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. You don’t need to run the Explorer Docker container alongside InfluxDB.

Explorer isn’t enabled by default. To enable it and configure sign-in, sessions, and SSO, see Use the integrated Explorer UI. When it’s enabled, the server serves Explorer at the root path of its regular HTTP address and port–for example, http://localhost:8181/.

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.

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.

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

Integrated (WASM)Docker container
RequiresInfluxDB 3 Enterprise v3.11+Docker
RunsIn the InfluxDB server processAs a separate container
Enabled by--mode all,webuidocker run influxdata/influxdb3-ui
Application dataSQLite synchronized to object storageSQLite in a mounted volume
Works with InfluxDB 3 CoreNoYes

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 with Docker.


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