diff --git a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/index.ts b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/index.ts
index 386dc95a9ae..5f1438c7fea 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/index.ts
@@ -9,4 +9,4 @@ export * from './types';
 export { loadPluginCss, SystemJS, PluginCssOptions } from './utils/plugin';
 export { reportMetaAnalytics } from './utils/analytics';
 export { DataSourceWithBackend, HealthCheckResult, HealthStatus } from './utils/DataSourceWithBackend';
-export { toDataQueryError, toDataQueryResponse } from './utils/queryResponse';
+export { toDataQueryError, toDataQueryResponse, frameToMetricFindValue } from './utils/queryResponse';
diff --git a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/queryResponse.ts b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/queryResponse.ts
index 71ee1f6f455..c010fa534bb 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/queryResponse.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-runtime/src/utils/queryResponse.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ import {
   TimeSeries,
   TableData,
   toDataFrame,
+  DataFrame,
+  MetricFindValue,
+  FieldType,
 } from '@grafana/data';
 
 interface DataResponse {
@@ -115,3 +118,22 @@ export function toDataQueryError(err: any): DataQueryError {
 
   return error;
 }
+
+/** Return the first string or non-time field as the value */
+export function frameToMetricFindValue(frame: DataFrame): MetricFindValue[] {
+  if (!frame || !frame.length) {
+    return [];
+  }
+
+  const values: MetricFindValue[] = [];
+  let field = frame.fields.find(f => f.type === FieldType.string);
+  if (!field) {
+    field = frame.fields.find(f => f.type !== FieldType.time);
+  }
+  if (field) {
+    for (let i = 0; i < field.values.length; i++) {
+      values.push({ text: '' + field.values.get(i) });
+    }
+  }
+  return values;
+}
diff --git a/pkg/tsdb/influxdb/flux/query_models.go b/pkg/tsdb/influxdb/flux/query_models.go
index 2e588bae6bc..093d264a2f2 100644
--- a/pkg/tsdb/influxdb/flux/query_models.go
+++ b/pkg/tsdb/influxdb/flux/query_models.go
@@ -66,14 +66,15 @@ func getQueryModelTSDB(query *tsdb.Query, timeRange *tsdb.TimeRange, dsInfo *mod
 	if model.Options.Organization == "" {
 		model.Options.Organization = dsInfo.JsonData.Get("organization").MustString("")
 	}
+
 	startTime, err := timeRange.ParseFrom()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	if err != nil && timeRange.From != "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading startTime: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	endTime, err := timeRange.ParseTo()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	if err != nil && timeRange.To != "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error reading endTime: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	// Copy directly from the well typed query
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/components/FluxQueryEditor.tsx b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/components/FluxQueryEditor.tsx
index 17d743bbdaf..e3e6486aeff 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/components/FluxQueryEditor.tsx
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/components/FluxQueryEditor.tsx
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ v1.measurements(bucket: v.bucket)`,
     label: 'Schema Exploration: (fields)',
     description: 'Return every possible key in a single table',
     value: `from(bucket: v.bucket)
-  |> range(start: v.timeRangeStart, stop:timeRangeStop)
+  |> range(start: v.timeRangeStart, stop:v.timeRangeStop)
   |> keys()
   |> keep(columns: ["_value"])
   |> group()
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/components/VariableQueryEditor.tsx b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/components/VariableQueryEditor.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6d4ec551531
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/components/VariableQueryEditor.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import React, { PureComponent } from 'react';
+import InfluxDatasource from '../datasource';
+import { InlineFormLabel, TextArea } from '@grafana/ui';
+import { FluxQueryEditor } from './FluxQueryEditor';
+
+interface Props {
+  query: string; // before flux, it was always a string
+  onChange: (query?: string) => void;
+  datasource: InfluxDatasource;
+}
+
+export default class VariableQueryEditor extends PureComponent<Props> {
+  onRefresh = () => {
+    // noop
+  };
+
+  render() {
+    let { query, datasource, onChange } = this.props;
+    if (datasource.isFlux) {
+      return (
+        <FluxQueryEditor
+          target={{
+            refId: 'A',
+            query,
+          }}
+          refresh={this.onRefresh}
+          change={v => onChange(v.query)}
+        />
+      );
+    }
+
+    return (
+      <div className="gf-form-inline">
+        <InlineFormLabel width={10}>Query</InlineFormLabel>
+        <div className="gf-form-inline gf-form--grow">
+          <TextArea
+            value={query || ''}
+            placeholder="metric name or tags query"
+            rows={1}
+            className="gf-form-input"
+            onChange={e => onChange(e.currentTarget.value)}
+          />
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    );
+  }
+}
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/datasource.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/datasource.ts
index 831f9c32888..8452d0ff276 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/datasource.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/datasource.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ import {
   dateTime,
   LoadingState,
   QueryResultMeta,
+  MetricFindValue,
+  AnnotationQueryRequest,
+  AnnotationEvent,
 } from '@grafana/data';
 import { v4 as uuidv4 } from 'uuid';
 import InfluxSeries from './influx_series';
@@ -16,7 +19,7 @@ import InfluxQueryModel from './influx_query_model';
 import ResponseParser from './response_parser';
 import { InfluxQueryBuilder } from './query_builder';
 import { InfluxQuery, InfluxOptions, InfluxVersion } from './types';
-import { getBackendSrv, getTemplateSrv, DataSourceWithBackend } from '@grafana/runtime';
+import { getBackendSrv, getTemplateSrv, DataSourceWithBackend, frameToMetricFindValue } from '@grafana/runtime';
 import { Observable, from } from 'rxjs';
 
