API Reference

The InfluxDB API provides a simple way interact with the database. It uses HTTP response codes, HTTP 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.

Endpoints

/ping

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

Example

Extract the version of your InfluxDB instance in the X-Influxdb-Version field of the header:

$ curl -sl -I localhost:8086/ping

HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Request-Id: 7d641f0b-e23b-11e5-8005-000000000000
X-Influxdb-Version: 0.13.x
Date: Fri, 04 Mar 2016 19:01:23 GMT

Status Codes and Responses

The response body is empty.

/query

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

* The only exceptions are SELECT queries that include an INTO clause. Those SELECT queries require a POST request.

Query String Parameters

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 will use in all examples on this page.

Delimit multiple queries with a semicolon.

Examples

Query data with a SELECT statement:

$ curl -GET 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas"'

{"results":[{"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","myfield","mytag1","mytag2"],"values":[["2016-05-20T21:30:00Z",12,"1",null],["2016-05-20T21:30:20Z",11,"2",null],["2016-05-20T21:30:40Z",18,null,"1"],["2016-05-20T21:31:00Z",19,null,"3"]]}]}]}

Query data with a SELECT statement and an INTO clause:

$ curl -POST 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * INTO "newmeas" FROM "mymeas"'

{"results":[{"series":[{"name":"result","columns":["time","written"],"values":[["1970-01-01T00:00:00Z",4]]}]}]}

Query data with a SELECT statement and return pretty-printed JSON:

$ curl -GET 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb&pretty=true' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas"'

{
    "results": [
        {
            "series": [
                {
                    "name": "mymeas",
                    "columns": [
                        "time",
                        "myfield",
                        "mytag1",
                        "mytag2"
                    ],
                    "values": [
                        [
                            "2016-05-20T21:30:00Z",
                            12,
                            "1",
                            null
                        ],
                        [
                            "2016-05-20T21:30:20Z",
                            11,
                            "2",
                            null
                        ],
                        [
                            "2016-05-20T21:30:40Z",
                            18,
                            null,
                            "1"
                        ],
                        [
                            "2016-05-20T21:31:00Z",
                            19,
                            null,
                            "3"
                        ]
                    ]
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Query data with a SELECT statement and return second precision epoch timestamps:

$ curl -GET 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb&epoch=s' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas"'

{"results":[{"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","myfield","mytag1","mytag2"],"values":[[1463779800,12,"1",null],[1463779820,11,"2",null],[1463779840,18,null,"1"],[1463779860,19,null,"3"]]}]}]}

Create a database:

$ curl -POST 'http://localhost:8086/query' --data-urlencode 'q=CREATE DATABASE mydb'

{"results":[{}]}

Create a database using HTTP authentication:

$ curl -POST 'http://localhost:8086/query?u=myusername&p=mypassword' --data-urlencode 'q=CREATE DATABASE mydb'

{"results":[{}]}

Send multiple queries:

$ curl -GET 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb&epoch=s' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas";SELECT mean("myfield") FROM "mymeas"'

{"results":[{"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","myfield","mytag1","mytag2"],"values":[[1463779800,12,"1",null],[1463779820,11,"2",null],[1463779840,18,null,"1"],[1463779860,19,null,"3"]]}]},{"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","mean"],"values":[[0,15]]}]}]}

Status codes and responses

Responses are returned in JSON. Enable pretty-print JSON by including the query string parameter pretty=true.

Summary Table

Examples

A successful request that returns data:

$ curl -i -GET 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas"'

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
[...]
{"results":[{"series":[{"name":"mymeas","columns":["time","myfield","mytag1","mytag2"],"values":[["2016-05-20T21:30:00Z",12,"1",null],["2016-05-20T21:30:20Z",11,"2",null],["2016-05-20T21:30:40Z",18,null,"1"],["2016-05-20T21:31:00Z",19,null,"3"]]}]}]}

A successful request that returns an error:

$ curl -i -GET 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb1' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM "mymeas"'

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
[...]
{"results":[{"error":"database not found: mydb1"}]}

An incorrectly formatted query:

$ curl -i -GET 'http://localhost:8086/query?db=mydb' --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT *'

HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request
[...]
{"error":"error parsing query: found EOF, expected FROM at line 1, char 9"}

/write

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

Request Body

--data-binary '<Data in Line Protocol format>'

All data must be binary encoded and in the 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 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 -POST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=90 1463683075000000000'

Write a point to the database mydb with the local server’s nanosecond timestamp:

$ curl -i -POST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=90'

Write a point to the database mydb with a timestamp in seconds:

$ curl -i -POST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb&precision=s" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=90 1463683075'

Write a point to the database mydb and the retention policy myrp:

$ curl -i -POST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb&rp=myrp" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=90'

Write a point to the database mydb using HTTP authentication:

$ curl -i -POST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb&u=myusername&p=mypassword" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=1 myfield=91'

Write several points to the database mydb by separating points with a new line:

$ curl -i -POST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb" --data-binary 'mymeas,mytag=3 myfield=89
mymeas,mytag=2 myfield=34 1463689152000000000'

Write several points to the database mydb from the file data.txt:

$ curl -i -POST "http://localhost:8086/write?db=mydb" --data-binary @data.txt

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

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 to a database that doesn’t exist:

HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
[...]
{"error":"database not found: \"mydb1\""}

Write a point to a retention policy that doesn’t exist:

HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error
[...]
{"error":"retention policy not found: myrp"}