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{{% product-name %}} is designed for high write-throughput and uses an efficient, human-readable write syntax called line protocol. InfluxDB is a schema-on-write database, meaning you can start writing data and InfluxDB creates the logical database, tables, and their schemas automatically, without any required intervention. Once InfluxDB creates the schema, it validates future write requests against the schema before accepting new data. Both new tags and fields can be added later as your schema changes.

{{% show-in "core" %}}

[!Note]

InfluxDB 3 Core is optimized for recent data

{{% product-name %}} is optimized for recent data but accepts writes from any time period. The system persists data to Parquet files for historical analysis with InfluxDB 3 Enterprise or third-party tools. For extended historical queries and optimized data organization, consider using InfluxDB 3 Enterprise. {{% /show-in %}}

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Line protocol

{{% product-name %}} accepts data in line protocol syntax. Line protocol consists of the following elements:

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{{< req type="key" >}}

  • {{< req "*" >}} table: A string that identifies the table to store the data in.

  • tag set: Comma-delimited list of key value pairs, each representing a tag. Tag keys and values are unquoted strings. Spaces, commas, and equal characters must be escaped.

  • {{< req "*" >}} field set: Comma-delimited list of key value pairs, each representing a field. Field keys are unquoted strings. Spaces and commas must be escaped. Field values can be one of the following types:

  • timestamp: Unix timestamp associated with the data. InfluxDB supports up to nanosecond precision.

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{{< expand-wrapper >}} {{% expand "How are InfluxDB line protocol elements parsed?" %}}

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  • table: Everything before the first unescaped comma before the first whitespace.
  • tag set: Key-value pairs between the first unescaped comma and the first unescaped whitespace.
  • field set: Key-value pairs between the first and second unescaped whitespaces.
  • timestamp: Integer value after the second unescaped whitespace.
  • Lines are separated by the newline character (\n). Line protocol is whitespace sensitive.
<!-- vale InfluxDataDocs.v3Schema = YES -->

{{% /expand %}} {{< /expand-wrapper >}}

For schema design recommendations, see InfluxDB schema design recomendations.

{{< influxdb/line-protocol version="v3" >}}

Construct line protocol

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With a basic understanding of line protocol, you can now construct line protocol and write data to {{% product-name %}}. Consider a use case where you collect data from sensors in your home. Each sensor collects temperature, humidity, and carbon monoxide readings. To collect this data, use the following schema:

  • table: home
    • tags
      • room: Living Room or Kitchen
    • fields
      • temp: temperature in °C (float)
      • hum: percent humidity (float)
      • co: carbon monoxide in parts per million (integer)
    • timestamp: Unix timestamp in second precision
    <!-- vale InfluxDataDocs.v3Schema = YES -->

The following line protocol sample represents data collected hourly beginning at {{% influxdb/custom-timestamps-span %}}2022-01-01T08:00:00Z (UTC) until 2022-01-01T20:00:00Z (UTC){{% /influxdb/custom-timestamps-span %}}. These timestamps are dynamic and can be updated by clicking the {{% icon "clock" %}} icon in the bottom right corner.

{{% influxdb/custom-timestamps %}}

Home sensor data line protocol
text
home,room=Living\ Room temp=21.1,hum=35.9,co=0i 1641024000
home,room=Kitchen temp=21.0,hum=35.9,co=0i 1641024000
home,room=Living\ Room temp=21.4,hum=35.9,co=0i 1641027600
home,room=Kitchen temp=23.0,hum=36.2,co=0i 1641027600
home,room=Living\ Room temp=21.8,hum=36.0,co=0i 1641031200
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.7,hum=36.1,co=0i 1641031200
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.2,hum=36.0,co=0i 1641034800
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.4,hum=36.0,co=0i 1641034800
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.2,hum=35.9,co=0i 1641038400
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.5,hum=36.0,co=0i 1641038400
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.4,hum=36.0,co=0i 1641042000
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.8,hum=36.5,co=1i 1641042000
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.3,hum=36.1,co=0i 1641045600
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.8,hum=36.3,co=1i 1641045600
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.3,hum=36.1,co=1i 1641049200
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.7,hum=36.2,co=3i 1641049200
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.4,hum=36.0,co=4i 1641052800
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.4,hum=36.0,co=7i 1641052800
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.6,hum=35.9,co=5i 1641056400
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.7,hum=36.0,co=9i 1641056400
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.8,hum=36.2,co=9i 1641060000
home,room=Kitchen temp=23.3,hum=36.9,co=18i 1641060000
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.5,hum=36.3,co=14i 1641063600
home,room=Kitchen temp=23.1,hum=36.6,co=22i 1641063600
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.2,hum=36.4,co=17i 1641067200
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.7,hum=36.5,co=26i 1641067200