 export default class InfluxDatasource extends DataSourceWithBackend<InfluxQuery, InfluxOptions> {
@@ -31,7 +34,7 @@ export default class InfluxDatasource extends DataSourceWithBackend<InfluxQuery,
   interval: any;
   responseParser: any;
   httpMode: string;
-  is2x: boolean;
+  isFlux: boolean;
 
   constructor(instanceSettings: DataSourceInstanceSettings<InfluxOptions>) {
     super(instanceSettings);
@@ -51,11 +54,11 @@ export default class InfluxDatasource extends DataSourceWithBackend<InfluxQuery,
     this.interval = settingsData.timeInterval;
     this.httpMode = settingsData.httpMode || 'GET';
     this.responseParser = new ResponseParser();
-    this.is2x = settingsData.version === InfluxVersion.Flux;
+    this.isFlux = settingsData.version === InfluxVersion.Flux;
   }
 
   query(request: DataQueryRequest<InfluxQuery>): Observable<DataQueryResponse> {
-    if (this.is2x) {
+    if (this.isFlux) {
       return super.query(request);
     }
 
@@ -64,7 +67,7 @@ export default class InfluxDatasource extends DataSourceWithBackend<InfluxQuery,
   }
 
   getQueryDisplayText(query: InfluxQuery) {
-    if (this.is2x) {
+    if (this.isFlux) {
       return query.query;
     }
     return new InfluxQueryModel(query).render(false);
@@ -177,14 +180,21 @@ export default class InfluxDatasource extends DataSourceWithBackend<InfluxQuery,
     });
   }
 
-  annotationQuery(options: any) {
+  async annotationQuery(options: AnnotationQueryRequest<any>): Promise<AnnotationEvent[]> {
+    if (this.isFlux) {
+      return Promise.reject({
+        message: 'Annotations are not yet supported with flux queries',
+      });
+    }
+
+    // InfluxQL puts a query string on the annotation
     if (!options.annotation.query) {
       return Promise.reject({
         message: 'Query missing in annotation definition',
       });
     }
 
