Get started with the Valkey integrations

Valkey is an open-source, in-memory key/value datastore forked from Redis. It speaks the Redis serialization protocol (RESP), so it works with the same client libraries Redis does and is a drop-in cache, message queue, or primary key/value store. The Aspire Valkey integration lets you model a Valkey server as a first-class resource in your AppHost, then hand the connection information to any consuming app — regardless of language.

Why use Valkey with Aspire

Adding Valkey through Aspire — rather than wiring up containers and connection strings by hand — gives you:

• Zero-config local development. Aspire runs Valkey from the docker.io/valkey/valkey container image with credentials generated automatically for you.
• Consistent connection info across languages. Once you reference the Valkey resource 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.
• Built-in health checks. The hosting integration automatically registers a health check so the dashboard and your orchestrator can tell when Valkey is ready.
• Dashboard observability. The Valkey resource shows up in the Aspire dashboard with logs, status, and telemetry alongside your other services.
• Reuse the C# Redis client integration. Because Valkey is RESP-compatible, C# apps can use the Aspire.StackExchange.Redis package for dependency injection, health checks, and OpenTelemetry — all wired up from the same resource name.

How the pieces fit together

The Valkey integration has two sides: a hosting integration that you use in your AppHost to model the Valkey 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 valkey(server)[Valkey server] in apphost

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

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

The hosting integration lives in your AppHost project and models the Valkey server as a resource. The client integration lives in each consuming app and uses the connection information Aspire injects to talk to Valkey.

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

1. Model Valkey in your AppHost

   Add the Valkey hosting integration to your AppHost, then declare a Valkey resource and reference it from the apps that need to talk to the cache. The Valkey Hosting integration article walks through every capability — data volumes, data bind mounts, persistence snapshots, and custom parameters — with side-by-side C# and TypeScript examples.

   Set up Valkey in the AppHost

2. Connect from your consuming app

   When you reference a Valkey resource from a consuming app, Aspire injects its connection information as environment variables. See Connect to Valkey for the connection properties reference and per-language examples for C#, Go, Python, and TypeScript — including the full C# client integration that’s shared with Redis.

   Connect to Valkey

See also

• Redis integration — Valkey shares the same client integration as Redis.
• Redis distributed caching
• Redis output caching