---
title: Get started with InfluxDB Clustered
list_title: Get started
description: >
  Start writing and querying time series data in InfluxDB Clustered.
menu:
  influxdb3_clustered:
    name: Get started
weight: 3
influxdb3/clustered/tags: [get-started]
---

InfluxDB is the platform purpose-built to collect, store, and query
time series data.
{{% product-name %}} is powered by the InfluxDB 3 storage engine, that
provides nearly unlimited series cardinality,
improved query performance, and interoperability with widely used data
processing tools and platforms.

**Time series data** is a sequence of data points indexed in time order. Data
points typically consist of successive measurements made from the same source
and are used to track changes over time. Examples of time series data include:

- Industrial sensor data
- Server performance metrics
- Heartbeats per minute
- Electrical activity in the brain
- Rainfall measurements
- Stock prices

This multi-part tutorial walks you through writing time series data to
your InfluxDB cluster, querying, and then visualizing that data.

## Key concepts before you get started

Before you get started using InfluxDB, it's important to understand how time series
data is organized and stored in InfluxDB and some key definitions that are used
throughout this documentation.

- [Data organization](#data-organization)
- [Schema on write](#schema-on-write)
- [Important definitions](#important-definitions)

### Data organization

The {{% product-name %}} data model organizes time series data into databases
and tables.

A database can contain multiple tables.
Tables contain multiple tags and fields.

- **Database**: A named location where time series data is stored in _tables_.
  _Database_ is synonymous with _bucket_ in InfluxDB Cloud Serverless and InfluxDB TSM.
  - **Table**: A logical grouping for time series data. All _points_ in a given
    table should have the same _tags_. A table contains _tags_ and
    _fields_. _Table_ is synonymous with _measurement_ in InfluxDB Cloud
    Serverless and InfluxDB TSM.
    - **Tags**: Key-value pairs that provide metadata for each point--for
      example, something to identify the source or context of the data like
      host, location, station, etc. Tag values may be null.
    - **Fields**: Key-value pairs with values that change over time--for
      example, temperature, pressure, stock price, etc. Field values may be
      null, but at least one field value is not null on any given row.
    - **Timestamp**: Timestamp associated with the data. When stored on disk and
      queried, all data is ordered by time. A timestamp is never null.

> [!Note]
> 
> #### What about buckets and measurements?
> 
> If coming from InfluxDB Cloud Serverless or InfluxDB powered by the TSM storage engine, you're likely familiar
> with the concepts _bucket_ and _measurement_.
> _Bucket_ in TSM or InfluxDB Cloud Serverless is synonymous with
> _database_ in {{% product-name %}}.
> _Measurement_ in TSM or InfluxDB Cloud Serverless is synonymous with
> _table_ in {{% product-name %}}.

### Schema on write

As you write data to InfluxDB, the data defines the table schema.
You don't need to create tables or
explicitly define the table schema.

### Important definitions

The following definitions are important to understand when using InfluxDB:

- **Point**: Single data record identified by its _measurement, tag keys, tag values, field key, and timestamp_.
- **Series**: A group of points with the same _measurement, tag keys and values, and field key_.
- **Primary key**: Columns used to uniquely identify each row in a table.
  Rows are uniquely identified by their _timestamp and tag set_.
  A row's primary key _tag set_ does not include tags with null values.

##### Example InfluxDB query results

{{< influxdb/points-series-sql >}}

## Tools to use

The following table compares tools that you can use to interact with {{% product-name %}}.
This tutorial covers many of the recommended tools.