-    const timeFilter = this.getTimeFilter({ rangeRaw: options.rangeRaw, timezone: options.timezone });
+    const timeFilter = this.getTimeFilter({ rangeRaw: options.rangeRaw, timezone: options.dashboard.timezone });
     let query = options.annotation.query.replace('$timeFilter', timeFilter);
     query = getTemplateSrv().replace(query, undefined, 'regex');
 
@@ -256,7 +266,26 @@ export default class InfluxDatasource extends DataSourceWithBackend<InfluxQuery,
     return expandedQueries;
   }
 
-  metricFindQuery(query: string, options?: any) {
+  async metricFindQuery(query: string, options?: any): Promise<MetricFindValue[]> {
+    if (this.isFlux) {
+      const target: InfluxQuery = {
+        refId: 'metricFindQuery',
+        query,
+      };
+      return super
+        .query({
+          ...options, // includes 'range'
+          targets: [target],
+        } as DataQueryRequest)
+        .toPromise()
+        .then(rsp => {
+          if (rsp.data?.length) {
+            return frameToMetricFindValue(rsp.data[0]);
+          }
+          return [];
+        });
+    }
+
     const interpolated = getTemplateSrv().replace(query, undefined, 'regex');
 
     return this._seriesQuery(interpolated, options).then(resp => {
@@ -308,7 +337,7 @@ export default class InfluxDatasource extends DataSourceWithBackend<InfluxQuery,
   }
 
   testDatasource() {
-    if (this.is2x) {
+    if (this.isFlux) {
       // TODO: eventually use the real /health endpoint
       const request: DataQueryRequest<InfluxQuery> = {
         targets: [{ refId: 'test', query: 'buckets()' }],
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/module.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/module.ts
index 6d68ca78c81..1f643df3aeb 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/module.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/module.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { InfluxQueryCtrl } from './query_ctrl';
 import InfluxStartPage from './components/InfluxStartPage';
 import { DataSourcePlugin } from '@grafana/data';
 import ConfigEditor from './components/ConfigEditor';
+import VariableQueryEditor from './components/VariableQueryEditor';
 
 // This adds a directive that is used in the query editor
 import './components/FluxQueryEditor';
@@ -15,4 +16,5 @@ export const plugin = new DataSourcePlugin(InfluxDatasource)
   .setConfigEditor(ConfigEditor)
   .setQueryCtrl(InfluxQueryCtrl)
   .setAnnotationQueryCtrl(InfluxAnnotationsQueryCtrl)
+  .setVariableQueryEditor(VariableQueryEditor)
   .setExploreStartPage(InfluxStartPage);
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/partials/query.editor.html b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/partials/query.editor.html
index 1a462d8e22c..caec0a3119d 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/partials/query.editor.html
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/partials/query.editor.html
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-<query-editor-row ng-if="ctrl.datasource.is2x" query-ctrl="ctrl" can-collapse="true" has-text-edit-mode="true">
+<query-editor-row ng-if="ctrl.datasource.isFlux" query-ctrl="ctrl" can-collapse="true" has-text-edit-mode="true">
   <flux-query-editor 
     target="ctrl.target" 
     change="ctrl.onChange" 
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
   ></flux-query-editor>
 </query-editor-row>
 
-<query-editor-row ng-if="!ctrl.datasource.is2x" query-ctrl="ctrl" can-collapse="true" has-text-edit-mode="true">
+<query-editor-row ng-if="!ctrl.datasource.isFlux" query-ctrl="ctrl" can-collapse="true" has-text-edit-mode="true">
   <div ng-if="ctrl.target.rawQuery">
     <div class="gf-form">
       <textarea
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/query_ctrl.ts b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/query_ctrl.ts
index 4ae610baadf..ef460af7698 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/query_ctrl.ts
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/influxdb/query_ctrl.ts
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ export class InfluxQueryCtrl extends QueryCtrl {
 
   // Only valid for InfluxQL queries
   toggleEditorMode() {
-    if (this.datasource.is2x) {
+    if (this.datasource.isFlux) {
       return; // nothing
     }