Use the integrated InfluxDB 3 Explorer UI

Starting with InfluxDB 3 Enterprise v3.11, the InfluxDB 3 Explorer web UI ships inside the Enterprise binary as a WebAssembly (WASM) guest that the server hosts in-process behind a WASI sandbox. To serve Explorer from your server, add the webui mode when you start the server. You don’t need to run the Explorer Docker container alongside InfluxDB.

Explorer isn’t enabled by default. The all mode doesn’t include webui, so name webui explicitly–for example, --mode all,webui.

• Before you begin
• Check your version
• Start the server with Explorer enabled
• Connect Explorer to your server
• Manage the session secret
• Explorer application data
• Enable AI chat
• Choose between integrated and containerized Explorer

Before you begin

To serve Explorer from your server, you need the following:

• InfluxDB 3 Enterprise v3.11 or later. For earlier releases, run the Explorer Docker container.
• A session secret. InfluxDB 3 Enterprise requires --webui-session-secret whenever webui mode is enabled, and doesn’t start without it.
• (Optional) A plugin directory. Explorer runs without one. To use the plugin features in Explorer, create the directory and pass it to --plugin-dir.

Check your version

Explorer availability depends on the InfluxDB 3 server version and edition, not on the Explorer version alone. Use either of the following checks.

To check the version of a local binary:

influxdb3 --version

To check the version and edition of a running server, send a GET request to the /ping endpoint:

curl --get "http://localhost:8181/ping" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer AUTH_TOKEN"

The response headers include x-influxdb-version and x-influxdb-build. x-influxdb-build reports Core or Enterprise, so one request answers both the version question and the edition question. Use GET; a HEAD request returns 404.

Start the server with Explorer enabled

1. Start the server with webui added to --mode and a session secret:

   influxdb3 serve \
     --cluster-id cluster0 \
     --node-id node0 \
     --mode all,webui \
     --webui-session-secret "$(openssl rand -base64 24)"

   To use the plugin features in Explorer, create a plugin directory and add --plugin-dir:

   mkdir -p ./plugins

   influxdb3 serve \
     --cluster-id cluster0 \
     --node-id node0 \
     --mode all,webui \
     --plugin-dir ./plugins \
     --webui-session-secret "$(openssl rand -base64 24)"

2. Open Explorer in your browser. The server serves Explorer at the root path of its regular HTTP address and port–for example, http://localhost:8181/. Explorer doesn’t use a separate port.

openssl rand -base64 24 generates a new secret on every start, which signs users out after each restart. For anything beyond a local trial, generate the secret once and pass the same value on every start. See Manage the session secret.

Connect Explorer to your server

After the server starts, configure a connection to your server in Explorer the same way you configure one in the standalone Docker Explorer–for example, http://localhost:8181. For the connection fields and the steps to create a connection, see Get started with InfluxDB 3 Explorer.

Choose the token for the connection based on what you need Explorer to do:

• A resource token is enough to query and write data within the permissions you grant it.
• To manage databases, tokens, and other resources from Explorer, use an admin token.

Manage the session secret

--webui-session-secret signs the session cookies that Explorer issues. The server requires the option whenever webui mode is enabled.

• Generate the secret once and reuse it. A secret that changes on restart invalidates every existing session.
• Use the same secret on every node that serves Explorer. When several nodes in a cluster run webui mode, they all need the same secret.
• Keep the secret out of your shell history and process list. Set the secret through the environment variable instead of the command line when you can.
• Rotate the secret when it may have been exposed. Rotating signs out all users.

To generate a secret:

openssl rand -base64 24

Explorer application data

The integrated Explorer keeps its application state in a SQLite database that the server synchronizes to object storage for each cluster. You don’t mount a volume to persist it, which is the main operational difference from the Explorer Docker container.

Enable AI chat

Explorer includes an AI chat feature that supports OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini. Each user enters their own AI provider API key in Explorer’s settings. You don’t configure an API key on the server, and no server option turns the feature on.

--webui-openai-base-url changes only where Explorer sends OpenAI requests. Set it to route OpenAI traffic to an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, such as a self-hosted model or a gateway:

influxdb3 serve \
  --cluster-id cluster0 \
  --node-id node0 \
  --mode all,webui \
  --webui-session-secret "$WEBUI_SESSION_SECRET" \
  --webui-openai-base-url "https://your-openai-compatible-endpoint"

The option doesn’t affect Anthropic or Gemini requests.

Chat prompts, and any query results included with them, go to the AI provider the user selects. Choose providers and endpoints that your data handling policies allow.

Choose between integrated and containerized Explorer

The container isn’t replaced by the integrated UI. It’s required for Core and for Enterprise earlier than v3.11, and it still works with v3.11 and later. Use the container when you run Core, when you run an Enterprise release earlier than v3.11, or when you want Explorer to run separately from the database server–for example, on an operator workstation. See Install and run InfluxDB 3 Explorer.