redis-url

library1.2.1jsnpmunverified

Connect to Redis using a fully-qualified URL. This package (v1.2.1, last released in 2015) provides a simple connect() wrapper around node_redis that parses the REDIS_URL environment variable or a custom URL, returning a redis client. It also exposes a parse() function that extends Node's url.parse with database and password properties. Unlike ioredis or modern node_redis, this library does not support Redis Cluster, TLS, or advanced features. It is stable but effectively in maintenance mode, as the underlying redis client is outdated. Suitable for legacy projects or simple use cases where only basic Redis connectivity via URL is needed.

database

npm install redis-url

github ↗package ↗homepage ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · REDIS-URL

redis-url

databasejavascriptv1.2.1

harness data pending

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

No compatibility data collected yet for this library.

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

connect

✓ var redis = require('redis-url').connect(url);

✗ import { connect } from 'redis-url';

Package uses CommonJS require() and does not provide ES module exports. The returned object from connect() is a redis client (node_redis).

parse

✓ var parsed = require('redis-url').parse(url);

✗ import { parse } from 'redis-url';

Parse function returns an object with password and database properties in addition to standard url.parse output. No TypeScript types provided.

default import

✓ var redisUrl = require('redis-url'); var client = redisUrl.connect();

✗ var redisUrl = require('redis-url').default;

There is no default export. The module exports an object with connect and parse methods.

Initialize a Redis client from a URL string (or env var), set and get a key, then gracefully close the connection.

// Ensure you have a redis server running and have installed dependencies: // npm install redis-url redis var redisUrl = require('redis-url'); var url = process.env.REDIS_URL || 'redis://localhost:6379'; var client = redisUrl.connect(url); client.on('connect', function() { console.log('Connected to Redis'); client.set('foo', 'bar', function(err, reply) { console.log('Set reply:', reply); client.get('foo', function(err, value) { console.log('Got value:', value); client.quit(); }); }); }); client.on('error', function(err) { console.error('Redis error:', err); });

Debug

Known issues

deprecatedThe underlying 'redis' client (node_redis) has breaking changes in v3+. redis-url was not updated to support them and may produce errors or unexpected behavior.

fix

Use ioredis or modern node_redis directly: `const Redis = require('ioredis'); const client = new Redis(url);`

affects: >=1.0.0

gotchaconnect() ignores URL query parameters for TLS/SSL options. To enable TLS, you must pass extra options to the underlying node_redis (not supported by redis-url).

fix

Use a library that supports redis:// URL parsing with TLS, or manually create a Redis client with tls option.

affects: >=1.0.0

gotchapassword and database from parse() may be undefined if not present in URL; they are strings when present. Database number is a string, not integer.

fix

Convert database to integer: parseInt(parsed.database, 10) || 0

affects: >=1.0.0

gotchaThe package uses the deprecated redis client version (0.7.x-1.x). It may not support newer Redis features (cluster, sentinel, RESP3).

fix

Migrate to ioredis or redis v4 which have built-in URL parsing.

affects: >=1.0.0

deprecatedparse() returns query as an object (if query string exists) but does not guarantee behavior for duplicate keys.

fix

Use Node's built-in url.parse() or URL constructor with searchParams for robust query parsing.

affects: >=1.0.0

Errors

Common errors & fixes

TypeError: redis_url.connect is not a function

Using ES module import syntax (e.g., import { connect } from 'redis-url') which this package does not support.

fix

Use require('redis-url').connect() instead of ES import.

Error: Redis connection to 127.0.0.1:6379 failed - connect ECONNREFUSED

Redis server is not running or not accessible at the specified URL/host.

fix

Start the Redis server (e.g., `redis-server &`). Verify the URL is correct and the server is listening.

Error: ERR invalid password

The password in the URL is incorrect or the Redis server requires authentication but none was provided.

fix

Check the URL for correct password: redis://:correctpassword@host:port/db

TypeError: Cannot read property 'port' of undefined

Calling parse() on a non-string or malformed URL.

fix

Ensure the URL argument to parse() is a valid string (e.g., 'redis://localhost:6379').

Upgrade

Version history

1.2.1latest on npm

Audit

Dependencies

redisrequiredPeer dependency: uses the node_redis library (v0.7.x-1.x) to create client connections. Must be installed separately.

node-uuidoptionalUsed for unique identifier generation in older versions; may not be needed in latest release.

Agent activity

13 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/ddollar/redis-url ↗

packageredis-url ↗

homepagehttps://github.com/ddollar/redis-url#readme ↗