Get started

Get Redis running and connect your first application, however you deploy it.

Redis can be used as a database, cache, streaming engine, message broker, context engine, feature platform, and more. In this guide, you'll learn how to create a Redis deployment in Redis Open Source, Redis Cloud, or Redis Software. Then, you'll learn how to create an application that connects to your deployment.

Create a Redis deployment

This section shows how to set up a Redis deployment and connect to it with redis-cli.

1. Install dependencies

   Redis Open Source Redis Cloud Redis Software

   • Docker installed, to run the Docker quick start in step 2. To install without Docker, see Install Redis on Linux, macOS, or from source for its own system requirements.

   • A web browser, to sign up and manage your database in the Redis Cloud console.

     • redis-cli installed locally, to connect to your database in step 3:

       curl -fsSL https://packages.redis.io/redis-cli/install.sh | sh
       

       See Install redis-cli for more information.

   • Docker installed, to run the Docker quick start in step 2. To install without Docker, see the Redis Software on Linux quick start for its own system requirements.
     • A command-line HTTP client such as curl, if you want to create a database with the REST API in step 2.

2. Set up a fully-featured deployment

   Redis Open Source Redis Cloud Redis Software

   Redis Open Source is the free, self-managed core Redis server. The fastest way to run it is with Docker:

   docker run -d --name redis -p 6379:6379 redis:latest
   

   Starting the server creates your database — there's no separate create step. See Run Redis on Docker for the full procedure, or Install Redis on Linux, macOS, or from source to install without Docker.

   Sign up and create your database. Signing up creates a free 30 MB database for you.

   To create additional or different types of databases from the console, see:

   • Create an Essentials database — a cost-efficient, fully managed database for low-throughput workloads, training, and prototyping.
   • Create a Pro database — a dedicated, "pay as you go" database for production workloads that need higher throughput, larger datasets, and advanced features like Active-Active and clustering.

   Redis Software is a self-managed Redis cluster you install and run on your own infrastructure. The fastest way to try it is with Docker:

   docker run -d --cap-add sys_resource --name RE -p 8443:8443 -p 9443:9443 -p 12000:12000 redislabs/redis
   

   See the Redis Software on Docker quick start for the full procedure, or the Redis Software on Linux quick start to install without Docker.

   You can create databases with Redis Software using the console or the REST API. To create a database with the REST API:

   POST https://<host>:<port>/v1/bdbs
   {
       "name": "test-database",
       "type": "redis",
       "memory_size": 1073741824,
       // Additional fields
   }
   

   See Create a database for the full procedure, including the console method and additional configuration fields.

3. Connect to your deployment

   Redis Open Source Redis Cloud Redis Software

   If you started Redis with the docker run command from step 2 then you can connect to the database with the following command:

   docker exec -it redis redis-cli
   

   See Redis CLI for the full procedure, including non-Docker installs and Redis Insight as a GUI alternative to the CLI.

   Get your database's host, port, and password from the connection wizard in the Redis Cloud console, then connect with redis-cli:

   redis-cli -h <hostname> -p <portnumber> -a <password>
   

   See Connect to a Redis Cloud database for the full procedure, including Redis Insight and client library options.

   Connect to your Redis Software database using the following command:

   docker exec -it <container_name_or_ID> redis-cli -h <host_or_IP> -p <port>
   

   See Connect to a Redis Software database for the full procedure and for further options, including Redis Insight and client library connections.

Congratulations! You have successfully set up your Redis deployment and connected to it.

In the next section, you'll learn how to create an application that connects to your deployment and interacts with data.

Create your first Redis application

To connect to your Redis deployment in an application, you can use one of the official Redis client libraries.

