Go Client Documentation

QuestDB supports the Go ecosystem, offering a Go client designed for high-performance data ingestion, tailored specifically for insert-only operations. This combination of QuestDB and its Go client provides exceptional time series data ingestion and analytical capabilities.

The Go client introduces several advantages:

  • Automatic table creation: No need to define your schema upfront.
  • Concurrent schema changes: Seamlessly handle multiple data streams with on-the-fly schema modifications
  • Optimized batching: Use strong defaults or curate the size of your batches
  • Health checks and feedback: Ensure your system's integrity with built-in health monitoring
  • Automatic write retries: Reuse connections and retry after interruptions

This quick start guide will help you get up and running with the basic functionalities of the Go client, covering connection setup, authentication, and some common insert patterns.

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Requirements​

Client Installation​

To add the QuestDB client to your Go project:

go get github.com/questdb/go-questdb-client/v3

Authentication​

Passing in a configuration string with HTTP basic authentication:

package main

import (
	"context"
	"github.com/questdb/go-questdb-client/v3"
)

func main() {
	ctx := context.TODO()

	client, err := questdb.LineSenderFromConf(ctx, "http::addr=localhost:9000;username=admin;password=quest;")
	if err != nil {
		panic("Failed to create client")
	}

	// Utilize the client for your operations...
}

Or, set the QDB_CLIENT_CONF environment variable and call questdb.LineSenderFromEnv().

  1. Export the configuration string as an environment variable: 
    export QDB_CLIENT_CONF="http::addr=localhost:9000;username=admin;password=quest;"
  2. Then in your Go code: 
    client, err := questdb.LineSenderFromEnv(context.TODO())

Alternatively, you can use the built-in Go API to specify the connection options.

package main

import (
       "context"
       qdb "github.com/questdb/go-questdb-client/v3"
)


func main() {
       ctx := context.TODO()

       client, err := qdb.NewLineSender(context.TODO(), qdb.WithHttp(), qdb.WithAddress("localhost:9000"), qdb.WithBasicAuth("admin", "quest"))

When using QuestDB Enterprise, authentication can also be done via REST token. Please check the RBAC docs for more info.

Basic Insert​

Example: inserting executed trades for cryptocurrencies.

Without authentication and using the current timestamp:

package main

import (
	"context"
	"github.com/questdb/go-questdb-client/v3"
)

func main() {
	ctx := context.TODO()

	client, err := questdb.LineSenderFromConf(ctx, "http::addr=localhost:9000;")
	if err != nil {
		panic("Failed to create client")
	}

	err = client.Table("trades").
		Symbol("symbol", "ETH-USD").
		Symbol("side", "sell").
		Float64Column("price", 2615.54).
		Float64Column("amount", 0.00044).
		AtNow(ctx)

	if err != nil {
		panic("Failed to insert data")
	}

	err = client.Flush(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		panic("Failed to flush data")
	}
}

In this case, the designated timestamp will be the one at execution time. Let's see now an example with an explicit timestamp, custom auto-flushing, and basic auth.

package main

import (
	"context"
	"github.com/questdb/go-questdb-client/v3"
	"time"
)

func main() {
	ctx := context.TODO()

	client, err := questdb.LineSenderFromConf(ctx, "http::addr=localhost:9000;username=admin;password=quest;auto_flush_rows=100;auto_flush_interval=1000;")
	if err != nil {
		panic("Failed to create client")
	}

	timestamp := time.Now()
	err = client.Table("trades").
		Symbol("symbol", "ETH-USD").
		Symbol("side", "sell").
		Float64Column("price", 2615.54).
		Float64Column("amount", 0.00044).
		At(ctx, timestamp)

	if err != nil {
		panic("Failed to insert data")
	}

	err = client.Flush(ctx)
	// You can flush manually at any point.
	// If you don't flush manually, the client will flush automatically
	// when a row is added and either:
	//   * The buffer contains 75000 rows (if HTTP) or 600 rows (if TCP)
	//   * The last flush was more than 1000ms ago.
	// Auto-flushing can be customized via the `auto_flush_..` params.

	if err != nil {
		panic("Failed to flush data")
	}
}

We recommended to use User-assigned timestamps when ingesting data into QuestDB. Using the current timestamp hinder the ability to deduplicate rows which is important for exactly-once processing.

Configuration options​

The minimal configuration string needs to have the protocol, host, and port, as in:

http::addr=localhost:9000;

In the Go client, you can set the configuration options via the standard config string, which is the same across all clients, or using the built-in API.

For all the extra options you can use, please check the client docs

Next Steps​

Please refer to the ILP overview for details about transactions, error control, delivery guarantees, health check, or table and column auto-creation.

Explore the full capabilities of the Go client via Go.dev.

With data flowing into QuestDB, now it's time to for analysis.

To learn The Way of QuestDB SQL, see the Query & SQL Overview.

Alone? Stuck? Want help? Visit us in our Community Forum.