upstash-redis-js skill for Claude Code: write Upstash Redis code correctly

Upstash's own skill that makes Claude use the @upstash/redis TypeScript SDK correctly for caching, sessions, locks and more.

Installs: 24.4K; on skills.sh
Stars: 34; on GitHub
Files: 31; besides SKILL.md
Updated: Oct 2026; last repo commit

upstash-redis-js is a reference pack for the @upstash/redis SDK from Upstash. SKILL.md points Claude to guides for data structures, patterns such as caching and sessions, pipelines and transactions, performance, search and migrations, and warns about mistakes models make, such as stringifying JSON by hand. The folder bundles no scripts. It also shows how an agent can mint a temporary scratch database with one POST to upstash.com/start-redis.

Good for

Developers using Upstash Redis from Next.js, Vercel, Cloudflare Workers or Node.js
Teams adding caching, sessions, leaderboards or distributed locks
Anyone migrating from ioredis or node-redis

Install upstash-redis-js

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the upstash-redis-js skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

/plugin marketplace add upstash/skills
/plugin install upstash@upstash

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Pick one route, not both. The plugin and npx upstash add the Upstash MCP server along with the skills, and the skills CLI route installs only this skill. The README says the skills themselves need no credentials.

From the project README. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Work with the @upstash/redis TypeScript/JavaScript SDK, a serverless HTTP-based Redis client for Next.js, Vercel, Cloudflare Workers, edge runtimes, and Node.js. Use when adding a cache (cache-aside, write-through, TTL and expiration strategies), session storage and user sessions, a key-value store, leaderboards and rankings with sorted sets, counters, distributed locks, queues with lists, streams and consumer groups, sparse index-addressed arrays and ring buffers (ARSET, ARINSERT, ARRING, ARGREP, AROP), embeddings and nearest-neighbour vector search stored inside Redis (VECTOR commands via redis.vector, separate from @upstash/vector), JSON documents, pipelines and MULTI/EXEC transactions, Lua scripting, read replicas, or full-text search, typo-tolerant search, facets, aggregations, and search over Redis stream entries with Upstash Redis Search (different from regular FT.SEARCH; also available for TCP clients via @upstash/search-redis and @upstash/search-ioredis). Also use when migrating from ioredis or node-redis, when a Redis connection is needed from a serverless function without connection pooling, when integrating @upstash/ratelimit, or when the user says Redis cache, KV store, session store, serverless Redis, or Upstash Redis. Also use when building AI agents on Redis with Upstash AgentKit (agent memory, chat history, RAG tools, tool caching, chat persistence, resumable streams, distributed locks) for the Vercel AI SDK, TanStack AI, or Vercel Eve. Supports automatic serialization/deserialization of JavaScript types.

Sections in SKILL.md

Bundled docs and source
Installation
Quick Start
Basic Initialization
Environment Variables
Skill Files Overview
Data Structures (data-structures/)
Advanced Features (advanced-features/)
Patterns (patterns/)
Performance (performance/)
Search (search/)
Migrations (migrations/)
Common Mistakes (Especially for LLMs)
❌ Mistake 1: Treating Everything as Strings
❌ Mistake 2: Manual JSON Serialization
Quick Command Reference

Key facts

Author: Upstash (named in the SKILL.md metadata and the plugin manifest); the vendor's own repo
License: MIT (LICENSE file, SKILL.md and plugin manifest)
Installs on skills.sh: 24,367 as of 2026-11-02
GitHub stars: 34 for the whole upstash/skills repo, 2026-11-02
What is inside: 32 files including SKILL.md: Markdown guides in data-structures, advanced-features, patterns, performance, search and migrations folders
Part of: The Upstash plugin: 14 skills in the repo and the hosted Upstash MCP server
Needs: UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL and UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN for the code it writes
Last repo commit: 2026-10-27
Works in: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Zed and any Agent Skills client, per the README

