Create a table

Use the influxdb3 create table command or the HTTP API to create a table in a specified database in InfluxDB 3 Enterprise.

With InfluxDB 3 Enterprise, tables and measurements are synonymous. Typically, tables are created automatically on write using the table name specified in line protocol written to InfluxDB. However, you can manually create tables to define a custom schema or apply custom settings before writing data.

• Create a table using the influxdb3 CLI

• Create a table using the HTTP API

• Retention period

• Table naming restrictions

Create a table using the influxdb3 CLI

Use the influxdb3 create table command and provide the following:

• Required: The name of the database to create the table in

• Required: The name of the table to create (see Table naming restrictions)

• Required: Tag columns to include in the table (must have at least one tag column)

• Optional: Field columns and their data types to include in the table

• Optional: Retention period. If omitted, uses database retention period.

# Create a table with tag columns
influxdb3 create table \
  --tags tag1,tag2,tag3 \
  --database 
DATABASE_NAME
 \
  --token 
AUTH_TOKEN
 \
  
TABLE_NAME

# Create a table with tag and field columns
influxdb3 create table \
  --tags room,sensor_id \
  --fields temp:float64,hum:float64,co:int64 \
  --database 
DATABASE_NAME
 \
  --token 
AUTH_TOKEN
 \
  
TABLE_NAME

# Create a table with a 7-day retention period
influxdb3 create table \
  --tags room,sensor_id \
  --fields temp:float64,hum:float64 \
  --retention-period 7d \
  --database 
DATABASE_NAME
 \
  --token 
AUTH_TOKEN
 \
  
TABLE_NAME

# Create a table with database default retention (omit --retention-period)
influxdb3 create table \
  --tags room,sensor_id \
  --database 
DATABASE_NAME
 \
  --token 
AUTH_TOKEN
 \
  
TABLE_NAME

Replace the following:

• DATABASE_NAME: the name of the database to create the table in
• TABLE_NAME: the name of the table to create
• AUTH_TOKEN: your admin token

Create a table using the HTTP API

To create a table using the HTTP API, send a POST request to the /api/v3/configure/table endpoint:

POST localhost:8181/api/v3/configure/table

Include the following in your request:

• Headers:
  • Authorization: Bearer with your authentication token
  • Content-Type: application/json
• Request body: JSON object with table configuration

  • db (string, required): Database name

  • table (string, required): Table name

  • tags (array, required): Tag column names

  • fields (array, optional): Field definitions with name and type

  • retention_period (string, optional): Retention period. If omitted, uses database retention period.

# Create a table with tag columns
curl -X POST "localhost:8181/api/v3/configure/table" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer 
AUTH_TOKEN
" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "db": "
DATABASE_NAME
",
    "table": "
TABLE_NAME
",
    "tags": ["tag1", "tag2", "tag3"]
  }'

# Create a table with tag and field columns
curl -X POST "localhost:8181/api/v3/configure/table" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer 
AUTH_TOKEN
" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "db": "
DATABASE_NAME
",
    "table": "
TABLE_NAME
",
    "tags": ["room", "sensor_id"],
    "fields": [
      {"name": "temp", "type": "float64"},
      {"name": "hum", "type": "float64"},
      {"name": "co", "type": "int64"}
    ]
  }'

# Create a table with a 7-day retention period
curl -X POST "localhost:8181/api/v3/configure/table" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer 
AUTH_TOKEN
" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "db": "
DATABASE_NAME
",
    "table": "
TABLE_NAME
",
    "tags": ["room", "sensor_id"],
    "fields": [
      {"name": "temp", "type": "float64"},
      {"name": "hum", "type": "float64"}
    ],
    "retention_period": "7d"
  }'

# Create a table with database default retention (omit retention_period)
curl -X POST "localhost:8181/api/v3/configure/table" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer 
AUTH_TOKEN
" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "db": "
DATABASE_NAME
",
    "table": "
TABLE_NAME
",
    "tags": ["room", "sensor_id"]
  }'

Replace the following:

• DATABASE_NAME: the name of the database to create the table in
• TABLE_NAME: the name of the table to create
• AUTH_TOKEN: your admin token

Retention period

By default, tables use the database retention period. When creating a table, set a table-specific retention period to automatically delete expired data and optimize storage for that table.

A table retention period overrides the database retention period for that specific table. This allows you to maintain different retention policies for different types of data within the same database.

Retention period syntax

The retention period value is a time duration value made up of a numeric value plus a duration unit. For example, 7d means 7 days. The retention period value cannot be negative or contain whitespace.

Valid durations units include

• m: minute
• h: hour
• d: day
• w: week
• mo: month
• y: year

Retention period precedence

When both a database and a table have retention periods defined, the table retention period takes precedence for that specific table.

Example scenarios:

• Short-term data in long-term database: Store high-volume sensor data with 7-day retention in a database with 90-day retention
• Long-term data in short-term database: Store audit logs with 1-year retention in a database with 30-day retention
• Mixed retention requirements: Maintain both real-time metrics (7 days) and aggregated metrics (1 year) in the same database

For complete details about retention period precedence and behavior, see Data retention in InfluxDB 3 Enterprise.

Table naming restrictions

Table names in InfluxDB 3 Enterprise must adhere to the following naming restrictions:

• Allowed characters: Alphanumeric characters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9), underscore (_), dash (-)
• Starting character: Should start with a letter or number and should not start with underscore (_)
• Case sensitivity: Table names are case-sensitive
• Quoting: Use double quotes when names contain special characters or whitespace