# Valkey — Open Source Distributed Key-Value Database

> Valkey is a community-driven fork of Redis (post-license change) maintained by the Linux Foundation. Fully compatible with Redis APIs and data formats. The open-source successor for Redis workloads including caching, sessions, queues, and pub/sub.

## Install

Save in your project root:

## Quick Use

```bash
# Install
brew install valkey                         # macOS
sudo apt install valkey-server              # Debian/Ubuntu
docker run -d --name valkey -p 6379:6379 valkey/valkey:8

# Connect (same CLI as Redis)
valkey-cli
# Or redis-cli works too
redis-cli -p 6379
```

Usage (identical to Redis):
```
> SET greeting "hello from valkey"
OK
> GET greeting
"hello from valkey"
> HSET user:1 name William role admin
> HGETALL user:1
> ZADD leaderboard 100 alice 200 bob 150 carol
> ZREVRANGE leaderboard 0 -1 WITHSCORES
> PUBLISH channel:events "new asset published"
> SUBSCRIBE channel:events
```

## Intro

Valkey is an open-source, community-driven fork of Redis, maintained under the Linux Foundation. Created in March 2024 after Redis Labs changed the Redis license from BSD to dual RSALv2 + SSPLv1. Valkey continues development as a fully open-source (BSD-3-Clause) alternative, backed by AWS, Google, Oracle, Ericsson, and many former Redis contributors.

- **Repo**: https://github.com/valkey-io/valkey
- **Stars**: 25K+
- **Language**: C
- **License**: BSD 3-Clause

## What Valkey Does

- **Full Redis compatibility** — commands, protocol, data formats
- **Data structures** — strings, hashes, lists, sets, sorted sets, streams, bitmaps, HyperLogLog
- **Persistence** — RDB snapshots, AOF, hybrid
- **Replication** — primary-replica with automatic failover
- **Cluster** — hash-slot based sharding (16384 slots)
- **Pub/Sub** — channels and patterns
- **Lua scripting** — embedded Lua engine
- **Streams** — log-based data structure with consumer groups
- **Modules** — loadable module API (like Redis Modules)
- **ACL** — fine-grained access control

## Architecture

Same as Redis: single-threaded event loop with io-threads for I/O (multi-threaded I/O available). Data stored in memory with optional disk persistence. Cluster mode splits keyspace across nodes using consistent hashing (16384 slots).

## Self-Hosting

```yaml
version: "3"
services:
  valkey:
    image: valkey/valkey:8
    ports: ["6379:6379"]
    volumes:
      - valkey-data:/data
    command: valkey-server --save 60 1000 --appendonly yes
volumes:
  valkey-data:
```

## Key Features

- BSD 3-Clause (truly open source)
- Full Redis command compatibility
- Cluster and replication
- Persistence (RDB + AOF)
- Module API
- Streams with consumer groups
- ACL system
- Linux Foundation governance
- Active community development
- Drop-in Redis replacement

## Comparison

| Store | License | Threads | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valkey | BSD 3-Clause | Single + IO threads | Redis fork |
| Redis | RSALv2 + SSPL | Single + IO threads | Original |
| DragonflyDB | BSL 1.1 | Multi (shared-nothing) | New codebase |
| KeyDB | BSD 3-Clause | Multi (shared) | Redis fork |
| Garnet | MIT | Multi | Microsoft new |

## 常见问题 FAQ

**Q: 和 Redis 有什么区别？**
A: 功能基本一致（从 Redis 7.2 分叉）。Valkey 保持 BSD 开源，Redis 改成了 RSALv2+SSPL（限制商用托管）。Valkey 8 开始有独立新功能。

**Q: 能直接替换 Redis 吗？**
A: 可以。Valkey 兼容 Redis 协议和数据文件。AWS ElastiCache/MemoryDB 已经默认切换到 Valkey。

**Q: 谁在支持？**
A: Linux Foundation 下的顶级项目。AWS、Google Cloud、Oracle、Snap、Ericsson 等公司贡献代码。多位前 Redis 核心开发者参与。

## 来源与致谢 Sources

- Docs: https://valkey.io/docs
- GitHub: https://github.com/valkey-io/valkey
- License: BSD 3-Clause

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/290afcad-3641-11f1-9bc6-00163e2b0d79
Author: AI Open Source