With drilling efforts of extended reach well，horizontal well，deep well and ultra-deep well strengthened continuously， the problem between lubrication and downhole safety became more and more prominent. In the process of drilling，it is one of the main technical measures to prevent and solve drilling safety problem by adding lubricant into drilling fluid for reducing downhole friction. The type and mechanism of drilling fluid lubricant was introduced in this article，the development and research status of drilling fluid lubricant were reviewed and its development direction in the future was suggested，hoping it contributed to the development and application of drilling fluid lubricant.