Add Documents to an Index in Redis Software

Redis Software supports automatic, real-time indexing for both Hash and JSON documents using Redis Search 2.0 and later. Any data written with HSET or JSON.SET is indexed automatically when it matches your schema’s key prefix. This article explains how indexing works in Redis Software clusters and provides CLI and REST API examples, along with common issues and how to resolve them.

Covers: Indexing in Redis Software • CLI and REST Examples • Common Issues

Prerequisites

• Redis Software cluster with Redis Search (and optionally RedisJSON) enabled
• Access to redis-cli
• Module versions ≥ 2.0

How Indexing Works

Redis Software nodes index documents locally and synchronize index segments across shards and replicas. New documents are indexed synchronously, while preexisting data is indexed asynchronously when you create a new index.

Key points

• FT.ADD is deprecated in Redis Search 2.x and should not be used
• Indexes follow defined prefixes across all shards
• Schema changes require dropping and recreating the index

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Create an Index

CLI Example

FT.CREATE idx:employees ON JSON PREFIX 1 emp: SCHEMA $.name AS name TEXT $.dept AS dept TAG $.age AS age NUMERIC

REST API Example

curl -k -u admin:<password> -X POST \
  https://<cluster>:9443/v1/redis/commands \
  -d '{"cmd":"FT.CREATE idx:employees ON JSON PREFIX 1 emp: SCHEMA $.name AS name TEXT $.dept AS dept TAG $.age AS age NUMERIC"}'

2. Add Documents

JSON Example

JSON.SET emp:1 $ '{"name":"Alice","dept":"Engineering","age":30}'
JSON.SET emp:2 $ '{"name":"Bob","dept":"Finance","age":25}'

Hash Example

HSET hemp:1 name "Alice" dept "Engineering" age 30
HSET hemp:2 name "Bob" dept "Finance" age 25

3. Query the Index

FT.SEARCH idx:employees "@dept:{Engineering}"
FT.SEARCH idx:employees "@age:[25 35]"

Troubleshooting

Related Articles

• REST API Reference