Documentation

Manage tokens

Manage tokens to authenticate and authorize access to server actions, resources, and data in your InfluxDB 3 Enterprise instance.

Provide your token

If you start the InfluxDB 3 Enterprise server with authentication enabled (the default), future server actions (CLI commands and HTTP API requests) require a valid token for authorization.

The first admin token you create is the operator token (named _admin), which has full administrative privileges. You can use the operator token to authenticate your requests and manage additional authorization tokens.

The mechanism for providing your token depends on the client you use to interact with InfluxDB 3 Enterprise–for example:

When using the influxdb3 CLI, you can set the INFLUXDB3_AUTH_TOKEN environment variable to automatically provide your authorization token to all influxdb3 commands–for example:

# Export your token as an environment variable
export INFLUXDB3_AUTH_TOKEN=
YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN
# Run an influxdb3 command influxdb3 query \ --database DATABASE_NAME \ "SELECT * FROM 'DATABASE_NAME' WHERE time > now() - INTERVAL '10 minutes'"

To specify a token in the command and override the environment variable, pass the --token option with your authorization token–for example:

# Include the --token option in your influxdb3 command
influxdb3 query \
  --token 
YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN
\
--database DATABASE_NAME \ "SELECT * FROM 'DATABASE_NAME' WHERE time > now() - INTERVAL '10 minutes'"

You can also set the INFLUXDB3_AUTH_TOKEN environment variable to automatically provide your authorization token to all influxdb3 commands.

To authenticate directly to the HTTP API, you can include your authorization token in the HTTP Authorization header of your request. The Authorization: Bearer AUTH_TOKEN scheme works with all HTTP API endpoints that require authentication.

The following examples use curl to show to authenticate to the HTTP API.

# Add your token to the HTTP Authorization header
curl "http://localhost:8181/api/v3/query_sql" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer 
AUTH_TOKEN
"
\
--data-urlencode "db=DATABASE_NAME" \ --data-urlencode "q=SELECT * FROM 'DATABASE_NAME' WHERE time > now() - INTERVAL '10 minutes'"

Authenticate using v1 and v2 compatibility

InfluxDB 3 provides compatibility with InfluxDB v1 and v2 APIs, allowing you to use the same authentication methods as in those versions. With InfluxDB v1-compatible endpoints in InfluxDB 3, you can use database tokens in InfluxDB 1.x username and password scheme. With the InfluxDB v2-compatible /api/v2/write endpoint, you can use tokens in the InfluxDB v2 Authorization: Token scheme or in the OAuth Authorization: Bearer scheme.

The following examples show how to authenticate with the InfluxDB v1-compatible and v2-compatible APIs in InfluxDB 3:

# Token scheme with v2 /api/v2/write
curl http://localhost:8181/api/v2/write\?bucket\=DATABASE_NAME \
  --header "Authorization: Token 
AUTH_TOKEN
"
\
--data-raw "home,room=Kitchen temp=23.5 1622547800"
# Basic scheme with v1 /write
# Username is ignored, but required for the request
# Password is your auth token encoded in base64
curl "http://localhost:8181/write?db=DATABASE_NAME" \
  --user "any:
AUTH_TOKEN
"
\
--data-raw "home,room=Kitchen temp=23.5 1622547800"
# URL auth parameters with v1 /write
# Username is ignored, but required for the request
curl "http://localhost:8181/write?db=DATABASE_NAME&u=any&p=
AUTH_TOKEN
"
\
--data-raw "home,room=Kitchen temp=23.5 1622547800"

Replace the following with your values:

  • AUTH_TOKEN: your token

  • DATABASE_NAME: the name of the database you want to query

To use tokens with other clients for InfluxDB 3 Enterprise, see the client-specific documentation:


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InfluxDB OSS 2.9.0: API tokens are hashed by default

Stronger token security in InfluxDB OSS 2.9.0 — tokens are hashed on disk by default. Existing tokens are hashed on first startup and can’t be recovered afterward. Capture any plaintext tokens you still need before you upgrade.

