Delete Predicate

InfluxDB uses an InfluxQL-like predicate syntax to determine what data points to delete. InfluxDB uses the delete predicate to evaluate the series keys of points in the time range specified in the delete request. Points with series keys that evaluate to true for the given predicate are deleted. Points with series keys that evaluate to false are preserved.

A delete predicate is comprised of one or more predicate expressions. The left operand of the predicate expression is the column name. The right operand is the column value. Operands are compared using comparison operators. Use logical operators to combine two or more predicate expressions.

Example delete predicate

key1="value1" AND key2="value"

{{% note %}}

Predicates with special characters or keywords

If your predicate contains keywords or strings with special characters, wrap each in escaped quotes to ensure the predicate string is parsed correctly.

Because delete predicates follow InfluxQL syntax, any InfluxQL keyword that matches your tag name needs to be escaped. Keywords are case-insensitive.

// Escaped due to the "-"
"_measurement=\"example-dash\""

// Escaped because "Name" is a keyword
"_measurement=example and \"Name\"=predicate"

{{% /note %}}

{{% warn %}}

Column limitations when deleting data

InfluxDB {{< current-version >}} supports deleting data by any column or tag except the following:

• _time {{% show-in "v2" %}}- _field{{% /show-in %}}
• _value

{{% show-in "v2" %}}

InfluxDB {{< current-version >}} does not support deleting data by field.

{{% /show-in %}}

{{% /warn %}}

Logical operators

Logical operators join two or more predicate expressions.

Comparison operators

Comparison operators compare left and right operands and return true or false.

Delete predicate examples

• Delete points by measurement {{% show-in "cloud,cloud-serverless" %}}- Delete points by field{{% /show-in %}}
• Delete points by tag set

Delete points by measurement

The following will delete points in the sensorData measurement:

_measurement="sensorData"

{{% show-in "cloud,cloud-serverless" %}}

Delete points by field

The following will delete points with the temperature field:

_field="temperature"

{{% /show-in %}}

Delete points by tag set

The following will delete points from the prod-1.4 host in the us-west region:

host="prod-1.4" AND region="us-west"

Limitations

The delete predicate syntax has the following limitations.

• Delete predicates do not support regular expressions.
• Delete predicates do not support the OR logical operator.
• Delete predicates only support equality (=), not inequality (!=).
• Delete predicates can use any column or tag except _time {{% show-in "v2" %}}, _field, {{% /show-in %}}or _value.