Redis Live

See exactly what your code does to Redis, without leaving VS Code.

Redis Live is a VS Code extension that connects directly to your Redis instance and shows you what's happening inside it in real time. Run a command, watch the key appear. Save a file, see which keys changed as a result. Every mutation tracked, every change visible, all inside the sidebar.

Built in 2026. Actively maintained.

Getting Started

Install Redis Live from the banner above or search for it in the Extensions sidebar.

If Redis is running locally, the extension connects automatically on startup — nothing to configure. For cloud instances (Upstash, Redis Cloud, Railway), press Ctrl+Shift+P → Redis Live: Add Connection and paste your rediss:// URL.

No local Redis? Get a free instance at Upstash in under 2 minutes and paste the URL. Works immediately over TLS.

No backend server required. Redis Live connects directly to Redis using ioredis, built into the extension.

The terminal

Type any Redis command directly in the sidebar. All 200+ commands are supported — SET, GET, HSET, ZADD, XADD, SCAN, everything. Commands are syntax-highlighted as you type, with distinct colors for keywords, keys, values, numbers, and flags.

Press ⌨ to open the command reference — a searchable list of every Redis command, organized by category. Click any command to insert it into the input with your cursor positioned at the first argument.

Arrow keys navigate your command history. Tab fills the input from history without committing, so you can use previous commands as templates.

The state panel

Below the terminal, a live view of every key in your Redis instance. Keys update automatically — no manual refresh, no polling indicator to dismiss. When a key is added it flashes green. When it's modified it flashes yellow.

Click any key to expand it and see its full value inline — strings, lists, hashes, sets, sorted sets, and streams all rendered natively in their own format. Type a glob pattern to filter the list instantly (user:*, session:*, cache:*).

The diff timeline

Every change to your Redis state is recorded in a timeline. Commands you ran yourself are labeled with the command text. Changes made by other processes — your application running in another terminal, a background job, a colleague on the same instance — show up as external changes. You always know what changed, when, and what caused it.

Save-diff

This is the feature that makes Redis Live different from every other Redis tool.

When you save a file, Redis Live captures a snapshot of your Redis state before and after. The diff timeline shows exactly which keys changed as a result of that save. If your code sets three keys and updates two others, you'll see all five appear in the timeline the moment you hit save.

No other Redis extension connects your code saves to your Redis state changes.

Code detective

Open any source file that uses a Redis client — Node.js (client.get(), redis.set()), Python (r.get(), redis.set()) — and Redis Live scans it for key references. Matching keys in your state panel are highlighted with a blue indicator. Click ⟨/⟩ on any highlighted key to jump directly to the line in your code that references it.

Multiple connections and TLS

Save named connection profiles (local, staging, prod) and switch between them from the command palette. Supports redis:// for local instances and rediss:// for TLS-encrypted cloud instances.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.85.0 or later
• A Redis instance — local, Docker, or cloud

License

MIT