/debug/requests
{
"user1:123.45.678.91": {"writes":1,"queries":0},
}
The response shows that, over the past ten seconds, the user1
user sent one request to the /write
endpoint and no requests to the /query
endpoint from the 123.45.678.91
IP address.
Track requests over a one-minute interval
$ curl http://localhost:8086/debug/requests?seconds=60
{
"user1:123.45.678.91": {"writes":3,"queries":0},
"user1:000.0.0.0": {"writes":0,"queries":16},
"user2:xx.xx.xxx.xxx": {"writes":4,"queries":0}
}
The response shows that, over the past minute, user1
sent three requests to the /write
endpoint from 123.45.678.91
, user1
sent 16 requests to the /query
endpoint from 000.0.0.0
, and user2
sent four requests to the /write
endpoint from xx.xx.xxx.xxx
.
/debug/vars
HTTP endpoint
InfluxDB exposes statistics and information about its runtime through the /debug/vars
endpoint, which can be accessed using the following cURL command:
curl http://localhost:8086/debug/vars
Server statistics and information are displayed in JSON format.
For information about InfluxDB HTTP server metrics, see the httpd
measurement.
Note: The InfluxDB input plugin is available to collect metrics (using the
/debug/vars
endpoint) from specified Kapacitor instances. For a list of the measurements and fields, see the InfluxDB input plugin README.
/ping
HTTP endpoint
The ping endpoint accepts both GET
and HEAD
HTTP requests.
Use this endpoint to check the status of your InfluxDB instance and your version
of InfluxDB.
Definition
GET http://localhost:8086/ping
HEAD http://localhost:8086/ping
verbose
option
By default, the /ping
HTTP endpoint returns a simple HTTP 204 status response to let the client know that the server is running. Default value is false
.
When verbose
option is set to true
(/ping?verbose=true
), an HTTP 200 status is returned.
The verbose=true
option is required for Google Cloud Load Balancing health checks.
Example
You can use the /ping
endpoint to find the build and version of an InfluxDB instance.
The X-Influxdb-Build
header field displays the InfluxDB build type, either OSS
(open source) or ENT
(Enterprise).
The X-Influxdb-Version
header field displays the InfluxDB version.
~ curl -sl -I http://localhost:8086/ping
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: 9c353b0e-aadc-11e8-8023-000000000000
X-Influxdb-Build: OSS
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
X-Request-Id: 9c353b0e-aadc-11e8-8023-000000000000
Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2018 16:08:32 GMT
Status Codes and Responses
The response body is empty.
HTTP Status Code | Description |
---|---|
204 | Success! Your InfluxDB instance is up and running. |
/query
HTTP endpoint
The /query
endpoint accepts GET
and POST
HTTP requests.
Use this endpoint to query data and manage databases, retention policies,
and users.
Definition
GET http://localhost:8086/query
POST http://localhost:8086/query
Verb usage
Verb | Query Type |
---|---|
GET | Use for all queries that start with: SELECT * SHOW |
POST | Use for all queries that start with: ALTER CREATE DELETE DROP GRANT KILL REVOKE |
* The only exceptions are SELECT
queries that include an INTO
clause.
Those SELECT
queries require a POST
request.
Examples
Query data with a SELECT
statement
$ curl -G 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas"'
{"results":[{"statement_id":0,"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","myfield","mytag1","mytag2"],"values":[["2017-03-01T00:16:18Z",33.1,null,null],["2017-03-01T00:17:18Z",12.4,"12","14"]]}]}]}
The mymeas
measurement has two points.
The first point has the timestamp 2017-03-01T00:16:18Z
, a myfield
value of 33.1
, and no tag values for the mytag1
and mytag2
tag keys.
The second point has the timestamp 2017-03-01T00:17:18Z
, a myfield
value of 12.4
, a mytag1
value of 12
, and a mytag2
value of 14
.
