---
title: Load data from sources in the InfluxDB user interface (UI)
seotitle: Load data source in UI
list_title: Load data source in UI
weight: 101
description: >
  Load data from sources in the InfluxDB user interface (UI). Choose from popular client libraries (such as Python, Ruby, Scala, and more!), load data with a Telegraf plugin (like MQTT Consumer, MySQL, File, and many more!), and InfluxDB Cloud users have the option to load data natively by subscribing to an MQTT topic.
menu:
  influxdb_2_3:
    name: Load data source in UI
    parent: Write data
---

Load data from the following sources in the InfluxDB user interface (UI):

- [CSV or line protocol file](#load-csv-or-line-protocol-in-ui)
- [Line protocol](#load-data-using-line-protocol)
- [Client libraries](#load-data-from-a-client-library-in-the-ui)
- [Telegraf plugins](#load-data-from-a-telegraf-plugin-in-the-ui)
- {{% cloud-only %}}[Native MQTT subscriptions](#set-up-a-native-mqtt-subscription){{% /cloud-only %}}

### Load CSV or line protocol in UI

Load CSV or line protocol data by uploading a file or pasting the data manually into the UI.

1. In the navigation menu on the left, click **Load Data** > **Sources**.

    {{< nav-icon "data" >}}

2. Under **File Upload**, select the type of data to upload:
    - **Annotated CSV**. Verify your CSV file follows the supported [annotated CSV](/influxdb/cloud/reference/syntax/annotated-csv/) syntax.
    - **Line Protocol**. Verify your line protocol file adheres to the following conventions:  
      - Each line represents a data point.
      - Each data point requires a:  
         - [*measurement*](/influxdb/cloud/reference/syntax/line-protocol/#measurement)
         - [*field set*](/influxdb/cloud/reference/syntax/line-protocol/#field-set)
         - (Optional) [*tag set*](/influxdb/cloud/reference/syntax/line-protocol/#tag-set)
         - [*timestamp*](/influxdb/cloud/reference/syntax/line-protocol/#timestamp)

      For more information, see supported [line protocol](/influxdb/cloud/reference/syntax/line-protocol/) syntax.

2. Select the bucket to write to.
4. Select the **Precision** in the dropdown menu. By default, the precision is set to nanoseconds.
5. Do one of the following:
   - To upload file, drag and drop your file onto the UI, and then click **Write Data**.
   - To enter data manually, select the **Enter Manually** tab, paste your data, and then click **Write Data**.

### Load data from a client library in the UI

1.  In the navigation menu on the left, click **Load Data** > **Sources**.

    {{< nav-icon "data" >}}

2. Do one of the following:
   - Enter a specific client library to search for in the **Search data writing methods** field.
   - Scroll down to browse available client libraries.
3. Click the client library to load data from.
4. Under **Code Sample Options**, you'll see a list of your InfluxDB [tokens](/influxdb/v2.3/reference/glossary/#token) and [buckets](/influxdb/v2.3/reference/glossary/#bucket). Select both an API token and a bucket to write your data to. The selected API token and bucket are automatically added to scripts on the page that you can use to initialize a client and write data.
5. Click the **Copy to Clipboard** buttons under a script to easily paste the script into your terminal or save the script to reuse for automation.
6. Run the scripts on the page to do the following as needed:
   - Install the package, libraries, or client
   - Write data
   - Execute a Flux query

