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grafana/docs/sources/datasources/influxdb/influxdb-templates.md
Christopher Moyer 7147d17567 Docs/refactors variables topics (#54470)
* refactor and partial relref fix

* finishes variables refactor

* Update docs/sources/variables/add-template-variables/index.md

Co-authored-by: Torkel Ödegaard <torkel@grafana.com>

* removes duplicate general options, adds links to general options within tasks

* adds configure variable selection options topic

* starts phase II of refactoring

* incorporates feedback, updates relrefs

* corrects final relrefs

* updates alias

Co-authored-by: Torkel Ödegaard <torkel@grafana.com>
2022-09-09 08:38:17 -05:00

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---
aliases:
- /docs/grafana/latest/datasources/influxdb/influxdb-templates/
description: Guide for templates in InfluxDB
title: InfluxDB templates
weight: 300
---
## InfluxDB templates
Instead of hard-coding things like server, application and sensor name in your metric queries you can use variables in their place.
For more information, refer to [Templates and variables]({{< relref "../../dashboards/variables/" >}}).
## Using variables in InfluxDB queries
There are two syntaxes:
`$<varname>` Example:
```sql
SELECT mean("value") FROM "logins" WHERE "hostname" =~ /^$host$/ AND $timeFilter GROUP BY time($__interval), "hostname"
```
`[[varname]]` Example:
```sql
SELECT mean("value") FROM "logins" WHERE "hostname" =~ /^[[host]]$/ AND $timeFilter GROUP BY time($__interval), "hostname"
```
Why two ways? The first syntax is easier to read and write but does not allow you to use a variable in the middle of a word. When the **Multi-value** or **Include all value** options are enabled, Grafana converts the labels from plain text to a regex compatible string. Which means you have to use `=~` instead of `=`.
Example dashboard:
[InfluxDB Templated Dashboard](https://play.grafana.org/dashboard/db/influxdb-templated)
## Query variables
If you add a query template variable, then you can write an InfluxDB exploration (metadata) query. These queries can return things like measurement names, key names or key values. For more information, refer to [Add query variable]({{< relref "../../dashboards/variables/add-template-variables/#add-a-query-variable" >}}).
For example, you can have a variable that contains all values for tag `hostname` if you specify a query like this in the query variable **Query**.
```sql
SHOW TAG VALUES WITH KEY = "hostname"
```
## Chained or nested variables
You can also create nested variables, sometimes called [chained variables]({{< relref "../../dashboards/variables/add-template-variables/#chained-variables" >}}).
For example, if you had another variable, for example `region`. Then you could have the hosts variable only show hosts from the current selected region with a query like this:
```sql
SHOW TAG VALUES WITH KEY = "hostname" WHERE region = '$region'
```
You can fetch key names for a given measurement.
```sql
SHOW TAG KEYS [FROM <measurement_name>]
```
If you have a variable with key names you can use this variable in a group by clause. This will allow you to change group by using the variable list at the top of the dashboard.
### Ad hoc filters variable
InfluxDB supports the special `Ad hoc filters` variable type. This variable allows you to specify any number of key/value filters on the fly. These filters are automatically applied to all your InfluxDB queries.
For more information, refer to [Add ad hoc filters]({{< relref "../../dashboards/variables/add-template-variables/#add-ad-hoc-filters" >}}).