The same query in the InfluxDB Command Line Interface (CLI) returns the following table:
name: mymeas
time myfield mytag1 mytag2
---- ------- ------ ------
2017-03-01T00:16:18Z 33.1
2017-03-01T00:17:18Z 12.4 12 14
Query data with a SELECT
statement and an INTO
clause
$ curl -XPOST 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * INTO "newmeas" FROM "mymeas"'
{"results":[{"statement_id":0,"series":[{"name":"result","columns":["time","written"],"values":[["1970-01-01T00:00:00Z",2]]}]}]}
SELECT
queries that include and INTO
clause require a POST
request.
The response shows that InfluxDB writes two points to the newmeas
measurement.
Note that the system uses epoch 0 (1970-01-01T00:00:00Z
) as a null timestamp equivalent.
Create a database
$ curl -XPOST 'http://localhost:8086/query' --data-urlencode 'q=CREATE DATABASE "mydb"'
{"results":[{"statement_id":0}]}
A successful CREATE DATABASE
query returns no additional information.
Query string parameters
Query String Parameter | Optional/Required | Definition |
---|---|---|
chunked=[true | <number_of_points>] | Optional | Returns points in streamed batches instead of in a single response. If set to true , InfluxDB chunks responses by series or by every 10,000 points, whichever occurs first. If set to a specific value, InfluxDB chunks responses by series or by that number of points.* |
db=<database_name> | Required for database-dependent queries (most SELECT queries and SHOW queries require this parameter). |
Sets the target database for the query. |
epoch=[ns,u,µ,ms,s,m,h] | Optional | Returns epoch timestamps with the specified precision. By default, InfluxDB returns timestamps in RFC3339 format with nanosecond precision. Both u and µ indicate microseconds. |
p=<password> | Optional if you haven’t enabled authentication. Required if you’ve enabled authentication.** | Sets the password for authentication if you’ve enabled authentication. Use with the query string parameter u . |
pretty=true | Optional | Enables pretty-printed JSON output. While this is useful for debugging it is not recommended for production use as it consumes unnecessary network bandwidth. |
q=<query> | Required | InfluxQL string to execute. See also Request Body. |
u=<username> | Optional if you haven’t enabled authentication. Required if you’ve enabled authentication.* | Sets the username for authentication if you’ve enabled authentication. The user must have read access to the database. Use with the query string parameter p . |
* InfluxDB does not truncate the number of rows returned for requests without the chunked
parameter.
That behavior is configurable; see the max-row-limit
configuration option for more information.
** The InfluxDB API also supports basic authentication.
Use basic authentication if you’ve enabled authentication
and aren’t using the query string parameters u
and p
.
See below for an example of basic authentication.
Examples
Query data with a SELECT
statement and return pretty-printed JSON
$ curl -G 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb&pretty=true' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas"'
{
"results": [
{
"statement_id": 0,
"series": [
{
"name": "mymeas",
"columns": [
"time",
"myfield",
"mytag1",
"mytag2"
],
"values": [
[
"2017-03-01T00:16:18Z",
33.1,
null,
null
],
[
"2017-03-01T00:17:18Z",
12.4,
"12",
"14"
]
]
}
]
}
]
}
Query data with a SELECT
statement and return second precision epoch timestamps
$ curl -G 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb&epoch=s' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas"'
{"results":[{"statement_id":0,"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","myfield","mytag1","mytag2"],"values":[[1488327378,33.1,null,null],[1488327438,12.4,"12","14"]]}]}]}
Create a database using HTTP authentication
Valid credentials:
$ curl -XPOST 'http://localhost:8086/query?u=myusername&p=mypassword' --data-urlencode 'q=CREATE DATABASE "mydb"'
{"results":[{"statement_id":0}]}
A successful CREATE DATABASE
query returns no additional information.
Invalid credentials:
$ curl -XPOST 'http://localhost:8086/query?u=myusername&p=notmypassword' --data-urlencode 'q=CREATE DATABASE "mydb"'
{"error":"authorization failed"}
Create a database using basic authentication
The following example uses valid credentials.
$ curl -XPOST -u myusername:mypassword 'http://localhost:8086/query' --data-urlencode 'q=CREATE DATABASE "mydb"'
{"results":[{"statement_id":0}]}
A successful CREATE DATABASE
query returns no additional information.
The following example uses invalid credentials.
