---
title: Manage databases
description: An InfluxDB 3 Core database is a named location where time series data is stored. Each database can contain multiple tables.
url: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/core/admin/databases/
estimated_tokens: 2882
product: InfluxDB 3 Core
version: core
---

# Manage databases

An InfluxDB 3 Core database is a named location where time series data is stored. Each database can contain multiple tables.

**If coming from InfluxDB v1**, the concepts of databases and retention policies have been combined into a single concept–database. Retention policies are no longer part of the InfluxDB data model. However, InfluxDB 3 Core does support InfluxQL, which requires databases and retention policies. See [InfluxQL DBRP naming convention](/influxdb3/core/admin/databases/create/#influxql-dbrp-naming-convention).

**If coming from InfluxDB v2, InfluxDB Cloud (TSM), or InfluxDB Cloud Serverless**, *database* and *bucket* are synonymous.

## Retention periods

A database **retention period** is the maximum age of data stored in the database. The age of data is determined by the timestamp associated with each point. When a point’s timestamp is beyond the retention period (relative to now), the point is not queryable and will be deleted.

By default, data does not expire. When you [create a database](/influxdb3/core/admin/databases/create/), you can optionally set a retention period. The minimum practical retention period is 1 hour (`1h`).

For complete details about retention periods, including duration formats and limitations, see [Data retention in InfluxDB 3 Core](/influxdb3/core/reference/internals/data-retention/).

## Database, table, and column limits

InfluxDB 3 Core places the following limits on databases, tables, and columns:

### Database limit

**Maximum number of databases**: 5

### Table limit

**Maximum number of tables across all databases**: 2000

InfluxDB 3 Core limits the number of tables you can have across *all* databases to 2000 .

InfluxDB doesn’t limit how many tables you can have in an individual database, as long as the total across all databases is below the limit.

Having more tables affects your InfluxDB 3 Core installation in the following ways:

[](#may-improve-query-performance-view-more-info)

**May improve query performance** *View more info*

Schemas with many tables that contain [focused sets of tags and fields](/influxdb3/core/write-data/best-practices/schema-design/#design-for-performance) can make it easier for the query engine to identify what Parquet files contain the queried data, resulting in better query performance.

[](#more-puts-into-object-storage-view-more-info)

**More PUTs into object storage** *View more info*

When using cloud-based object storage as your data backend, the more tables you have, the more `PUT` requests there are into your object store as InfluxDB persists data to Parquet files. Each `PUT` request incurs a monetary cost and increases the operating cost of InfluxDB 3 Core.

### Column limit

**Maximum number of columns per table**: 500

Each row must include a time column, with the remaining columns representing tags and fields. As a result, a table can have one time column and up to 499 *combined* field and tag columns. If you attempt to write to a table and exceed the column limit, the write request fails and InfluxDB returns an error.

Higher numbers of columns has the following side-effects:

[](#may-adversely-affect-system-performance)

May adversely affect system performance

InfluxData identified 500 columns as the safe limit for maintaining system performance and stability. Exceeding this threshold can result in [wide schemas](/influxdb3/core/write-data/best-practices/schema-design/#avoid-wide-schemas), which can negatively impact performance and resource use, depending on your queries, the shape of your schema, and data types in the schema.

## [Create a database](/influxdb3/core/admin/databases/create/)

Use the influxdb3 CLI, HTTP API, or InfluxDB 3 Explorer to create a new database in InfluxDB 3 Core.

```sh
# influxdb3 CLI
influxdb3 create database \
  --retention-period 30d \
  DATABASE_NAME

# HTTP API
curl --request POST "http://localhost:8181/api/v3/configure/database" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer AUTH_TOKEN" \
  --data '{
    "db": "DATABASE_NAME",
    "retention_period": "30d"
  }'
```

[Read more](/influxdb3/core/admin/databases/create/)

## [List databases](/influxdb3/core/admin/databases/list/)

Use the influxdb3 CLI, HTTP API, or InfluxDB 3 Explorer to list databases in InfluxDB 3 Core.

```sh
# influxdb3 CLI
influxdb3 show databases

# HTTP API
curl --request GET "http://localhost:8181/api/v3/configure/database" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer AUTH_TOKEN"
```

[Read more](/influxdb3/core/admin/databases/list/)

## [Delete a database](/influxdb3/core/admin/databases/delete/)

Use the influxdb3 CLI, HTTP API, or InfluxDB 3 Explorer to delete a database from InfluxDB 3 Core.

```sh
# influxdb3 CLI
influxdb3 delete database DATABASE_NAME

# HTTP API
curl --request DELETE "http://localhost:8181/api/v3/configure/database?db=DATABASE_NAME" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer AUTH_TOKEN"
```

[Read more](/influxdb3/core/admin/databases/delete/)

#### Related

-   [InfluxDB schema design recommendations](/influxdb3/core/write-data/best-practices/schema-design/)
-   [influxdb3 CLI](/influxdb3/core/reference/cli/influxdb3/)
-   [Database API reference](/influxdb3/core/api/v3/#tag/Database)
-   [Data retention in InfluxDB 3 Core](/influxdb3/core/reference/internals/data-retention/)
-   [Manage databases with InfluxDB 3 Explorer](/influxdb3/explorer/manage-databases/)

[databases](/influxdb3/core/tags/databases/)