View InfluxDB OSS 2.9.0 release notes

Hashed tokens authenticate exactly like unhashed tokens — clients and integrations keep working.

Also new in 2.9.0:

  • Configurable backup compression
  • Restore support for backups containing hashed tokens
  • Tighter Edge Data Replication queue validation
  • Flux upgrade
  • Compaction reliability improvements

Key enhancements in Explorer 1.8

Explorer 1.8 is now available with streaming data subscriptions (beta), line protocol preview, and query history & saved queries.

View Explorer 1.8 release notes

Explorer 1.8 includes new features and improvements that make it easier to ingest, explore, and manage data.

Highlights:

  • Streaming data subscriptions (beta): Stream data into Explorer from MQTT, Kafka, and AMQP sources.
  • Line protocol preview: Preview line protocol, schema, and parse errors before data is written.
  • Custom sample data: Generate custom sample datasets with line protocol and schema preview.
  • Query history and saved queries: Browse query history and save/re-run named queries.
  • Retention period management: Set, update, or clear retention periods on databases and tables.

For more details, see Explorer 1.8 release notes

InfluxDB 3.10 is now available

InfluxDB 3 Core 3.10 adds an automatic catalog format upgrade, a configurable query-concurrency limit, and processing engine improvements.

Key updates in InfluxDB 3 Core 3.10:

  • Catalog format upgrade: the on-disk catalog automatically upgrades from format v2 to v3 on first 3.10 startup. Migration is one-way—back up your catalog before upgrading.
  • --max-concurrent-queries: limit concurrent queries (adjustable at runtime).
  • GET /ready endpoint for readiness probes.
  • Processing engine: cross-database queries and trigger lockdown flags.

For more information, see the InfluxDB 3 Core release notes.

InfluxDB 3.10 is now available

InfluxDB 3 Enterprise 3.10 adds automated backup and restore, row-level deletions, and user management, with an automatic catalog format upgrade and performance preview improvements.

Key updates in InfluxDB 3 Enterprise 3.10:

  • Catalog format upgrade: the on-disk catalog automatically upgrades from format v2 to v3 on first 3.10 startup. Migration is one-way—back up your catalog before upgrading.
  • Automated backup and restore (beta)
  • Row-level deletions
  • User management (authentication and RBAC) — preview
  • Performance preview improvements

Backup and restore, row-level deletions, and the performance preview require the Enterprise storage engine upgrade (opt-in beta). Beta and preview features are subject to breaking changes and aren’t recommended for production use.

For more information, see the InfluxDB 3 Enterprise release notes

Telegraf Enterprise now in public beta

Get early access to the Telegraf Controller and provide feedback to help shape the future of Telegraf Enterprise.

See the Blog Post

The upcoming Telegraf Enterprise offering is for organizations running Telegraf at scale and is comprised of two key components:

  • Telegraf Controller: A control plane (UI + API) that centralizes Telegraf configuration management and agent health visibility.
  • Telegraf Enterprise Support: Official support for Telegraf Controller and Telegraf plugins.

Join the Telegraf Enterprise beta to get early access to the Telegraf Controller and provide feedback to help shape the future of Telegraf Enterprise.

For more information:

Telegraf Controller v0.0.7-beta now available

Telegraf Controller v0.0.7-beta is now available with new features, improvements, bug fixes, and an important breaking change.

View the release notes
Download Telegraf Controller v0.0.7-beta

InfluxDB Docker latest tag changing to InfluxDB 3 Core

On September 15, 2026, the latest tag for InfluxDB Docker images will point to InfluxDB 3 Core. To avoid unexpected upgrades, use specific version tags in your Docker deployments.

If using Docker to install and run InfluxDB, the latest tag will point to InfluxDB 3 Core. To avoid unexpected upgrades, use specific version tags in your Docker deployments. For example, if using Docker to run InfluxDB v2, replace the latest version tag with a specific version tag in your Docker pull command–for example:

docker pull influxdb:2