InfluxDB Has a Free API — Here's How to Build Time-Series Dashboards in Minutes

#influxdb #timeseries #monitoring #devops

Why InfluxDB?

InfluxDB is the #1 time-series database. Purpose-built for metrics, events, and IoT data with a powerful query language (Flux) and built-in visualization.

InfluxDB Cloud free tier: unlimited series, 30-day retention, 5 dashboards, 5 MB/5 min write rate.

Getting Started

Option 1: InfluxDB Cloud (Free)

Option 2: Local (Docker)

docker run -d --name influxdb \
  -p 8086:8086 \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_MODE=setup \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_USERNAME=admin \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_PASSWORD=password123 \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_ORG=myorg \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_BUCKET=mybucket \
  -e DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_ADMIN_TOKEN=my-super-token \
  influxdb:latest

Python Client

from influxdb_client import InfluxDBClient, Point
from influxdb_client.client.write_api import SYNCHRONOUS
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
import random

client = InfluxDBClient(url="http://localhost:8086", token="my-super-token", org="myorg")
write_api = client.write_api(write_options=SYNCHRONOUS)
query_api = client.query_api()

# Write metrics
for i in range(100):
    point = Point("server_metrics") \
        .tag("host", f"server-{random.randint(1, 3)}") \
        .tag("region", random.choice(["us-east", "eu-west"])) \
        .field("cpu", random.uniform(10, 90)) \
        .field("memory", random.uniform(30, 85)) \
        .field("requests", random.randint(100, 5000)) \
        .time(datetime.utcnow() - timedelta(minutes=i))
    write_api.write(bucket="mybucket", record=point)

print("Wrote 100 data points")

# Query with Flux
query = '''
from(bucket: "mybucket")
  |> range(start: -1h)
  |> filter(fn: (r) => r._measurement == "server_metrics")
  |> filter(fn: (r) => r._field == "cpu")
  |> aggregateWindow(every: 5m, fn: mean)
  |> yield(name: "mean_cpu")
'''

tables = query_api.query(query)
for table in tables:
    for record in table.records:
        print(f"{record.get_time()} | {record.values.get('host')} | CPU: {record.get_value():.1f}%")

Node.js Client

const { InfluxDB, Point } = require("@influxdata/influxdb-client");

const influx = new InfluxDB({ url: "http://localhost:8086", token: "my-super-token" });
const writeApi = influx.getWriteApi("myorg", "mybucket");
const queryApi = influx.getQueryApi("myorg");

// Write data
const point = new Point("temperature")
  .tag("sensor", "living-room")
  .floatField("value", 22.5)
  .timestamp(new Date());

writeApi.writePoint(point);
await writeApi.close();

// Query
const query = `from(bucket: "mybucket")
  |> range(start: -24h)
  |> filter(fn: (r) => r._measurement == "temperature")
  |> aggregateWindow(every: 1h, fn: mean)`;

queryApi.queryRows(query, {
  next: (row, tableMeta) => {
    const data = tableMeta.toObject(row);
    console.log(`${data._time}: ${data._value.toFixed(1)}°C`);
  },
  complete: () => console.log("Done")
});

REST API (curl)

# Write data (line protocol)
curl -X POST 'http://localhost:8086/api/v2/write?org=myorg&bucket=mybucket' \
  -H 'Authorization: Token my-super-token' \
  -d 'temperature,sensor=outdoor value=18.5'

# Query data
curl -X POST 'http://localhost:8086/api/v2/query?org=myorg' \
  -H 'Authorization: Token my-super-token' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"query": "from(bucket: \"mybucket\") |> range(start: -1h)"}'

Use Cases

Server monitoring — CPU, memory, disk, network metrics
IoT — sensor data with automatic downsampling
Application performance — request latency, error rates, throughput
Business metrics — signups, revenue, conversions over time
Financial data — stock prices, crypto, with 1s+ resolution

Need to collect time-series data from the web? I build scrapers for price monitoring, metrics collection, and data pipelines. Check out my Apify actors or email spinov001@gmail.com for custom solutions.

What metrics are you tracking? Share below!

DEV Community