# Redis — MCP Server

> Query and manage Redis data structures in natural language.

**Source:** https://mcpplaygroundonline.com/mcp-servers/redis  
**Transport:** stdio  
**Requires auth:** Yes

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## What it does

The Redis MCP server maps Redis operations onto MCP tools so an agent can work with your data without you writing commands. It covers the full type system — strings, hashes, lists, sets, sorted sets and streams — along with key management, TTL inspection and pattern-based scanning. Where it gets more interesting is search: on instances with the query engine enabled, an agent can run full-text and vector similarity queries, which makes it a practical backend for retrieval workflows. A separate server, mcp-redis-cloud, covers the Redis Cloud control plane if you want an agent managing databases and subscriptions rather than data.

## Tools exposed

- string / hash / list / set operations — read and write core data types
- sorted set operations — ranked reads, range queries and scoring
- stream operations — append and read from Redis streams
- scan / keys — pattern-based key discovery without blocking the server
- expiration — inspect and set TTLs on keys
- vector and full-text search — similarity queries on search-enabled instances

## Example queries you can run

- "How many keys match session:* and what is the average TTL left on them?"
- "Show me the top 10 entries in the leaderboard sorted set with their scores."
- "Read the last 20 messages from the events stream and summarise what happened."
- "Find the five documents most similar to this embedding in the products index."

## Details

- **Recommended model:** anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5 — Sonnet 4.5 picks the right data-structure command from a plain question and knows to SCAN rather than KEYS on a large instance.
- **Transport:** stdio
- **Authentication:** Required — A Redis connection URL, typically redis://user:password@host:port. Use a restricted ACL user rather than the default one.
- **Official source:** [redis/mcp-redis — official repository](https://github.com/redis/mcp-redis)

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the Redis MCP server?

It is the official MCP server from Redis, a natural-language interface for agentic applications to manage and search data in Redis. It covers hashes, lists, sets, sorted sets and streams, plus search and vector queries on instances with the query engine enabled.

### What is the difference between mcp-redis and mcp-redis-cloud?

mcp-redis operates on the data inside a Redis instance — reading and writing keys. mcp-redis-cloud operates on the Redis Cloud control plane, so an agent can manage subscriptions and databases. Pick the first for data work and the second for provisioning.

### Is it safe to give an AI agent access to Redis?

Use a dedicated ACL user rather than the default. Redis ACLs let you restrict both commands and key patterns, so you can grant read-only access to one namespace. That is a much better control than trusting the agent to avoid destructive commands.

### Can the Redis MCP server do vector search?

Yes, on instances that have the Redis query engine enabled. The agent can run vector similarity and full-text queries against indexes you have already created, which makes it usable as a retrieval backend inside a larger agent workflow.

### Will an agent run KEYS and block my production instance?

A capable model will reach for SCAN on a large keyspace, but this is exactly why you should point it at a replica or a scoped ACL user first. Test the behaviour in MCP Agent Studio, where every command the model issues is visible before you trust it against production.

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_Test this server across 40+ models on MCP Playground: https://mcpplaygroundonline.com/mcp-servers/redis — free, no install._