Install
Install and configure the Redis MCP server.
The MCP server runs separately from Redis, so you will need a Redis server for it to connect to. See Redis Cloud or Redis Open Source to learn how to get a test server active within minutes.
When you have a Redis server available, use the instructions below to install and configure the Redis MCP server.
Quick Start with uvx
The easiest way to use the Redis MCP Server is with uvx,
which lets you run it directly from a GitHub branch or a tagged release (see the uv
installation instructions
for more information.)
# Run with Redis URI
uvx --from git+https://github.com/redis/mcp-redis.git redis-mcp-server --url redis://localhost:6379/0
# Run with Redis URI and SSL
uvx --from git+https://github.com/redis/mcp-redis.git redis-mcp-server --url "rediss://<USERNAME>:<PASSWORD>@<HOST>:<PORT>?ssl_cert_reqs=required&ssl_ca_certs=<PATH_TO_CERT>"
# Run with individual parameters
uvx --from git+https://github.com/redis/mcp-redis.git redis-mcp-server --host localhost --port 6379 --password mypassword
# See all options
uvx --from git+https://github.com/redis/mcp-redis.git redis-mcp-server --help
Install the server from source
You can also run Redis MCP from source, which may be useful if you want to contribute to the project.
Clone Redis MCP from the Github repository using the following command:
git clone https://github.com/redis/mcp-redis.git
You will also need the uv packaging
tool to set up the server. See the uv
installation instructions
for more information.
When you have installed uv, go to the mcp-redis folder that you cloned and
enter the following commands to initialize the MCP server code:
cd mcp-redis
uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate
uv sync
# Run with CLI interface
uv run redis-mcp-server --help
# Or run the main file directly (uses environment variables)
uv run src/main.py
Install using Docker
You can use the mcp/redis
image to run Redis MCP with Docker.
Alternatively, use the following
command to build the Docker image with the Dockerfile in the
mcp/redis folder:
docker build -t mcp-redis .
Configuration
The default settings for MCP assume a Redis server is running on the
local machine, with the default port and no security arrangements.
You can use environment variables to change these settings
(see Environment variables below for the full list).
For example, for a bash shell, use
export REDIS_USERNAME="my_username"
from the command line or the .bashrc file to set the username you want
to connect with.
Alternatively, you can use a .env file in your project folder to set the
environment variables as key-value pairs, one per line:
REDIS_HOST=your_redis_host
REDIS_PORT=6379
.
.
See the .env.example file
in the repository for the full list of variables and their default values.
You can also set the configuration using command-line arguments, which may be useful if you only want to change a few settings from the defaults (see Command line options below for the full list of options).
# Basic Redis connection
uvx --from git+https://github.com/redis/mcp-redis.git redis-mcp-server \
--host localhost \
--port 6379 \
--password mypassword
# Using Redis URI (simpler)
uvx --from git+https://github.com/redis/mcp-redis.git redis-mcp-server \
--url redis://user:pass@localhost:6379/0
# SSL connection
uvx --from git+https://github.com/redis/mcp-redis.git redis-mcp-server \
--url rediss://user:[email protected]:6379/0
# See all available options
uvx --from git+https://github.com/redis/mcp-redis.git redis-mcp-server --help
Environment variables
The full set of environment variables is shown in the table below:
| Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
REDIS_HOST |
Redis IP or hostname | "127.0.0.1" |
REDIS_PORT |
Redis port | 6379 |
REDIS_DB |
Database | 0 |
REDIS_USERNAME |
Database username | "default" |
REDIS_PWD |
Database password | "" |
REDIS_SSL |
Enables or disables SSL/TLS | False |
REDIS_CA_PATH |
CA certificate for verifying server | None |
REDIS_SSL_KEYFILE |
Client's private key file for client authentication | None |
REDIS_SSL_CERTFILE |
Client's certificate file for client authentication | None |
REDIS_CERT_REQS |
Whether the client should verify the server's certificate | "required" |
REDIS_CA_CERTS |
Path to the trusted CA certificates file | None |
REDIS_CLUSTER_MODE |
Enable Redis Cluster mode | False |
Command line options
The full set of command line options is shown in the table below:
| Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
--url |
Redis URL (redis://user:pass@host:port/db) |
|
--host |
Redis IP or hostname | "127.0.0.1" |
--port |
Redis port | 6379 |
--db |
Database | 0 |
--username |
Database username | "default" |
--password |
Database password | |
--ssl |
Enables or disables SSL/TLS | False |
--ssl-ca-path |
CA certificate for verifying server | None |
--ssl-keyfile |
Client's private key file for client authentication | |
--ssl-certfile |
Client's certificate file for client authentication | |
--ssl-cert-reqs |
Whether the client should verify the server's certificate | "required" |
--ssl-ca-certs |
Path to the trusted CA certificates file | |
--cluster-mode |
Enable Redis Cluster mode | False |
Redis Cloud MCP
A separate version of the MCP server is available for Redis Cloud. This has the same main functionality as the basic MCP server but also has some features specific to Redis Cloud, including subscription management and billing details. For example, you can use questions and instructions like the following:
- "Create a new Redis database in AWS"
- "What are my current subscriptions?"
- "Help me choose the right Redis database for my e-commerce application"
You will need Node.js installed to run Redis Cloud MCP. Clone the GitHub repository using the following command:
git clone https://github.com/redis/mcp-redis-cloud.git
Go into the mcp-redis-cloud folder and install the dependencies:
npm run build
The server is now ready for use.
You can also deploy Redis Cloud MCP using Docker. Build the image
using the Dockerfile in the repository folder with the following
command:
docker build -t mcp/redis-cloud .
Next steps
When you have installed the server, you will need a MCP client to connect to it and use its services. See Configure client apps for more information.