1. Initialize your application

   Python Node.js Java Go C# Ruby C Rust PHP RedisVL

   Create a project directory and install redis-py:

   mkdir python-quickstart
   cd python-quickstart
   pip install redis
   

   Create a project directory and install node-redis:

   mkdir node-quickstart
   cd node-quickstart
   npm init -y
   npm install redis
   

   Add Jedis as a dependency in your Maven project's pom.xml:

   <dependency>
       <groupId>redis.clients</groupId>
       <artifactId>jedis</artifactId>
       <version>7.2.0</version>
   </dependency>
   

   Create a project directory and install go-redis:

   mkdir go-quickstart
   cd go-quickstart
   go mod init go-quickstart
   go get github.com/redis/go-redis/v9
   

   Create a project directory and install StackExchange.Redis:

   mkdir csharp-quickstart
   cd csharp-quickstart
   dotnet new console
   dotnet add package StackExchange.Redis
   

   Create a project directory and install redis-rb:

   mkdir ruby-quickstart
   cd ruby-quickstart
   gem install redis
   

   Build and install hiredis from source:

   git clone https://github.com/redis/hiredis.git
   cd hiredis
   make
   sudo make install
   

   Create a project directory and add the redis crate as a dependency in Cargo.toml:

   [dependencies]
   redis = "1.0.4"
   

   Use Composer to install Predis:

   composer require predis/predis
   

   Create a project directory and install RedisVL:

   mkdir redisvl-quickstart
   cd redisvl-quickstart
   pip install redisvl
   

2. Create your application

   Python Node.js Java Go C# Ruby C Rust PHP RedisVL

   Copy the following code into app.py. This connects to your database and sets and retrieves a value.

   import redis
   
   r = redis.Redis(host='localhost', port=6379, decode_responses=True)
   
   r.set('bike:1', 'Process 134')
   print(r.get('bike:1'))
   

   Copy the following code into index.js. This connects to your database and sets and retrieves a value.

   import { createClient } from 'redis';
   
   const client = createClient();
   client.on('error', err => console.log('Redis Client Error', err));
   await client.connect();
   
   await client.set('bike:1', 'Process 134');
   const value = await client.get('bike:1');
   console.log(value);
   

   Copy the following code into Main.java. This connects to your database and sets and retrieves a value.

   package org.example;
   import redis.clients.jedis.RedisClient;
   
   public class Main {
       public static void main(String[] args) {
           RedisClient jedis = RedisClient.create("redis://localhost:6379");
   
           String res1 = jedis.set("bike:1", "Process 134");
           System.out.println(res1);
   
           String res2 = jedis.get("bike:1");
           System.out.println(res2);
   
           jedis.close();
       }
   }
   

   Copy the following code into main.go. This connects to your database and sets and retrieves a value.

   package main
   
   import (
       "context"
       "fmt"
       "github.com/redis/go-redis/v9"
   )
   
   func main() {
       ctx := context.Background()
       client := redis.NewClient(&redis.Options{
           Addr: "localhost:6379",
       })
   
       if err := client.Set(ctx, "bike:1", "Process 134", 0).Err(); err != nil {
           panic(err)
       }
   
       val, err := client.Get(ctx, "bike:1").Result()
       if err != nil {
           panic(err)
       }
       fmt.Println(val)
   }
   

   Copy the following code into Program.cs. This connects to your database and sets and retrieves a value.

   using StackExchange.Redis;
   
   ConnectionMultiplexer redis = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect("localhost:6379");
   IDatabase db = redis.GetDatabase();
   
   db.StringSet("bike:1", "Process 134");
   Console.WriteLine(db.StringGet("bike:1"));
   

   Copy the following code into app.rb. This connects to your database and sets and retrieves a value.

   require 'redis'
   
   r = Redis.new
   
   r.set('bike:1', 'Process 134')
   puts r.get('bike:1')
   

   Copy the following code into main.c. This connects to your database and sets and retrieves a value.

