Use the InfluxDB 3 MCP server

The InfluxDB Model Context Protocol (MCP) server lets you interact with InfluxDB 3 Core using natural language with large language model (LLM) agents. It enables database management, token handling, and SQL query generation in plain English—no coding required.

This guide walks you through configuring your LLM agent to run and use the InfluxDB MCP server to interact with your InfluxDB 3 Core server.

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18+ (if using npx to run the MCP server)

• Docker (if using Docker to run the MCP server)

• A running and reachable InfluxDB 3 Core server.

• A valid InfluxDB 3 Core admin token

• (Optional) An LLM assistant like Claude Desktop, ChatGPT Desktop, etc.

Configure the MCP server

Use environment variables to configure the InfluxDB 3 MCP server and connect it to your InfluxDB 3 Core server. Set the following environment variables when you start the MCP server:

Required InfluxDB connection variables

• INFLUX_DB_PRODUCT_TYPE: core

• INFLUX_DB_INSTANCE_URL: Your InfluxDB 3 Core URL–for example:

  http://localhost:8181

  If using Docker to run the InfluxDB MCP server and you want to manage an InfluxDB instance running on localhost, use the internal Docker network to connect to your local InfluxDB 3 Core server–for example:

  http://host.docker.internal:8181/

• INFLUX_DB_TOKEN: Your InfluxDB 3 Core admin token

Configure your LLM agent to run the MCP server

To run the MCP, user either Node.js and npm or Docker to run the server. Some LLM agents, like Claude Desktop, start, run, and connect to the MCP server for you:

The following instructions provide information for how to configure Claude Desktop to use the InfluxDB MCP server.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "influxdb": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/
path/to
/influxdb3_mcp_server/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "INFLUX_DB_PRODUCT_TYPE": "core",
        "INFLUX_DB_INSTANCE_URL": "http://localhost:8181",
        "INFLUX_DB_TOKEN": "
AUTH_TOKEN
"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
      "influxdb": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--rm",
        "--interactive",
        "--env",
        "INFLUX_DB_PRODUCT_TYPE",
        "--env",
        "INFLUX_DB_INSTANCE_URL",
        "--env",
        "INFLUX_DB_TOKEN",
        "influxdata/influxdb3-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "INFLUX_DB_PRODUCT_TYPE": "core",
        "INFLUX_DB_INSTANCE_URL": "http://localhost:8181",
        "INFLUX_DB_TOKEN": "
AUTH_TOKEN
"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
      "influxdb": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--rm",
        "--interactive",
        "--add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway"
        "--env",
        "INFLUX_DB_PRODUCT_TYPE",
        "--env",
        "INFLUX_DB_INSTANCE_URL",
        "--env",
        "INFLUX_DB_TOKEN",
        "influxdata/influxdb3-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "INFLUX_DB_PRODUCT_TYPE": "core",
        "INFLUX_DB_INSTANCE_URL": "http://host.docker.internal:8181",
        "INFLUX_DB_TOKEN": "
AUTH_TOKEN
"
      }
    }
  }
}

Supported Features

Once connected, you can use your LLM agent to perform tasks on your InfluxDB 3 Core server, including:

• Create, update, and delete databases
• List tables and inspect schemas
• Create and manage tokens
• Query data without writing SQL or InfluxQL
• Check server health and connection status

Examples of supported prompts

“List all tables in the production database.”

“Create a read-only token for the metrics database.”

“Analyze last week’s sensor data for anomalies.”

“Create a new database called iot_sensors with a 30-day retention policy.”

“Show me the schema for the sensor_data table.”