How to Use Redis with Go

Overview

This article explains how to use Redis with Go.

Starting Redis

For an explanation of Redis and how to start it using Docker, refer to this article.

Start Redis:

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docker run -d --name my-redis \
  -p 6379:6379 \
  redis:7.4.5-alpine

Check the connection using redis-cli:

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docker exec -it my-redis redis-cli ping

If it returns PONG, the connection is successful.

Create a Go Project

Create a new Go project:

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mkdir redis-go
cd redis-go
go mod init redis-go

Using Redis in Go

Here is a sample code that connects to Redis, writes, and reads data:

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package main

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"log"
	"time"

	"github.com/redis/go-redis/v9"
)

func main() {
	// Connect to local Redis on port 6379 without a password
	rdb := redis.NewClient(&redis.Options{
		Addr:         "127.0.0.1:6379",
		Password:     "", // no password
		DB:           0,
		DialTimeout:  3 * time.Second,
		ReadTimeout:  1 * time.Second,
		WriteTimeout: 1 * time.Second,
	})
	defer rdb.Close()

	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
	defer cancel()

	// Ping to test connection
	if err := rdb.Ping(ctx).Err(); err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("redis ping failed: %v", err)
	}
	log.Println("connected to redis ✅")

	// Basic operations (SET/GET)
	if err := rdb.Set(ctx, "hello", "world", 10*time.Minute).Err(); err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("SET error: %v", err)
	}
	val, err := rdb.Get(ctx, "hello").Result()
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("GET error: %v", err)
	}
	fmt.Println("hello =", val)

	// Example using Set type
	key := "team:dev"
	if err := rdb.SAdd(ctx, key, "alice", "bob", "alice").Err(); err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("SADD error: %v", err)
	}
	members, _ := rdb.SMembers(ctx, key).Result()
	fmt.Println("members =", members)
}

Install the dependencies:

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go mod tidy

Run the program:

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go run main.go

If you see the following output, everything is working correctly:

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2025/10/05 20:30:00 connected to redis ✅
hello = world
members = [alice bob]

Summary

This article explained how to use Redis with Go. When working with Redis in Go, use the go-redis package.