Documentation

experimental.diff() function

experimental.diff() is subject to change at any time.

experimental.diff() takes two table streams as input and produces a diff.

experimental.diff() compares tables with the same group key. If compared tables are different, the function returns a table for that group key with one or more rows. If there are no differences, the function does not return a table for that group key.

Note: experimental.diff() cannot tell the difference between an empty table and a non-existent table.

Important: The output format of the diff is not considered stable and the algorithm used to produce the diff may change. The only guarantees are those mentioned above.

Function type signature
(<-got: stream[A], want: stream[A]) => stream[{A with _diff: string}]

For more information, see Function type signatures.

Parameters

want

(Required) Input stream for the - side of the diff.

got

Input stream for the + side of the diff.

Examples

Output a diff between two streams of tables

import "sampledata"
import "experimental"

want = sampledata.int()
got =
    sampledata.int()
        |> map(fn: (r) => ({r with _value: if r._value > 15 then r._value + 1 else r._value}))

experimental.diff(got: got, want: want)

View example input

Return a diff between a stream of tables and the expected output

import "experimental"

want = from(bucket: "backup-example-bucket") |> range(start: -5m)

from(bucket: "example-bucket")
    |> range(start: -5m)
    |> experimental.diff(want: want)

Was this page helpful?

Thank you for your feedback!


New in InfluxDB 3.6

Key enhancements in InfluxDB 3.6 and the InfluxDB 3 Explorer 1.4.

See the Blog Post

InfluxDB 3.6 is now available for both Core and Enterprise. This release introduces the 1.4 update to InfluxDB 3 Explorer, featuring the beta launch of Ask AI, along with new capabilities for simple startup and expanded functionality in the Processing Engine.

For more information, check out:

InfluxDB Docker latest tag changing to InfluxDB 3 Core

On February 3, 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