### Load data from a Telegraf plugin in the UI

1. In the navigation menu on the left, click **Load Data** > **Sources**.

   {{< nav-icon "data" >}}

2. Do one of the following:
   - Enter a specific Telegraf plugin to search for in the **Search data writing methods** field.
   - Scroll down to **Telegraf Plugins** and browse available input plugins.
3. Click the plugin to load data from. The plugin details page opens.
4. Select one of the options from the **Use this plugin** dropdown:
   - **Create a new configuration**: Enter a configuration name and select an output bucket, and then click **Continue Configuring**.
   - **Add to an existing configuration**: Select an existing Telegraf configuration to add this plugin to, and then click **Add to Existing Config**.
5. Provide a **Telegraf Configuration Name** and an optional **Telegraf Configuration Description**.
6. Adjust configuration settings as needed. To find configuration settings for a specific plugin, see [Telegraf plugins](/telegraf/latest/plugins/).
7. Click **Save and Test**.
8. The **Test Your Configuration** page provides instructions for how to start
   Telegraf using the generated configuration.
   _See [Start Telegraf](/influxdb/cloud/write-data/no-code/use-telegraf/auto-config/#start-telegraf) below for detailed information about what each step does._
9. Once Telegraf is running, click **Listen for Data** to confirm Telegraf is successfully sending data to InfluxDB.
   Once confirmed, a **Connection Found!** message appears.
10. Click **Finish**. Your Telegraf configuration name and the associated bucket name appear in the list of Telegraf configurations.

{{% cloud-only %}}

### Set up a native subscription
{{% note %}}
This feature is available with usage-based plans only. For more information, see [InfluxDB Cloud Plans](/influxdb/cloud/account-management/pricing-plans/).
{{% /note %}}

To ingest MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) data into InfluxDB, do the following to set up a native subscription:

1. [Subscribe to an MQTT topic](#subscribe-to-an-mqtt-topic) in InfluxDB Cloud by configuring an MQTT broker, and specifying the topic(s) to subscribe to.
2. [Define parsing rules](#define-parsing-rules) for JSON or regex data (line protocol requires no configuration).

{{% note %}}
For troubleshooting help, see [Troubleshoot MQTT ingest errors](/influxdb/cloud/write-data/troubleshoot/#troubleshoot-mqtt-ingest-errors/)
{{% /note %}}

#### Subscribe to an MQTT topic

1. In the navigation menu on the left, click **Load Data** > **Native Subscriptions**.

{{< nav-icon "data" >}}

2. Click **+ Create Subscription**.
3. On the **Setting Up - MQTT Subscriber** page, under **Connect to Broker**, enter the following:
   - Subscription Name
   - Description _(optional)_
   - Protocol
   - Hostname or IP address (hostname or URL of the MQTT broker)
   - Port (TCP/IP port number the MQTT broker uses)
   - Security details. Choose one of the following: 
      - **None**
      - **Basic** (username/password)
      - **Certificate**

4. Under **Subscribe to a topic**, in the **Topic** field, enter the MQTT topic name to subscribe to. Note, MQTT brokers typically support wildcard subscriptions with the wildcard characters `+` and  `#`. 

   - To subscribe to all topics in a directory, use `+`. For example, if an `iotdevices` directory includes two directories called `asia` and `europe`, to subscribe to a `sensor` topic in either directory, use `iotdevices/+/sensors` to subscribe to `iotdevices/asia/sensors`, and `iotdevices/europe/sensors`.
   - To subscribe to all topics in a directory, use `#`. For example, `iotdevices/#` subscribes to all topics in the  `iotdevices` directory. For more information about MQTT subscriptions and wildcards, see [the MQTT specification for Topic Names and Topic Filters](https://docs.oasis-open.org/mqtt/mqtt/v5.0/os/mqtt-v5.0-os.html#_Toc3901241).

5. Under **Write Destination**, select an existing InfluxDB bucket to write data to or click **+ Create bucket**. For more information, see [Create a bucket](/influxdb/cloud/organizations/buckets/create-bucket/).

6. Click "Save Subscription" to save and start running the MQTT subscription.  

#### Define parsing rules

{{% note %}}
JSON parsing is faster and more efficient than string parsing. We recommend using JSON parsing when your MQTT messages are in JSON format.
{{% /note %}}

- Under **Define Data Parsing Rules**, select one of the following MQTT data formats:

   - **Line protocol** (no configuration required)
   - **JSON**. To define parsing rules to ingest JSON data, click the **JSON** tab below.
   - **String**. To define parsing rules to ingest String data, click the **String** tab below.