{{% /influxdb/custom-timestamps %}}

Write data using the CLI

To quickly get started writing data, use the influxdb3 write command. Include the following:

  • --database option that identifies the target database
  • --token option that specifies the token to use (unless the INFLUXDB3_AUTH_TOKEN environment variable is already set)
  • Quoted line protocol data via standard input (stdin)

{{% code-placeholders "DATABASE_NAME|AUTH_TOKEN" %}}

bash
influxdb3 write \
  --database DATABASE_NAME \
  --token AUTH_TOKEN \
  --precision s \
'home,room=Living\ Room temp=21.1,hum=35.9,co=0i 1641024000
home,room=Kitchen temp=21.0,hum=35.9,co=0i 1641024000
home,room=Living\ Room temp=21.4,hum=35.9,co=0i 1641027600
home,room=Kitchen temp=23.0,hum=36.2,co=0i 1641027600
home,room=Living\ Room temp=21.8,hum=36.0,co=0i 1641031200
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.7,hum=36.1,co=0i 1641031200
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.2,hum=36.0,co=0i 1641034800
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.4,hum=36.0,co=0i 1641034800
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.2,hum=35.9,co=0i 1641038400
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.5,hum=36.0,co=0i 1641038400
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.4,hum=36.0,co=0i 1641042000
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.8,hum=36.5,co=1i 1641042000
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.3,hum=36.1,co=0i 1641045600
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.8,hum=36.3,co=1i 1641045600
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.3,hum=36.1,co=1i 1641049200
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.7,hum=36.2,co=3i 1641049200
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.4,hum=36.0,co=4i 1641052800
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.4,hum=36.0,co=7i 1641052800
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.6,hum=35.9,co=5i 1641056400
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.7,hum=36.0,co=9i 1641056400
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.8,hum=36.2,co=9i 1641060000
home,room=Kitchen temp=23.3,hum=36.9,co=18i 1641060000
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.5,hum=36.3,co=14i 1641063600
home,room=Kitchen temp=23.1,hum=36.6,co=22i 1641063600
home,room=Living\ Room temp=22.2,hum=36.4,co=17i 1641067200
home,room=Kitchen temp=22.7,hum=36.5,co=26i 1641067200'

{{% /code-placeholders %}}

In the code samples, replace the following placeholders with your values:

  • {{% code-placeholder-key %}}DATABASE_NAME{{% /code-placeholder-key %}}: the name of the database to write to
  • {{% code-placeholder-key %}}AUTH_TOKEN{{% /code-placeholder-key %}}: your {{% token-link "database" %}}{{% show-in "enterprise" %}} with permission to write to the specified database{{% /show-in %}}

Write data from a file

To write line protocol you have saved to a file, pass the --file option--for example, save the sample line protocol to a file named sensor_data and then enter the following command:

{{% code-placeholders "DATABASE_NAME|AUTH_TOKEN" %}}

bash
influxdb3 write \
  --database DATABASE_NAME \
  --token AUTH_TOKEN \
  --precision s \ 
  --accept-partial \
  --file path/to/sensor_data

{{% /code-placeholders %}}

Replace the following placeholders with your values:

  • {{% code-placeholder-key %}}DATABASE_NAME{{% /code-placeholder-key %}}: the name of the database to write to.
  • {{% code-placeholder-key %}}AUTH_TOKEN{{% /code-placeholder-key %}}: your {{% token-link "database" %}}{{% show-in "enterprise" %}} with permission to write to the specified database{{% /show-in %}}

Other tools for writing data

There are many ways to write data to your {{% product-name %}} database, including:

  • InfluxDB HTTP API: Recommended for batching and higher-volume write workloads.
  • InfluxDB client libraries: Client libraries that integrate with your code to construct data as time series points and write the data as line protocol to your {{% product-name %}} database.
  • Telegraf: A data collection agent with over 300 plugins for collecting, processing, and writing data.

For more information, see Write data to {{% product-name %}}.

{{% show-in "enterprise" %}} {{% page-nav prev="/influxdb3/version/get-started/multi-server/" prevText="Create a multi-node cluster" next="/influxdb3/version/get-started/query/" nextText="Query data" %}} {{% /show-in %}}

{{% show-in "core" %}} {{% page-nav prev="/influxdb3/version/get-started/setup/" prevText="Set up InfluxDB" next="/influxdb3/version/get-started/query/" nextText="Query data" %}} {{% /show-in %}}