.NET Client (NRedisStack & StackExchange.Redis)

The official .NET clients for Redis are NRedisStack and StackExchange.Redis. NRedisStack extends StackExchange.Redis with additional support for Redis modules like JSON, Search, and TimeSeries.

Choosing the Right Client

StackExchange.Redis

Best for: Core Redis functionality

All Redis core commands
Connection multiplexing
High performance
Async/await support

NRedisStack

Best for: Redis modules support

Extends StackExchange.Redis
Redis JSON support
Redis Search support
TimeSeries, Bloom filters, and more

Installation

Install using NuGet Package Manager:

dotnet add package NRedisStack

Use NRedisStack if you need Redis modules support. It includes StackExchange.Redis as a dependency and adds additional functionality.

Quick Start

Create a connection

Connect to Redis using NRedisStack:

using StackExchange.Redis;
using NRedisStack;
using NRedisStack.RedisStackCommands;

// Create connection
var redis = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect("localhost:6379");
var db = redis.GetDatabase();

// Test connection
var pong = db.Ping();
Console.WriteLine($"Connected: {pong.TotalMilliseconds}ms");

Perform basic operations

Execute Redis commands:

// SET and GET operations
db.StringSet("user:1:name", "Alice");
var name = db.StringGet("user:1:name");
Console.WriteLine($"Name: {name}");  // Output: Name: Alice

// Work with numbers
db.StringSet("counter", 0);
db.StringIncrement("counter");
db.StringIncrement("counter", 5);
var count = db.StringGet("counter");
Console.WriteLine($"Counter: {count}");  // Output: Counter: 6

// Expiration
db.StringSet("session:abc", "session_data", TimeSpan.FromHours(1));

Use async operations

Leverage async/await for better performance:

// Async operations (recommended)
await db.StringSetAsync("key", "value");
var value = await db.StringGetAsync("key");
Console.WriteLine(value);

// Multiple async operations
var setTask1 = db.StringSetAsync("key1", "value1");
var setTask2 = db.StringSetAsync("key2", "value2");
await Task.WhenAll(setTask1, setTask2);

Handle errors

Implement proper error handling:

using StackExchange.Redis;

try
{
    var redis = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect(new ConfigurationOptions
    {
        EndPoints = { "localhost:6379" },
        ConnectTimeout = 5000,
        SyncTimeout = 5000,
        AbortOnConnectFail = false
    });
    
    var db = redis.GetDatabase();
    
    await db.StringSetAsync("key", "value");
    var value = await db.StringGetAsync("key");
    Console.WriteLine(value);
}
catch (RedisConnectionException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Connection error: {ex.Message}");
}
catch (RedisTimeoutException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Timeout: {ex.Message}");
}
catch (RedisException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Redis error: {ex.Message}");
}

Connection Patterns

Basic Connection

using StackExchange.Redis;

var redis = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect("localhost:6379");
var db = redis.GetDatabase();

Advanced Connection Options

var config = new ConfigurationOptions
{
    EndPoints = { "localhost:6379" },
    Password = "your-password",
    ConnectTimeout = 5000,
    SyncTimeout = 5000,
    AsyncTimeout = 5000,
    ConnectRetry = 3,
    AbortOnConnectFail = false,
    KeepAlive = 60
};

var redis = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect(config);

Secure TLS Connection

var config = new ConfigurationOptions
{
    EndPoints = { "your-redis-host.com:6380" },
    Password = "your-password",
    Ssl = true,
    SslProtocols = System.Security.Authentication.SslProtocols.Tls12
};

var redis = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect(config);

Redis Cloud Connection

var config = new ConfigurationOptions
{
    EndPoints = { "your-endpoint.redis.cloud:12345" },
    Password = "your-password",
    Ssl = true
};

var redis = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect(config);

Connection String Format

var redis = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect(
    "your-redis-host.com:6380,password=your-password,ssl=true,abortConnect=false"
);

Working with Data Structures

Hashes

// Store user data as a hash
var user = new HashEntry[]
{
    new HashEntry("name", "Alice"),
    new HashEntry("email", "alice@example.com"),
    new HashEntry("age", 30)
};
db.HashSet("user:1", user);

// Get specific field
var name = db.HashGet("user:1", "name");
Console.WriteLine(name);

// Get all fields
var userData = db.HashGetAll("user:1");
foreach (var field in userData)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{field.Name}: {field.Value}");
}

// Increment numeric field
db.HashIncrement("user:1", "age", 1);

Lists

// Add items to a list
db.ListRightPush("queue", new RedisValue[] { "task1", "task2", "task3" });

// Get list length
var length = db.ListLength("queue");

// Pop item from list
var task = db.ListLeftPop("queue");
Console.WriteLine(task);  // task1

// Get range of items
var tasks = db.ListRange("queue", 0, -1);
foreach (var t in tasks)
{
    Console.WriteLine(t);
}

Sets

// Add members to a set
db.SetAdd("tags", new RedisValue[] { "python", "redis", "database" });

// Check membership
var isMember = db.SetContains("tags", "python");
Console.WriteLine(isMember);  // true

// Get all members
var tags = db.SetMembers("tags");

// Set operations
db.SetAdd("tags2", new RedisValue[] { "redis", "cache", "nosql" });
var common = db.SetCombine(SetOperation.Intersect, "tags", "tags2");

Sorted Sets

// Add scored members
db.SortedSetAdd("leaderboard", new SortedSetEntry[]
{
    new SortedSetEntry("alice", 100),
    new SortedSetEntry("bob", 150),
    new SortedSetEntry("charlie", 120)
});