$ curl -XPOST -u myusername:notmypassword 'http://localhost:8086/query' --data-urlencode 'q=CREATE DATABASE "mydb"'
{"error":"authorization failed"}
Request body
--data-urlencode "q=<InfluxQL query>"
All queries must be URL encoded and follow
InfluxQL syntax.
Our example shows the --data-urlencode
parameter from curl
, which we use in all examples on this page.
Options
Request multiple queries
Delimit multiple queries with a semicolon ;
.
Submit queries from a file
The API supports submitting queries from a file using a multipart POST
request.
The queries in the file must be separated a semicolon (;
).
Syntax:
curl -F "q=@<path_to_file>" -F "async=true" http://localhost:8086/query
Request query results in CSV format
Syntax:
curl -H "Accept: application/csv" -G 'http://localhost:8086/query' [...]
Note that when the request includes -H "Accept: application/csv"
, the system returns timestamps in epoch
format, not RFC3339 format.
Bind parameters
The API supports binding parameters to particular field values or tag values.
Use the syntax $<placeholder_key>
as a placeholder in the query, and URL
encode the map of placeholder keys to placeholder values in the request body.
This allows all InfluxQL queries where the value is customizable—such as field
values, function names, or intervals—to be represented using bind parameters.
Query syntax:
--data-urlencode 'q= SELECT [...] WHERE [ <field_key> | <tag_key> ] = $<placeholder_key>'
Map syntax:
--data-urlencode 'params={"<placeholder_key>":[ <placeholder_float_field_value> | <placeholder_integer_field_value> | "<placeholder_string_field_value>" | <placeholder_boolean_field_value> | "<placeholder_tag_value>" ]}'
Delimit multiple placeholder key-value pairs with comma ,
.
Examples
Send multiple queries
$ curl -G 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb&epoch=s' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas";SELECT mean("myfield") FROM "mymeas"'
{"results":[{"statement_id":0,"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","myfield","mytag1","mytag2"],"values":[[1488327378,33.1,null,null],[1488327438,12.4,"12","14"]]}]},{"statement_id":1,"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","mean"],"values":[[0,22.75]]}]}]}
The request includes two queries: SELECT * FROM "mymeas"
and SELECT mean("myfield") FROM "mymeas"'
.
In the results, the system assigns a statement identifier to each query return.
The first query’s result has a statement_id
of 0
and the second query’s result has a statement_id
of 1
.
Request query results in CSV format
$ curl -H "Accept: application/csv" -G 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas"'
name,tags,time,myfield,mytag1,mytag2
mymeas,,1488327378000000000,33.1,mytag1,mytag2
mymeas,,1488327438000000000,12.4,12,14
The first point has no tag values for the mytag1
and mytag2
tag keys.
Submit queries from a file
curl -F "q=@queries.txt" -F "async=true" 'http://localhost:8086/query'
A sample of the queries in queries.txt
:
CREATE DATABASE mydb;
CREATE RETENTION POLICY four_weeks ON mydb DURATION 4w REPLICATION 1;
Bind a parameter in the WHERE
clause to specific tag value
$ curl -G 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas" WHERE "mytag1" = $tag_value' --data-urlencode 'params={"tag_value":"12"}'
{"results":[{"statement_id":0,"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","myfield","mytag1","mytag2"],"values":[["2017-03-01T00:17:18Z",12.4,"12","14"]]}]}]}
The request maps $tag_value
to 12
.
InfluxDB stores tag values as strings they and must be double quoted in the request.
Bind a parameter in the WHERE
clause to a numerical field value
$ curl -G 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas" WHERE "myfield" > $field_value' --data-urlencode 'params={"field_value":30}'
{"results":[{"statement_id":0,"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","myfield","mytag1","mytag2"],"values":[["2017-03-01T00:16:18Z",33.1,null,null]]}]}]}
The request maps $field_value
to 30
.
The value 30
does not require double quotes because myfield
stores numerical field values.
Bind two parameters in the WHERE
clause to a specific tag value and numerical field value
$ curl -G 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas" WHERE "mytag1" = $tag_value AND "myfield" < $field_value' --data-urlencode 'params={"tag_value":"12","field_value":30}'
{"results":[{"statement_id":0,"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","myfield","mytag1","mytag2"],"values":[["2017-03-01T00:17:18Z",12.4,"12","14"]]}]}]}
The request maps $tag_value
to 12
and $field_value
to 30
.
