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Get started with InfluxDB 3 Explorer

content/influxdb3/explorer/get-started.md

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Get started with {{% product-name %}} by connecting it to an InfluxDB 3 instance, writing data to InfluxDB, and then querying that data. This guide walks you through each of those steps.

  1. Connect to an InfluxDB 3 server
  2. Write data to InfluxDB
  3. Query data from InfluxDB

[!Note] This guide assumes you have already installed {{% product-name %}}.

Connect to an InfluxDB 3 server

InfluxDB 3 Explorer supports the following InfluxDB 3 products:

  1. Navigate to Configure > Servers.

  2. Click + Connect Your First Server.

  3. Provide the following InfluxDB 3 server information:

    • Server name: A name to identify the InfluxDB 3 server you're connecting to.

    • Server URL: The URL used to connect to your InfluxDB 3 server.

      • The URL depends on how and where your InfluxDB 3 instance is running. See When to use host.docker.internal for more information.
      • Select the protocol to use (http or https).
      • Provide the host and, if necessary, the port.

      [!Note]

      When to use host.docker.internal

      If your InfluxDB 3 instance is running in Docker (not the same container as Explorer), use host.docker.internal as your server host to allow the Explorer container to connect to the InfluxDB container on the host--for example:

      txt
      "DEFAULT_INFLUX_SERVER": "http://host.docker.internal:8181"
      • If both Explorer and InfluxDB are in the same Docker network, use the container name instead.
      • If InfluxDB is running natively on your machine (not in Docker), use localhost.

      For more information, see the Docker networking documentation.

    • Token: The authorization token to use to connect to your InfluxDB 3 server. We recommend using an InfluxDB 3 admin token.

      [!Important]

      Token permissions may limit Explorer functionality

      The permissions associated with the provided token determine what databases you can access using this server configuration. InfluxDB 3 tokens with limited permissions may not be able to use some Explorer functionality.

  4. Click Add Server.

InfluxDB 3 Explorer attempts to verify the connection. If successful, Explorer saves the server configuration and selects it as the active server.

[!Note] If you already have data in your InfluxDB 3 instance, skip to Query data from InfluxDB.

Write data to InfluxDB

{{% product-name %}} lets you write data to InfluxDB 3 and provides multiple options. For this getting started guide, use Explorer to write one of the sample data sets to InfluxDB:

  1. Navigate to Write Data > Sample/Dev Data.
  2. Select any of the available sample data sets.
  3. Click Write Sample Data.

{{% product-name %}} creates a new database and then writes the sample data to the database.

Other write methods

{{% product-name %}} provides other ways to write data to InfluxDB, including the following:

  • Line protocol
  • CSV or JSON
  • InfluxDB 3 client libraries
  • Telegraf

Query data from InfluxDB

To use {{% product-name %}} to query data from InfluxDB 3, navigate to Query Data > Data Explorer.

The Data Explorer lets you explore the schema of your database and automatically builds SQL queries by either selecting columns in the Schema Browser or by using Natural Language with the {{% product-name %}} AI integration.

For this getting started guide, use the Schema Browser to build a SQL query that returns data from the newly written sample data set.

  1. On the Data Explorer in the Schema column, select the database you want to query from the database dropdown menu. Once selected, all tables in the database appear.
  2. Click the name of the table you want to query to expand and view all the columns in that table.
  3. Select each column you want to query. As you select columns in the Schema Browser, Explorer generates and updates an SQL query in the Query pane.
  4. Use the time range dropdown menu above the Query pane to select a time range to query. You can select one of the predefined relative time ranges, or you can select Custom Range to define an absolute time range to query.
  5. With columns and a time range selected, click Run Query.

{{% product-name %}} runs the query and returns the results in the Results pane. The Results pane provides three view options:

  • Table (default): Displays raw query results in paginated table format.
  • Line: Displays query results in a line graph.
  • Bar: Displays query results in a bar graph.

[!Tip] SQL query results may not be ordered by time and Line and Bar graph visualizations may behave unexpectedly. To order results by time:

  • Ensure that you query the time column
  • Update the query to include an ORDER BY time clause.

You have successfully used {{% product-name %}} to connect to, write data to, and query data from an InfluxDB 3 instance.

Video walkthrough

{{< youtube "zW2Hi1Ki4Eo" >}}

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