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Redis (PubSub and caching)

Serverpod Cloud does not yet provide Redis natively. You can use a third-party Redis service and point your Serverpod app at it. This guide uses Upstash as an example; other Redis-compatible providers that support TLS and password auth will work with the same configuration pattern.

Serverpod uses Redis for distributed caching and PubSub when running across multiple servers. The connection is configured via environment variables and a password.

Prerequisites​

  • Completed the Installation steps (scloud installed and authenticated).
  • A Serverpod Cloud project already deployed (or ready to deploy).
  • Linked your project (run from your server directory, or use -p your-project-id).

Create a Redis database on Upstash​

  1. Sign up or log in at Upstash.
  2. Click Create Database.
  3. Give the database a name and choose Primary Region. For Serverpod Cloud, the closest option is EU-CENTRAL-1 (Frankfurt).
  4. Choose a plan and create the database.
  5. On the database page, open REST API or Connect to your database and note:
    • Endpoint (host)
    • Port
    • Password (copy it; you will not see it again in full in some views).

Upstash enables TLS for all databases and does not allow disabling it, so you will set SERVERPOD_REDIS_REQUIRE_SSL to true below.

Set the Redis password in Serverpod Cloud​

Serverpod expects the Redis password under the built-in key redis. Set it with the Serverpod Cloud CLI:

scloud password set redis "YOUR_UPSTASH_PASSWORD"

Use the exact password from the Upstash database page.

Set Redis connection variables​

Configure host, port, enable Redis, and require SSL using environment variables. From your server project directory (or with -p your-project-id):

scloud variable create SERVERPOD_REDIS_HOST "YOUR_UPSTASH_ENDPOINT"
scloud variable create SERVERPOD_REDIS_PORT "YOUR_UPSTASH_PORT"
scloud variable create SERVERPOD_REDIS_ENABLED "true"
scloud variable create SERVERPOD_REDIS_REQUIRE_SSL "true"

Replace YOUR_UPSTASH_ENDPOINT with the Upstash endpoint (host only, no rediss:// or port). Replace YOUR_UPSTASH_PORT with the port number as a string (most likely 6380 for Upstash).

note

If your Redis provider uses a username (e.g. ACL), you can set:

scloud variable create SERVERPOD_REDIS_USER "default"

Redeploy​

Environment variables and passwords are applied when your server deploys. Redeploy so the new Redis config is used:

scloud deploy

After a successful deploy, your server will use Upstash for Redis-backed caching and PubSub.