Connect to Valkey from your Mac

What you need

What Valkey is. After Redis Inc. announced in March 2024 that Redis would leave its BSD licence, the Linux Foundation launched Valkey (on 28 March 2024), which carries on from Redis 7.2.4 under the BSD 3-clause licence, with backing from AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle, Ericsson and Snap. It keeps Redis’s protocol (RESP2 and RESP3), commands and data types, so Redis clients and tools work with it.

A Valkey server on your Mac, in Docker or from Homebrew. Like Redis, it wants port 6379.

In Docker

docker run --name valkey -p 127.0.0.1:6379:6379 -d valkey/valkey:8

We checked valkey/valkey:8, which was Valkey 8.1.10. Like the redis image, it starts with no password and protected mode off, so the published port works; publishing on 127.0.0.1 keeps other machines out. On a fresh container:

protected-mode
no
user default on nopass ~* &* +@all

To set a password, give the server command yourself after the image name. With valkey/valkey:8 valkey-server --requirepass '<password>', a PING without the password got NOAUTH Authentication required. Snapshots go to /data, so mount a volume there (-v valkey-data:/data) to keep your keys, and add --appendonly yes to log every write.

With Homebrew

brew install valkey
brew services start valkey

Homebrew’s formula was Valkey 9.1.2 when we checked. From the formula (we read it rather than install it), on Apple silicon:

It listens on 127.0.0.1 and ::1 only. On an Intel Mac, replace /opt/homebrew with /usr/local. Homebrew won’t install valkey alongside redis: both install programs named redis-*, because Valkey also installs redis-server, redis-cli and friends as links to its own.

Find your connection details

The same as Redis:

What the server says it is. INFO server on Valkey 8.1.10 begins:

# Server
redis_version:7.2.4
server_name:valkey
valkey_version:8.1.10
valkey_release_stage:ga
…
server_mode:standalone

redis_version stays at 7.2.4 on purpose: Valkey’s documentation describes it as the Redis OSS version the server is compatible with, so tools that check it keep working. The real version is in valkey_version, and server_name says valkey. (Redis 8.10.2 has redis_version:8.10.2 and redis_mode where Valkey has server_mode.) The HELLO 3 handshake reports the real thing too: redis-cli 8.10.2, connected to Valkey 8.1.10, got server valkey, version 8.1.10, proto 3.

What’s different from Redis 8. Redis 8 bundles search, JSON, time series and probabilistic types in Redis Open Source. Valkey 8.1.10 had no modules loaded (MODULE LIST was empty), so those commands don’t exist there:

ERR unknown command 'JSON.GET', with args beginning with: 'seo:connect:none'

Connection string

redis://localhost:6379/0
redis://:<password>@localhost:6379/0
rediss://<user>:<password>@<host>:<port>/0

valkey-cli 8.1.10 also accepts valkey:// URLs (both forms answered PONG), but the client libraries we checked (redis-py, node-redis, ioredis, Jedis) take only redis:// and rediss://, so use those. See Redis connection strings.

TLS

As with Redis, nothing is set up for a local server. Valkey builds with TLS support (make BUILD_TLS=yes), and the TLS settings (tls-port, tls-cert-file and the rest) have the same names as Redis’s. Hosted Valkey usually requires TLS:

• Amazon ElastiCache for Valkey: TLS (in-transit encryption) is always on for serverless caches and optional for node-based clusters. See Connect to ElastiCache.
• Google Cloud Memorystore for Valkey: versions 7.2, 8.0, 9.0 and 9.1, with cluster mode enabled (a discovery endpoint) or disabled (a primary and a reader endpoint); in-transit encryption and either IAM or token authentication are options.
• Aiven for Valkey: Aiven describes it as fully compatible with Redis OSS 7.2.4.
• DigitalOcean Managed Valkey: all clusters use TLS; its example connects with valkey-cli --tls -h <host> -a <password> -p 25061. Valkey 9 has been available there since 28 September 2026.

Connect with Inlet

1. Choose New Connection and pick Redis: Valkey connects the same way. Or paste a redis:// or rediss:// URL and Inlet fills in the form.
2. Enter localhost and 6379 for a local server, or your provider’s host and port, and turn on TLS for a hosted one (Inlet checks the certificate; client certificates are supported).
3. Enter the password only for requirepass, or an ACL user and its password. Save it in the Keychain, or have Inlet ask every time.
4. Pick the database number, and tag the environment: local, or production, where Inlet refuses write and admin commands before they’re sent.

Inlet is tested with Valkey 8. If your hosted Valkey runs in cluster mode, Inlet connects to one node and explains the MOVED replies for keys on other shards.

Connect from the command line

docker exec -it valkey valkey-cli

Homebrew’s valkey puts valkey-cli on your PATH, plus a redis-cli link to it. A redis-cli from Redis works against Valkey too; the flags are the same (-h, -p, --user, --askpass, --tls, -u). To keep a password off the command line, redis-cli reads REDISCLI_AUTH.

Troubleshooting

Valkey 8.1.10 words its sign-in errors exactly as Redis does, so the Redis pages apply:

• NOAUTH Authentication required: the server has a password and your client sent none. Inlet says The server needs a password. and asks for it.
• WRONGPASS invalid username-password pair: AUTH failed: WRONGPASS invalid username-password pair or user is disabled. from valkey-cli. Inlet says Wrong user name or password.
• Connection refused: the server isn’t running, or the container’s port isn’t published. brew services list shows the Homebrew service.
• Homebrew refuses to install valkey while redis is installed, or the reverse: the two formulae conflict. Uninstall one, or run the other in Docker.
• ERR unknown command for JSON.*, FT.* or TS.* commands: those are Redis 8 features, not in Valkey without a module.
• MOVED or CROSSSLOT: the hosted Valkey runs in cluster mode.