Status codes and responses
Responses are returned in JSON.
Include the query string parameter pretty=true
to enable pretty-print JSON.
Summary table
HTTP status code | Description |
---|---|
200 OK | Success! The returned JSON offers further information. |
400 Bad Request | Unacceptable request. Can occur with a syntactically incorrect query. The returned JSON offers further information. |
401 Unauthorized | Unacceptable request. Can occur with invalid authentication credentials. |
Examples
A successful request that returns data
$ curl -i -G 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas"'
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Connection: close
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 19:22:54 GMT
Transfer-Encoding: chunked
{"results":[{"statement_id":0,"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","myfield","mytag1","mytag2"],"values":[["2017-03-01T00:16:18Z",33.1,null,null],["2017-03-01T00:17:18Z",12.4,"12","14"]]}]}]}
A successful request that returns an error
$ curl -i -G 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb1' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas"'
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Connection: close
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 19:23:48 GMT
Transfer-Encoding: chunked
{"results":[{"statement_id":0,"error":"database not found: mydb1"}]}
An incorrectly formatted query
$ curl -i -G 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT *'
HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 19:24:25 GMT
Content-Length: 76
{"error":"error parsing query: found EOF, expected FROM at line 1, char 9"}
Query data with invalid authentication credentials
$ curl -i -XPOST 'http://localhost:8086/query?u=myusername&p=notmypassword' --data-urlencode 'q=CREATE DATABASE "mydb"'
HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
Www-Authenticate: Basic realm="InfluxDB"
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 19:11:26 GMT
Content-Length: 33
{"error":"authorization failed"}
/write
HTTP endpoint
The /write
endpoint accepts POST
HTTP requests.
Use this endpoint to write data to a pre-existing database.
Definition
POST http://localhost:8086/write
Query string parameters
Query String Parameter | Optional/Required | Description |
---|---|---|
consistency=[any,one,quorum,all] | Optional, available with InfluxDB Enterprise clusters only. | Sets the write consistency for the point. InfluxDB assumes that the write consistency is one if you do not specify consistency . See the InfluxDB Enterprise documentation for detailed descriptions of each consistency option. |
db=<database> | Required | Sets the target database for the write. |
p=<password> | Optional if you haven’t enabled authentication. Required if you’ve enabled authentication.* | Sets the password for authentication if you’ve enabled authentication. Use with the query string parameter u . |
precision=[n,u,ms,s,m,h] | Optional | Sets the precision for the supplied Unix time values. InfluxDB assumes that timestamps are in nanoseconds if you do not specify precision .** |
rp=<retention_policy_name> | Optional | Sets the target retention policy for the write. InfluxDB writes to the DEFAULT retention policy if you do not specify a retention policy. |
u=<username> | Optional if you haven’t enabled authentication. Required if you’ve enabled authentication.* | Sets the username for authentication if you’ve enabled authentication. The user must have write access to the database. Use with the query string parameter p . |
* The InfluxDB API also supports basic authentication.
Use basic authentication if you’ve enabled authentication
and aren’t using the query string parameters u
and p
.
See below for an example of basic authentication.
** We recommend using the least precise precision possible as this can result in significant improvements in compression.
Examples
Write a point to the database mydb
with a timestamp in seconds
$ curl -i -XPOST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb&precision=s" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=90 1463683075'
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:33:23 GMT
Write a point to the database mydb
and the retention policy myrp
$ curl -i -XPOST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb&rp=myrp" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=90'
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:34:31 GMT
Write a point to the database mydb
using HTTP authentication
Valid credentials:
$ curl -i -XPOST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb&u=myusername&p=mypassword" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=91'
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:34:56 GMT
Invalid credentials:
$ curl -i -XPOST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb&u=myusername&p=notmypassword" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=91'
HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
Www-Authenticate: Basic realm="InfluxDB"
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:40:30 GMT
Content-Length: 33
{"error":"authorization failed"}
Write a point to the database mydb
using basic authentication
Valid credentials:
$ curl -i -XPOST -u myusername:mypassword "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=91'
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:36:40 GMT
Invalid credentials:
$ curl -i -XPOST -u myusername:notmypassword "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=91'
HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
Www-Authenticate: Basic realm="InfluxDB"
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:46:40 GMT
Content-Length: 33
{"error":"authorization failed"}
Request body
--data-binary '<Data in InfluxDB line protocol format>'
All data must be binary encoded and in the
InfluxDB line protocol format.
