# 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 the content below to `.claude/skills/` or append to your `CLAUDE.md`:

## 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 |

## FAQ

**Q: What's the difference with Redis?**
A: Functionally largely identical (forked from Redis 7.2). Valkey stays BSD open source, while Redis switched to RSALv2+SSPL (restricting managed commercial use). Valkey 8 starts to add independent new features.

**Q: Can it directly replace Redis?**
A: Yes. Valkey is compatible with the Redis protocol and data files. AWS ElastiCache/MemoryDB have defaulted to Valkey.

**Q: Who backs it?**
A: A top-level Linux Foundation project. AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle, Snap, Ericsson, and others contribute code. Several former Redis core developers are involved.

## 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/valkey-open-source-distributed-key-value-database-290afcad
Author: AI Open Source