   #include <stdio.h>
   #include <stdlib.h>
   #include <hiredis/hiredis.h>
   
   int main() {
       redisContext *c = redisConnect("127.0.0.1", 6379);
       if (c == NULL || c->err) {
           printf("Connection error\n");
           exit(1);
       }
   
       redisReply *reply = redisCommand(c, "SET bike:1 %s", "Process 134");
       printf("%s\n", reply->str);
       freeReplyObject(reply);
   
       reply = redisCommand(c, "GET bike:1");
       printf("%s\n", reply->str);
       freeReplyObject(reply);
   
       redisFree(c);
       return 0;
   }
   

   Copy the following code into src/main.rs. This connects to your database and sets and retrieves a value.

   use redis::Commands;
   
   fn main() -> redis::RedisResult<()> {
       let client = redis::Client::open("redis://127.0.0.1:6379")?;
       let mut con = client.get_connection()?;
   
       con.set("bike:1", "Process 134")?;
       let value: String = con.get("bike:1")?;
       println!("{value}");
   
       Ok(())
   }
   

   Copy the following code into app.php. This connects to your database and sets and retrieves a value.

   <?php
   require 'vendor/autoload.php';
   
   use Predis\Client;
   
   $client = new Client([
       'scheme' => 'tcp',
       'host'   => '127.0.0.1',
       'port'   => 6379,
   ]);
   
   $client->set('bike:1', 'Process 134');
   echo $client->get('bike:1') . PHP_EOL;
   

   RedisVL is a vector-search library, not a general key-value client — it works with index schemas rather than simple SET/GET commands. Copy the following code into app.py to define a schema and create an index:

   from redisvl.index import SearchIndex
   
   schema = {
       "index": {"name": "bikes", "prefix": "bike"},
       "fields": [
           {"name": "model", "type": "text"},
           {"name": "price", "type": "numeric"},
       ],
   }
   
   index = SearchIndex.from_dict(schema, redis_url="redis://localhost:6379")
   index.create(overwrite=True)
   

   See the RedisVL getting started guide for the full procedure, including loading data and running vector searches.

3. Add your connection string

   The examples in step 2 connect to localhost:6379, which works as is if you're running Redis Open Source locally. Otherwise, replace it with your deployment's host, port, and password from the Redis Cloud connection wizard or the Redis Software connection details.

   Python Node.js Java Go C# Ruby C Rust PHP RedisVL

      r = redis.from_url("redis://default:<password>@<host>:<port>")
   

      const client = createClient({
        url: 'redis://default:<password>@<host>:<port>'
      });
   

      RedisClient jedis = RedisClient.create("redis://default:<password>@<host>:<port>");
   

      opt, err := redis.ParseURL("redis://default:<password>@<host>:<port>")
      if err != nil {
          panic(err)
      }
      client := redis.NewClient(opt)
   

      ConfigurationOptions conf = new ConfigurationOptions {
          EndPoints = { "<host>:<port>" },
          User = "default",
          Password = "<password>"
      };
      ConnectionMultiplexer redis = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect(conf);
   

      r = Redis.new(url: "redis://default:<password>@<host>:<port>")
   

   hiredis connects by host and port, then authenticates with a separate command:

   redisContext *c = redisConnect("<host>", <port>);
   redisReply *reply = redisCommand(c, "AUTH %s", "<password>");
   freeReplyObject(reply);
   

      let client = redis::Client::open("redis://default:<password>@<host>:<port>")?;
   

      $client = new Client([
          'scheme'   => 'tcp',
          'host'     => '<host>',
          'port'     => '<port>',
          'password' => '<password>',
      ]);
   

      index = SearchIndex.from_dict(schema, redis_url="redis://default:<password>@<host>:<port>")
   

4. Run your application

   Python Node.js Java Go C# Ruby C Rust PHP RedisVL

      python app.py
   

      node index.js
   

      mvn compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="org.example.Main"
   

      go run main.go
   

      dotnet run
   

      ruby app.rb
   

      cc main.c -L/usr/local/lib -lhiredis -o app
      ./app
   

      cargo run
   

      php app.php
   

      python app.py
   

   Each program prints Process 134 — the value you stored and then retrieved. (RedisVL's example instead confirms the index was created.)

5. Explore a use case

   Each of the following quick starts shows a complete example application for a specific use case:

   • Data structure store
   • Document database
   • Vector database

   Refer to the Redis use cases page for a complete set of use cases with code examples in your programming language.

Next steps

To learn more about developing with Redis, see the following resources:

• Explore all client libraries
• Redis products overview
• Develop with Redis