| Tool                                                                                                |      Administration      |          Write           |          Query           |
| :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :----------------------: | :----------------------: | :----------------------: |
| [Chronograf](/chronograf/v1/)                                                                       |            -             |            -             | **{{< icon "check" >}}** |
| <span style="opacity:.5;">`influx` CLI</span>                                                       |            -             |            -             |            -             |
| [`influxctl` CLI](#influxctl-cli){{< req text="\* " color="magenta" >}}                             | **{{< icon "check" >}}** | **{{< icon "check" >}}** | **{{< icon "check" >}}** |
| [`influx3` data CLI](#influx3-data-cli){{< req text="\* " color="magenta" >}}                       |            -             | **{{< icon "check" >}}** | **{{< icon "check" >}}** |
| [InfluxDB HTTP API](#influxdb-http-api){{< req text="\* " color="magenta" >}}                       |            -             | **{{< icon "check" >}}** | **{{< icon "check" >}}** |
| <span style="opacity:.5;">InfluxDB user interface</span>                                            |            -             |            -             |            -             |
| [InfluxDB 3 client libraries](#influxdb-3-client-libraries){{< req text="\* " color="magenta" >}} |            -             | **{{< icon "check" >}}** | **{{< icon "check" >}}** |
| [InfluxDB v2 client libraries](/influxdb3/clustered/reference/client-libraries/v2/)                  |            -             | **{{< icon "check" >}}** |            -             |
| [InfluxDB v1 client libraries](/influxdb3/clustered/reference/client-libraries/v1/)                  |            -             | **{{< icon "check" >}}** | **{{< icon "check" >}}** |
| [Telegraf](/telegraf/v1/){{< req text="\* " color="magenta" >}}                                     |            -             | **{{< icon "check" >}}** |            -             |
| **Third-party tools**                                                                               |                          |                          |                          |
| Flight SQL clients                                                                                  |            -             |            -             | **{{< icon "check" >}}** |
| [Grafana](/influxdb3/clustered/query-data/sql/execute-queries/grafana/)                              |            -             |            -             | **{{< icon "check" >}}** |
| [Superset](/influxdb3/clustered/query-data/sql/execute-queries/superset/)                            |            -             |            -             | **{{< icon "check" >}}** |
| [Tableau](/influxdb3/clustered/process-data/visualize/tableau/)                                      |            -             |            -             | **{{< icon "check" >}}** |

{{< caption >}}
{{< req type="key" text="Covered in this tutorial" color="magenta" >}}
{{< /caption >}}

> [!Warning]
> Avoid using the `influx` CLI with {{% product-name %}}.
> While it may coincidentally work, it isn't supported.

### `influxctl` admin CLI

The [`influxctl` command line interface (CLI)](/influxdb3/clustered/reference/cli/influxctl/)
writes, queries, and performs administrative tasks, such as managing databases
and authorization tokens in a cluster.

### `influx3` data CLI

The [`influx3` data CLI](/influxdb3/clustered/get-started/query/?t=influx3+CLI#execute-an-sql-query) is a community-maintained tool that lets you write and query data in {{% product-name %}} from a command line.
It uses the HTTP API to write data and uses Flight gRPC to query data.

### InfluxDB HTTP API

The [InfluxDB HTTP API](/influxdb/v2/reference/api/) provides a simple way to let you manage {{% product-name %}} and write and query data using HTTP(S) clients.
Examples in this tutorial use cURL, but any HTTP(S) client will work.

The `/write` and `/query` v1-compatible endpoints work with the username/password authentication schemes and existing InfluxDB 1.x tools and code.
The `/api/v2/write` v2-compatible endpoint works with existing InfluxDB 2.x tools and code.

### InfluxDB client libraries

InfluxDB client libraries are community-maintained, language-specific clients that interact with InfluxDB APIs.

[InfluxDB 3 client libraries](/influxdb3/clustered/reference/client-libraries/v3/) are the recommended client libraries for writing and querying data {{% product-name %}}.
They use the HTTP API to write data and use InfluxDB's Flight gRPC API to query data.

[InfluxDB v2 client libraries](/influxdb3/clustered/reference/client-libraries/v2/) can use `/api/v2` HTTP endpoints to manage resources such as buckets and API tokens, and write data in {{% product-name %}}.

[InfluxDB v1 client libraries](/influxdb3/clustered/reference/client-libraries/v1/) can write data to {{% product-name %}}.

## Authorization

**{{% product-name %}} requires authentication** using
one of the following [token](/influxdb3/clustered/admin/tokens/) types:

- **Database token**: A token that grants read and write access to InfluxDB
  databases.
- **Management token**: A short-lived (1 hour) [Auth0 token](#) used to
  administer your InfluxDB cluster.
  These are generated by the `influxctl` CLI and do not require any direct management.
  Management tokens authorize a user to perform tasks related to:

  - Account management
  - Database management
  - Database token management
  - Pricing
  <!-- - Infrastructure management -->

{{< page-nav next="/influxdb3/clustered/get-started/setup/" >}}