---
title: ''
description: Telegraf plugin for sending metrics to Instrumental
url: https://docs.influxdata.com/telegraf/v1/output-plugins/instrumental/
estimated_tokens: 486
product: Telegraf Enterprise
version: v1
publisher: InfluxData
canonical: https://docs.influxdata.com/telegraf/v1/output-plugins/instrumental/
date: '2026-06-08T21:54:11+02:00'
lastmod: '2026-06-08T21:54:11+02:00'
---

==========

* Telegraf v0.13.1+

[Plugin source](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/tree/v1.39.1/plugins/outputs/instrumental/)[Download configuration](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/influxdata/telegraf/refs/tags/v1.39.1/plugins/outputs/instrumental/sample.conf)

# Instrumental Output Plugin

This plugin writes metrics to the [Instrumental Collector API](https://instrumentalapp.com/docs/tcp-collector)and requires a project-specific API token.

Instrumental accepts stats in a format very close to Graphite, with the only
difference being that the type of stat (gauge, increment) is the first token,
separated from the metric itself by whitespace. The `increment` type is only
used if the metric comes in as a counter via the [statsd input plugin](/telegraf/v1/plugins/#input-statsd).

**Introduced in:** Telegraf v0.13.1**Tags:** applications**OS support:** all

## Global configuration options

Plugins support additional global and plugin configuration settings for tasks
such as modifying metrics, tags, and fields, creating aliases, and configuring
plugin ordering. See [CONFIGURATION.md](/telegraf/v1/configuration/#plugins) for more details.

## Secret store support

This plugin supports secrets from secret stores for the `api_token` option.
See the [secret store documentation](/telegraf/v1/configuration/#secret-store-secrets) for more details on how
to use them.

## Configuration

```toml
# Configuration for sending metrics to an Instrumental project
[[outputs.instrumental]]
  ## Project API Token (required)
  api_token = "API Token"  # required
  ## Prefix the metrics with a given name
  prefix = ""
  ## Stats output template (Graphite formatting)
  ## see https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_OUTPUT.md#graphite
  template = "host.tags.measurement.field"
  ## Timeout in seconds to connect
  timeout = "2s"
  ## Debug true - Print communication to Instrumental
  debug = false
```