Upstash Documentation

KEYS

Find keys matching a pattern.
2 min read

Use KEYS to list every key in the database whose name matches a glob-style pattern.

The pattern supports * for any sequence of characters, ? for a single character, [...] for character classes, and \ to escape a literal, so user:*:session matches all session keys of all users and * matches everything.

The command walks the entire keyspace and returns all matches in one reply, which on a database of any real size means a long block and a very large response. Treat it as a debugging and maintenance tool: on hot paths use SCAN, which accepts the same MATCH patterns but walks the keyspace in small batches, or keep an index of your keys in a set instead.

Syntax#

Arguments#

ArgumentRequiredRepeatableDescription
<pattern>YesNoGlob-style pattern to match keys against.

Important points#

  • This command can expose administrative information or make a broad destructive change. Restrict it to trusted code paths.
  • This operation can inspect a large part of the database. Prefer cursor-based scans where possible and avoid unbounded use on hot paths.

Response#

The reply reports the result of the operation. Error replies have the same shape in RESP2 and RESP3 and are surfaced as exceptions by the SDKs below.

ProtocolReply
RESP2Array of bulk-string keys
RESP3Array of bulk-string keys
Note

Client libraries often decode bulk strings, maps, sets, and numeric strings into language-native values. The table describes the Redis wire reply.

Examples#

TCP examples use the TLS REDIS_URL from the Upstash console. REST examples use UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL and UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN.

Redis CLI
@upstash/redis
upstash_redis
ioredis
node-redis
redis-py
go-redis
jedis
redis-rs