# redis-cli — The Redis Command-Line Client > Practical guide to redis-cli — the interactive client for Redis and Valkey: manage keys and data structures, use pub/sub and monitor the server. Source: https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/cheatsheets/build-languages/redis-cli/ redis-cli is the interactive command-line client for Redis – and equally for its compatible fork Valkey. With it you connect to an in-memory data store and work directly with keys and data structures such as strings, hashes, lists, sets and sorted sets. Beyond that, you use pub/sub for messaging, monitor the server while it runs and import commands in bulk. This guide walks you through the commands you reach for daily, from establishing a connection through the typical data-type operations to monitoring. ## Connect `redis-cli` — Connect to local Redis (localhost:6379). ```bash redis-cli ``` `redis-cli -h -p ` — Connect to a remote Redis server. ```bash redis-cli -h redis.example.com -p 6379 ``` `redis-cli -a ` — Connect with authentication. ```bash redis-cli -a mysecretpassword ``` `redis-cli -u ` — Connect using a Redis URI. ```bash redis-cli -u redis://user:pass@host:6379/0 ``` `redis-cli -n ` — Select a specific database number. ```bash redis-cli -n 2 ``` `redis-cli --tls` — Connect with TLS encryption. ```bash redis-cli --tls -h redis.example.com ``` ## Keys & Strings `SET ` — Set a key to a string value. ```bash SET user:1:name "John" ``` `GET ` — Get the value of a key. ```bash GET user:1:name ``` `SET EX ` — Set a key with expiration time. ```bash SET session:abc123 "data" EX 3600 ``` `DEL ` — Delete one or more keys. ```bash DEL user:1:name user:1:email ``` `KEYS ` — Find keys matching a pattern (use with caution in production). ```bash KEYS user:* ``` `SCAN MATCH COUNT ` — Iterate keys safely (production-friendly). ```bash SCAN 0 MATCH user:* COUNT 100 ``` `TTL ` — Get remaining time to live in seconds. ```bash TTL session:abc123 ``` `INCR ` — Increment a numeric value by 1. ```bash INCR page:views ``` ## Hashes & Lists `HSET ` — Set a field in a hash. ```bash HSET user:1 name "John" email "john@example.com" ``` `HGET ` — Get a field value from a hash. ```bash HGET user:1 name ``` `HGETALL ` — Get all fields and values from a hash. ```bash HGETALL user:1 ``` `LPUSH ` — Push a value to the left of a list. ```bash LPUSH queue:tasks "task1" ``` `RPOP ` — Pop a value from the right of a list. ```bash RPOP queue:tasks ``` `LRANGE ` — Get a range of elements from a list. ```bash LRANGE queue:tasks 0 -1 ``` `LLEN ` — Get the length of a list. ```bash LLEN queue:tasks ``` ## Sets & Sorted Sets `SADD ` — Add a member to a set. ```bash SADD tags:post:1 "redis" "database" "cache" ``` `SMEMBERS ` — Get all members of a set. ```bash SMEMBERS tags:post:1 ``` `SISMEMBER ` — Check if a value is in a set. ```bash SISMEMBER tags:post:1 "redis" ``` `ZADD ` — Add a member with a score to a sorted set. ```bash ZADD leaderboard 100 "player1" 200 "player2" ``` `ZRANGE WITHSCORES` — Get members from a sorted set by rank. ```bash ZRANGE leaderboard 0 -1 WITHSCORES ``` ## Server & Monitoring `INFO` — Show server information and statistics. ```bash INFO server ``` `INFO memory` — Show memory usage statistics. ```bash INFO memory ``` `DBSIZE` — Show the number of keys in the current database. ```bash DBSIZE ``` `MONITOR` — Stream all commands received by the server in real-time. ```bash MONITOR ``` `SLOWLOG GET ` — Show the last N slow queries. ```bash SLOWLOG GET 10 ``` `FLUSHDB` — Delete all keys in the current database. ```bash FLUSHDB ``` `BGSAVE` — Trigger a background save to disk. ```bash BGSAVE ``` ## Pub/Sub & Scripting `SUBSCRIBE ` — Subscribe to a channel for messages. ```bash SUBSCRIBE notifications ``` `PUBLISH ` — Publish a message to a channel. ```bash PUBLISH notifications "New order received" ``` `PSUBSCRIBE ` — Subscribe to channels matching a pattern. ```bash PSUBSCRIBE user:* ``` `redis-cli --pipe < ` — Bulk import Redis commands from a file. ```bash redis-cli --pipe < commands.txt ``` ## Conclusion redis-cli is the Swiss Army knife for everyday work with Redis and Valkey: from a quick `GET`/`SET` through data-structure operations to live monitoring with `MONITOR` and `INFO`. Be careful with the destructive commands: `FLUSHALL` and `FLUSHDB` delete all keys (of an entire instance or the current database) irreversibly. Avoid `KEYS *` in production – the command blocks the server until every key has been scanned; use `SCAN` or `redis-cli --scan` instead. Prefer passing passwords through the `REDISCLI_AUTH` environment variable rather than in clear text, because `-a` shows up in your shell history and in the process list. Note that `CONFIG SET` changes runtime behavior live, too – a single typo hits the whole instance instantly. ## Further Reading - [Redis documentation](https://redis.io/docs/latest/) – official reference for redis-cli, commands and data types - [redis-cli command-line interface](https://redis.io/docs/latest/develop/tools/cli/) – in-depth guide to the client - [Valkey documentation](https://valkey.io/docs/) – open, Redis-compatible alternative ## Related Commands - [artisan](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/cheatsheets/build-languages/artisan/) – command-line tool of the Laravel framework - [cargo](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/cheatsheets/build-languages/cargo/) – package manager and build tool for Rust - [composer](https://www.jpkc.com/db/en/cheatsheets/build-languages/composer/) – dependency manager for PHP