Create a token

Create API tokens using the InfluxDB user interface (UI), the influx command line interface (CLI), or the InfluxDB API.

To follow best practices for secure API token generation and retrieval, InfluxDB enforces access restrictions on API tokens.

Tokens are visible to the user who created the token.
InfluxDB only allows access to the API token value immediately after the token is created.
You can’t change access (read/write) permissions for an API token after it’s created.
Tokens stop working when the user who created the token is deleted.

We recommend the following for managing your tokens:

Create a generic user to create and manage tokens for writing data.
Store your tokens in a secure password vault for future access.

Manage tokens in the InfluxDB UI
Create a token in the InfluxDB UI
Create a token using the influx CLI
Create a token using the InfluxDB API

Manage tokens in the InfluxDB UI

To manage InfluxDB API Tokens in the InfluxDB UI, navigate to the API Tokens management page.

In the navigation menu on the left, select Load Data > API Tokens.

Load Data

Create a token in the InfluxDB UI

Create an all-access token

From the API Tokens management page, click the Generate API Token button.
Select All Access API Token.

Create a custom token

From the API Tokens management page, click the Generate API Token button.
Select Custom API Token.
When the Generate a Personal API Token window appears, enter a description. If you don’t provide a description for the token, InfluxDB will generate a description from the permissions you assign. For example, if you select Read for a bucket named “_monitoring” and Write for a bucket named “_tasks”, InfluxDB will generate the description “Read buckets _monitoring Write buckets _tasks”.
Select the check boxes in the Read and Write columns to assign access permissions for the token. You can enable access to all buckets, individual buckets, Telegraf configurations, and other InfluxDB resources. By default, the new token has no access permissions.
When you’re finished, click Generate.
When InfluxDB displays the token value, click Copy to Clipboard. This is your only chance to access and copy the token value from InfluxDB.
(Optional) Store the API token value in a secure password vault.

Clone a token

To create a token with the same authorizations as an existing token, clone the existing token.

From the API Tokens management page, find the token you want to clone and click the icon located far right of the token description.
Select Clone.
When InfluxDB UI displays the created token, click Copy to Clipboard. This is your only chance to access and copy the token value from InfluxDB.
(Optional) Store the API token value in a secure password vault.

Create a token using the influx CLI

InfluxDB 2.4 introduced a bug that prevents you from creating an all-access or operator token using the influx auth create command, and causes the following error: Error: could not write auth with provided arguments: 403 Forbidden: permission.

Until this bug is resolved in the next influx CLI release, please use the workaround below to create an all-access or operator token.

Workaround: To create an all-access or operator token

Use the following command to create an all-access or operator token. For an operator token, you must also include the --read-orgs and --write-orgs flags.

influx auth create    
                      --org-id or --org              \
                      --read-authorizations          \
                      --write-authorizations         \
                      --read-buckets                 \
                      --write-buckets                \
                      --read-dashboards              \
                      --write-dashboards             \
                      --read-tasks                   \
                      --write-tasks                  \
                      --read-telegrafs               \
                      --write-telegrafs              \
                      --read-users                   \
                      --write-users                  \
                      --read-variables               \
                      --write-variables              \
                      --read-secrets                 \
                      --write-secrets                \
                      --read-labels                  \
                      --write-labels                 \
                      --read-views                   \
                      --write-views                  \
                      --read-documents               \
                      --write-documents              \
                      --read-notificationRules       \
                      --write-notificationRules      \
                      --read-notificationEndpoints   \
                      --write-notificationEndpoints  \
                      --read-checks                  \
                      --write-checks                 \
                      --read-dbrp                    \
                      --write-dbrp                   \
                      --read-annotations             \
                      --write-annotations            \
                      --read-sources                 \
                      --write-sources                \
                      --read-scrapers                \
                      --write-scrapers               \
                      --read-notebooks               \
                      --write-notebooks              \
                      --read-remotes                 \
                      --write-remotes                \
                      --read-replications            \
                      --write-replications

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Support and feedback

Thank you for being part of our community! We welcome and encourage your feedback and bug reports for InfluxDB and this documentation. To find support, use the following resources:

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