Our example shows the --data-binary
parameter from curl, which we will use in
all examples on this page.
Using any encoding method other than --data-binary
will likely lead to issues;
-d
, --data-urlencode
, and --data-ascii
may strip out newlines or
introduce new, unintended formatting.
Options:
-
Write several points to the database with one request by separating each point by a new line.
-
Write points from a file with the
@
flag. The file should contain a batch of points in the InfluxDB line protocol format. Individual points must be on their own line and separated by newline characters (\n
). Files containing carriage returns will cause parser errors.We recommend writing points in batches of 5,000 to 10,000 points. Smaller batches, and more HTTP requests, will result in sub-optimal performance.
Examples
Write a point to the database mydb
with a nanosecond timestamp
$ curl -i -XPOST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=90 1463683075000000000'
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 18:02:57 GMT
Write a point to the database mydb
with the local server’s nanosecond timestamp
$ curl -i -XPOST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=90'
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 18:03:44 GMT
Write several points to the database mydb
by separating points with a new line
$ curl -i -XPOST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=3 myfield=89 1463689152000000000
mymeas,mytag=2 myfield=34 1463689152000000000'
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 18:04:02 GMT
Write several points to the database mydb
from the file data.txt
$ curl -i -XPOST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb" --data-binary @data.txt
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Content-Type: application/json
Request-Id: [...]
X-Influxdb-Version: 1.8.10
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2017 18:08:11 GMT
A sample of the data in data.txt
:
mymeas,mytag1=1 value=21 1463689680000000000
mymeas,mytag1=1 value=34 1463689690000000000
mymeas,mytag2=8 value=78 1463689700000000000
mymeas,mytag3=9 value=89 1463689710000000000
Status codes and responses
In general, status codes of the form 2xx
indicate success, 4xx
indicate
that InfluxDB could not understand the request, and 5xx
indicate that the
system is overloaded or significantly impaired.
Errors are returned in JSON.
Summary table
HTTP status code | Description |
---|---|
204 No Content | Success! |
400 Bad Request | Unacceptable request. Can occur with an InfluxDB line protocol syntax error or if a user attempts to write values to a field that previously accepted a different value type. The returned JSON offers further information. |
401 Unauthorized | Unacceptable request. Can occur with invalid authentication credentials. |
404 Not Found | Unacceptable request. Can occur if a user attempts to write to a database that does not exist. The returned JSON offers further information. |
413 Request Entity Too Large | Unaccetable request. It will occur if the payload of the POST request is bigger than the maximum size allowed. See max-body-size parameter for more details. |
500 Internal Server Error | The system is overloaded or significantly impaired. Can occur if a user attempts to write to a retention policy that does not exist. The returned JSON offers further information. |
Examples
A successful write
HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Write a point with an incorrect timestamp
HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request
[...]
{"error":"unable to parse 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=91 abc123': bad timestamp"}
Write an integer to a field that previously accepted a float
HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request
[...]
{"error":"field type conflict: input field \"myfield\" on measurement \"mymeas\" is type int64, already exists as type float"}
Write a point with invalid authentication credentials
HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
[...]
{"error":"authorization failed"}
Write a point to a database that doesn’t exist
HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
[...]
{"error":"database not found: \"mydb1\""}
Send a request body that is too large
HTTP/2 413 Request Entity Too Large
[...]
{"error":"Request Entity Too Large"}
Write a point to a retention policy that doesn’t exist
HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error
[...]
{"error":"retention policy not found: myrp"}
Support and feedback
Thank you for being part of our community! We welcome and encourage your feedback and bug reports for InfluxDB and this documentation. To find support, the following resources are available:
InfluxDB Cloud and InfluxDB Enterprise customers can contact InfluxData Support.