Get started with the Azure Cache for Redis integrations

Azure Cache for Redis provides a fully managed, in-memory data store based on Redis. It improves application performance and scalability by caching frequently accessed data in server memory. The Aspire Azure Cache for Redis integration lets you model a managed Redis cache as a first-class resource in your AppHost, then hand the connection information to any consuming app — regardless of language.

Why use Azure Cache for Redis with Aspire

Adding Azure Cache for Redis through Aspire — rather than wiring up connection strings by hand — gives you:

• Zero-config local development. Aspire runs a Redis container locally during development so you don’t need to provision an Azure resource until you’re ready to deploy.
• Consistent connection info across languages. Once you reference the cache from a consuming app, Aspire injects connection properties as environment variables in a predictable format that works from C#, TypeScript, Python, Go, or any other language.
• Managed identity by default. The hosting integration configures Microsoft Entra ID (role-based) authentication out of the box, avoiding passwords in connection strings.
• Automatic Azure provisioning. Aspire generates Bicep for the Azure Cache for Redis resource so you can deploy to Azure without writing infrastructure code by hand.
• Dashboard observability. The cache resource shows up in the Aspire dashboard with logs, status, and telemetry alongside your other services.
• Reuse the C# Redis client integration. C# apps use the Aspire.StackExchange.Redis package for automatic dependency injection, health checks, and OpenTelemetry — the same client used for self-hosted Redis and Valkey.

How the pieces fit together

The Azure Cache for Redis integration has two sides: a hosting integration that you use in your AppHost to model the managed Redis resource, and a connection story for consuming apps that reference it.

architecture-beta

  group apphost(server)[AppHost]
  group consumer(server)[Consuming app]

  service hosting(server)[Hosting integration] in apphost
  service redis(server)[Azure Managed Redis] in apphost

  service client(iconoir:server-connection)[Client integration] in consumer
  service app(server)[App] in consumer

  hosting:R --> L:redis
  redis:R --> L:client
  client:R --> L:app

The hosting integration lives in your AppHost project and models the Azure Cache for Redis resource. The connection story lives in each consuming app and uses the connection information Aspire injects to talk to the cache.

Getting there is a two-step process: model the Azure Cache for Redis resource in your AppHost, then connect to the cache from each app that needs it.

1. Model Azure Cache for Redis in your AppHost

   Add the Azure Cache for Redis hosting integration to your AppHost, then declare a managed Redis resource and reference it from the apps that need to talk to the cache. The Azure Cache for Redis Hosting integration article walks through every capability — running as a local container for development, Entra ID versus access key authentication, connecting to an existing instance, and Bicep provisioning customization — with side-by-side C# and TypeScript examples.

   Set up Azure Cache for Redis in the AppHost

2. Connect from your consuming app

   When you reference an Azure Cache for Redis resource from a consuming app, Aspire injects its connection information as environment variables. See Connect to Azure Cache for Redis for the connection properties reference and per-language examples for C#, Go, Python, and TypeScript — including the full C# client integration built on Aspire.StackExchange.Redis.

   Connect to Azure Cache for Redis

See also

• Redis integration — Azure Cache for Redis shares the same C# client integration as Redis.
• Redis distributed caching
• Redis output caching
• Valkey integration — RESP-compatible open-source Redis alternative.