{{< tabs-wrapper >}}
{{% tabs %}}

[Line protocol](#)
[JSON](#)
[String](#)

{{% /tabs %}}

<!-------------------------------- BEGIN Line protocol -------------------------------->
{{% tab-content %}}
Use line protocol to write data into InfluxDB. Line protocol doesn't require any parsing or configuration. 

Select a **Timepstamp precision** from the dropdown menu:
   - **MS**: Milliseconds
   - **S**: Seconds
   - **US**: Microseconds
   - **NS**: Nanoseconds

{{% /tab-content %}}

<!-------------------------------- BEGIN JSON -------------------------------->
{{% tab-content %}}

Associate **JSON** key/value pairs with **InfluxDB elements** (measurements, timestamps, fields, or tags) using parsing rules. 

{{% expand "Example JSON" %}}
```
{
"device_type":"temperature_sensor",
"device_id":2036,
"model_id":"KN24683",
"temperature":25.0,
"time":1653998899010000000,
"error_state":"in_error"
}
```
{{% /expand %}}

1. On the **Setting Up - MQTT Connector** page, under **Data Format**, do the following:

  1. (Optional) In the **JSON path to timestamp** field, specify the path in the MQTT message to the JSON key that holds the timestamp: for the example above, `"time":1653998899010000000`. Otherwise, InfluxDB automatically assigns a timestamp when messages are ingested into InfluxDB.

   {{% warn %}}
   **Important**: Configure the timestamp format that matches the format in your messages.
   {{% /warn %}}

2. Configure the JSON parsing rules: 
   1. Under **Measurement**, enter the **JSON path** (start with `$.`) to assign the InfluxDB measurement key. For the above example, enter `$.device_type`.
3. Select the **Data Type** for the measurement.
4. Specify the JSON paths to tag and field names as needed, and then select the data type for the tag or field. At least one field is required. For the above example, add fields with the JSON paths `$.temperature` and `$.error_state` and a tag with the path `$.error_state`.
Note that JSON paths with arrays are supported, for example, `$.device_information.errors_encountered[0].error_number`.


{{% /tab-content %}}

<!-------------------------------- BEGIN String -------------------------------->
{{% tab-content %}}

Associate **String** key/value pairs with **InfluxDB elements** (measurements, timestamps, fields, or tags).

1. On the **Setting Up - MQTT Connector** page, under **Data Format**, do the following:

  1. (Optional) In the **Regex pattern to find timestamp** field, enter the regex (regular expression) to find the timestamp in the MQTT message.  Otherwise, InfluxDB automatically assigns a timestamp when messages are ingested into InfluxDB.
  
      {{% note %}}
      **Note**: Parsing rules only support finding one value at a time.
      {{% /note %}}
      
      For example, if the timestamp string is `time=1653998899010000000`, use a regex to find the string you're looking for and capture the timestamp:
   - `time=([\s\S]*?)\n` (captures value after `=` until the EOL (end of line) is reached)
   - `time=([\s\S]*?),` (captures value after `=` until comma is reached)

   {{% warn %}}
   **Important**: Configure the timestamp format that matches the format in your messages.
   {{% /warn %}}

  2. Under **Measurement**, if the string is `device_type=temperature_sensor` use regex to find the measurement name. For example:
      - `device_type=([\s\S]*?)\n` captures the value after the `=` until the EOL (end of line) is reached), in this case the value would be `temperature_sensor`.
  3. Select the **Data Type** for the measurement.
  4. Enter **Tag** and **Field**. At least one field is required. For tag and field names, use the regex to find the tag or field name, and what to capture. For example:
     - `device_id=\d\d\d\d-([0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])` (matches on the `device_id=` and also matches on the first four digits of the device id, and then captures the four digits.
  5. Select the **Data Type** for the tag or field.

{{% /tab-content %}}

{{< /tabs-wrapper >}}

{{% /cloud-only %}}