// Get top scores (descending)
var topPlayers = db.SortedSetRangeByRankWithScores(
    "leaderboard", 0, 2, Order.Descending
);
foreach (var player in topPlayers)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{player.Element}: {player.Score}");
}

// Get rank
var rank = db.SortedSetRank("leaderboard", "alice", Order.Descending);

// Increment score
db.SortedSetIncrement("leaderboard", "alice", 25);

Working with JSON (NRedisStack)

NRedisStack provides native JSON support:

using NRedisStack;
using NRedisStack.RedisStackCommands;
using System.Text.Json;

var redis = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect("localhost:6379");
var db = redis.GetDatabase();
var json = db.JSON();

// Store JSON document
var user = new
{
    name = "Alice",
    email = "alice@example.com",
    age = 30,
    tags = new[] { "developer", "redis" }
};

json.Set("user:1", "$", user);

// Get JSON document
var result = json.Get("user:1");

// Update specific field
json.Set("user:1", "$.age", 31);

// Get specific field
var age = json.Get("user:1", "$.age");

Advanced Features

Pipelining with Batch

var batch = db.CreateBatch();

var setTask1 = batch.StringSetAsync("key1", "value1");
var setTask2 = batch.StringSetAsync("key2", "value2");
var incrTask = batch.StringIncrementAsync("counter");
var getTask = batch.StringGetAsync("key1");

batch.Execute();

// Wait for all results
await Task.WhenAll(setTask1, setTask2, incrTask, getTask);

Console.WriteLine(await getTask);  // value1

Transactions

var tran = db.CreateTransaction();

// Add conditions (optional)
tran.AddCondition(Condition.KeyExists("balance"));

// Queue commands
var setTask1 = tran.StringSetAsync("key1", "value1");
var setTask2 = tran.StringSetAsync("key2", "value2");
var incrTask = tran.StringIncrementAsync("counter");

// Execute transaction atomically
var success = await tran.ExecuteAsync();

if (success)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Transaction successful");
    Console.WriteLine(await setTask1);
}
else
{
    Console.WriteLine("Transaction failed");
}

Pub/Sub

using StackExchange.Redis;

// Subscriber
var redis = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect("localhost:6379");
var subscriber = redis.GetSubscriber();

await subscriber.SubscribeAsync("notifications", (channel, message) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Received: {message}");
});

// Publisher
var publisher = redis.GetSubscriber();
await publisher.PublishAsync("notifications", "Hello, Redis!");

Key Scanning

var server = redis.GetServer("localhost:6379");

await foreach (var key in server.KeysAsync(pattern: "user:*", pageSize: 100))
{
    Console.WriteLine(key);
    var value = await db.StringGetAsync(key);
    Console.WriteLine(value);
}

Dependency Injection (.NET Core)

using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
using StackExchange.Redis;

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    services.AddSingleton<IConnectionMultiplexer>(
        ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect("localhost:6379")
    );
    
    services.AddScoped(sp =>
    {
        var redis = sp.GetRequiredService<IConnectionMultiplexer>();
        return redis.GetDatabase();
    });
}

Use in controllers or services:

public class CacheService
{
    private readonly IDatabase _db;
    
    public CacheService(IDatabase db)
    {
        _db = db;
    }
    
    public async Task<string> GetAsync(string key)
    {
        return await _db.StringGetAsync(key);
    }
}

Starter Project

Redis .NET Starter Project

Clone the official starter project with ASP.NET Core examples and best practices.

Additional Resources

.NET Client Documentation

Official .NET client documentation

StackExchange.Redis GitHub

Source code and documentation

Redis Commands

Complete Redis command reference

Data Types Guide

Learn about Redis data structures

Get Started

Core Concepts

Data Types

Advanced Features

Operations

Client Libraries

.NET Client (NRedisStack & StackExchange.Redis)

Choosing the Right Client

StackExchange.Redis

NRedisStack

Installation

Quick Start

Connection Patterns

Basic Connection

Advanced Connection Options

Secure TLS Connection

Redis Cloud Connection

Connection String Format

Working with Data Structures

Hashes

Lists

Sets

Sorted Sets

Working with JSON (NRedisStack)

Advanced Features

Pipelining with Batch

Transactions

Pub/Sub

Key Scanning

Dependency Injection (.NET Core)

Starter Project

Redis .NET Starter Project

Additional Resources

.NET Client Documentation

StackExchange.Redis GitHub

Redis Commands

Data Types Guide

Get Started

Core Concepts

Data Types

Advanced Features

Operations

Client Libraries

Documentation Index

​Choosing the Right Client

StackExchange.Redis

NRedisStack

​Installation

​Quick Start

​Connection Patterns

​Basic Connection

​Advanced Connection Options

​Secure TLS Connection

​Redis Cloud Connection

​Connection String Format

​Working with Data Structures

​Hashes

​Lists

​Sets

​Sorted Sets

​Working with JSON (NRedisStack)

​Advanced Features

​Pipelining with Batch

​Transactions

​Pub/Sub

​Key Scanning

​Dependency Injection (.NET Core)

​Starter Project

Redis .NET Starter Project

​Additional Resources

.NET Client Documentation

StackExchange.Redis GitHub

Redis Commands

Data Types Guide

Choosing the Right Client

Installation

Quick Start

Connection Patterns

Basic Connection

Advanced Connection Options

Secure TLS Connection

Redis Cloud Connection

Connection String Format

Working with Data Structures

Hashes

Lists

Sets

Sorted Sets

Working with JSON (NRedisStack)

Advanced Features

Pipelining with Batch

Transactions

Pub/Sub

Key Scanning

Dependency Injection (.NET Core)

Starter Project

Additional Resources