What it includes

Guides for strings, hashes, lists, sets, sorted sets, JSON, streams, arrays, vectors
Nine guides with auto-serialization examples. Redis arrays and in-Redis vector search are covered, separate from @upstash/vector.
Read · Data structures
Auto-pipeline, manual pipelines and transactions, Lua scripting
Three guides on batching requests, MULTI/EXEC and server-side scripts.
Read · Advanced features
Caching, rate limiting, sessions, distributed locks, leaderboards
Five pattern guides. The rate-limiting guide shows integration with @upstash/ratelimit.
Try: “Add cache-aside caching with a 5 minute TTL to my user lookup using @upstash/redis.”
Write · Patterns
Batching, pipelines, TTL, serialization, error handling, replicas
Six guides, including retry and timeout handling and read replicas with read-your-writes consistency.
Read · Performance
Upstash Redis Search: schema, querying, aggregation, indexes, aliases
Six guides on full-text and typo-tolerant search, facets and aggregations, and adapters for node-redis and ioredis.
Read · Search
From ioredis and from node-redis
Two guides on API and serialization differences.
Read · Migrations
Do not stringify or parse JSON by hand
Shows that the SDK serializes values automatically, so set and get can use native objects and numbers.
Write · Common mistakes
Agent can mint a temporary Redis with one POST
SKILL.md says an agent without credentials can POST to https://upstash.com/start-redis for a database with a 3-day TTL and no signup.
Network · Scratch database
Sends agent-state work to Upstash AgentKit
For agent memory, chat history, RAG tools and resumable streams, SKILL.md points to AgentKit adapters for the Vercel AI SDK, TanStack AI and Vercel Eve.
Read · AgentKit pointer

From the official docs

Permissions

Medium risk

Claude writes Redis code that can delete keys, and the plugin route connects a hosted MCP server to your Upstash account. Use a development database, and install only the skill if you do not want the MCP server.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

The plugin route adds the Upstash MCP server
The plugin and npx upstash also set up the hosted server at https://mcp.upstash.com/mcp, with OAuth sign-in. The repo's AGENTS.md lists tools to create and inspect databases, run Redis commands, read logs and backups, and manage QStash schedules. Use the skills command if you only want the skill. github.com
Agents can create a temporary database
SKILL.md tells an agent without credentials that it can POST to https://upstash.com/start-redis to get a scratch Redis (3-day TTL, no signup). The upstash-redis-start skill in the same repo adds that the database is temporary and unauthenticated until claimed, and to keep PII, secrets and production credentials out of it. Decline the request if you do not want Claude contacting that URL. github.com
Examples delete keys
The guides show redis.del and JSON delete calls. Point the code at a development database, not production, while Claude is writing and testing. github.com
It shows an npm install and credentials in .env
SKILL.md lists npm install @upstash/redis and tells you to put UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL and UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN in .env. Keep the token out of git. github.com

Technical details

Turning on read-only	No read-only mode for the skill. The README says a read-only API key makes the local MCP server disable state-changing tools.
Talks to	https://upstash.com/start-redis (optional scratch database). https://mcp.upstash.com/mcp (plugin route)
Sign-in and keys	The code Claude writes reads UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL and UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN from your environment. The plugin's MCP server signs in with OAuth or a developer API key.
Data retention	SKILL.md names no logging. The temporary database from start-redis has a 3-day TTL per SKILL.md.
Scopes	Claude writes Redis code in your project and may read node_modules/@upstash/redis docs and source Plugin route: hosted Upstash MCP server with access to your Upstash account

Questions

What does upstash-redis-js do?

It gives Claude a guide to the @upstash/redis SDK: how to cache, store sessions, rank leaderboards, lock, pipeline and search, and which mistakes to avoid. It targets serverless and edge runtimes.

How do I install upstash-redis-js in Claude Code?

Use the install box at the top of this page. The plugin route also adds the Upstash MCP server, and the skills command installs only this skill.

Is it official?

Yes. It is in Upstash's own skills repo, and SKILL.md names Upstash as author. The repo's plugin manifests list Upstash as the author.

Does it need an API key?

The README says the skills need no credentials. The code Claude writes needs UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL and UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN. The plugin's MCP server signs in with OAuth in a browser or takes a developer API key.

Does it work in the Claude app, Codex, Cursor or OpenCode?

The README documents Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, OpenCode and Zed, and the install box lists each. Our advice: use Claude Code for anything that edits your project, and treat the Claude app upload as a plain reference.

Is upstash-redis-js safe to install?

The skill folder is Markdown only and bundles no scripts. Claude will write code that can delete keys, and the plugin route adds an MCP server tied to your Upstash account. See the safety section.

upstash-redis-js vs upstash-ratelimit-js?

Use upstash-ratelimit-js for the @upstash/ratelimit package. upstash-redis-js covers the Redis client itself and has a rate-limiting pattern guide that points to the ratelimit package.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: upstash/skills
Folder: skills/upstash-redis-js

upstash/skills skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 11

README · github.com
marketplace.json · github.com
plugin.json · github.com
upstash-redis-js on skills.sh · skills.sh
upstash-redis-js SKILL.md · github.com
LICENSE · github.com
upstash-ratelimit-js SKILL.md · github.com
mcp.json · github.com
AGENTS.md · github.com
strings.md · github.com
upstash-redis-start SKILL.md · github.com