Quick Start

Get QuestDB up and running in under 5 minutes

Quick Start Guide

Get QuestDB running locally in under 5 minutes using Docker. This guide will walk you through starting QuestDB, connecting to the web console, and running your first query.

Prerequisites

• Docker installed on your system

Step 1: Start QuestDB

1. Run the Docker container

   Open your terminal and run the following command:

   docker run -p 9000:9000 -p 9009:9009 -p 8812:8812 questdb/questdb
   

   This command:

   • Downloads the latest QuestDB Docker image (if not already present)
   • Starts QuestDB with three ports exposed:
     • 9000: Web Console and REST API
     • 9009: InfluxDB Line Protocol (ILP) for high-performance ingestion
     • 8812: PostgreSQL wire protocol for programmatic queries

   The container runs interactively. To stop it, press Ctrl+C in your terminal.

2. Verify QuestDB is running

   You should see output similar to:

   2026-03-03T12:00:00.000000Z I server-main QuestDB is running
   2026-03-03T12:00:00.123456Z I http-server listening on 0.0.0.0:9000
   2026-03-03T12:00:00.234567Z I pg-wire-server listening on 0.0.0.0:8812
   2026-03-03T12:00:00.345678Z I ilp-tcp listening on 0.0.0.0:9009
   

   QuestDB starts with sensible defaults and is immediately ready to accept connections.

Step 2: Access the Web Console

1. Open your browser

   Navigate to http://localhost:9000

   You’ll see the QuestDB Web Console—an interactive SQL editor with syntax highlighting, query history, and data visualization capabilities.

2. Explore the interface

   The Web Console provides:

   • SQL Editor: Write and execute queries with auto-completion
   • Schema Browser: View tables, columns, and data types
   • Results Grid: Inspect query results with filtering and sorting
   • Chart View: Visualize time-series data

Step 3: Run Your First Query

1. Create a table

   In the Web Console SQL editor, create a sample table:

   CREATE TABLE temperatures (
       sensor_id SYMBOL,
       location SYMBOL,
       temperature DOUBLE,
       timestamp TIMESTAMP
   ) TIMESTAMP(timestamp) PARTITION BY DAY;
   

   The TIMESTAMP(timestamp) designates the timestamp column as the table’s designated timestamp. The PARTITION BY DAY clause creates daily partitions for efficient data management.

2. Insert sample data

   Insert some sensor readings:

   INSERT INTO temperatures VALUES
       ('sensor_1', 'warehouse_a', 22.5, '2024-01-15T10:00:00.000000Z'),
       ('sensor_2', 'warehouse_a', 23.1, '2024-01-15T10:01:00.000000Z'),
       ('sensor_1', 'warehouse_a', 22.8, '2024-01-15T10:02:00.000000Z'),
       ('sensor_3', 'warehouse_b', 19.4, '2024-01-15T10:00:00.000000Z'),
       ('sensor_3', 'warehouse_b', 19.7, '2024-01-15T10:03:00.000000Z');
   
3. Query the data

   Run a query using QuestDB’s time-series SQL extensions:

   SELECT 
       sensor_id,
       location,
       AVG(temperature) AS avg_temp,
       MAX(temperature) AS max_temp,
       MIN(temperature) AS min_temp
   FROM temperatures
   WHERE timestamp > '2024-01-15T10:00:00.000000Z'
   SAMPLE BY 5m;
   

   This query uses SAMPLE BY to aggregate data into 5-minute intervals—a powerful time-series feature unique to QuestDB.

4. View latest readings

   Use LATEST ON to get the most recent reading per sensor:

   SELECT sensor_id, location, temperature, timestamp
   FROM temperatures
   LATEST ON timestamp PARTITION BY sensor_id;
   

   LATEST ON is highly optimized in QuestDB and runs in constant time regardless of table size.

What’s Next?

Ingestion Methods

Learn about different ways to ingest data into QuestDB

SQL Reference

Explore QuestDB’s SQL dialect and time-series extensions

Client Libraries

Use official clients for Java, Python, Go, Rust, and more

Deployment

Deploy QuestDB in production on Docker, Kubernetes, or cloud platforms

SQL Reference

Explore QuestDB’s SQL extensions including ASOF JOIN, WINDOW JOIN, and time-series functions

Client Libraries

Connect from Python, Java, Go, Node.js, Rust, C/C++, and .NET

Deployment

Deploy QuestDB to production with Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, GCP, or DigitalOcean

Stopping QuestDB

To stop the Docker container:

• If running interactively: Press Ctrl+C in your terminal
• If running detached: Run docker stop <container_id>

Data is stored inside the container and will be lost when the container is removed. For persistent data, see the Installation guide to learn about mounting volumes.

Need Help?

Community Forum

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Public Slack

Chat with the QuestDB team and community

GitHub Issues

Report bugs or request features

Stack Overflow

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