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Morteza Jangjoo
Morteza Jangjoo

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Using Redis in .NET Core (Step-by-Step Guide)

Tags: dotnet csharp redis webdev

Redis is a super-fast in-memory key-value store. It’s often used for caching, sessions, and real-time apps. In this guide, we’ll learn how to integrate Redis into a .NET Core Web API with a simple example.

Step 1: Run Redis with Docker 

docker run --name redis-demo -d -p 6379:6379 redis
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Step 2: Add Redis NuGet Package 

dotnet add package StackExchange.Redis
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Step 3: Configure Redis in Program.cs 

using StackExchange.Redis; var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args); builder.Services.AddSingleton<IConnectionMultiplexer>(sp => { var configuration = builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("Redis"); return ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect(configuration); }); builder.Services.AddScoped<RedisCacheService>(); builder.Services.AddControllers(); var app = builder.Build(); app.UseHttpsRedirection(); app.UseAuthorization(); app.MapControllers(); app.Run();
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Add connection string in appsettings.json:

{ "ConnectionStrings": { "Redis": "localhost:6379" } }
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Step 4: Create Redis Service

RedisCacheService.cs

using StackExchange.Redis; using System.Text.Json; public class RedisCacheService { private readonly IDatabase _db; public RedisCacheService(IConnectionMultiplexer redis) { _db = redis.GetDatabase(); } public async Task SetAsync<T>(string key, T value, TimeSpan? expiry = null) { var json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(value); await _db.StringSetAsync(key, json, expiry); } public async Task<T?> GetAsync<T>(string key) { var value = await _db.StringGetAsync(key); if (value.IsNullOrEmpty) return default; return JsonSerializer.Deserialize<T>(value!); } public async Task RemoveAsync(string key) { await _db.KeyDeleteAsync(key); } }
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Step 5: Use Redis in Controller

Controllers/ProductsController.cs

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc; [ApiController] [Route("api/[controller]")] public class ProductsController : ControllerBase { private readonly RedisCacheService _cache; public ProductsController(RedisCacheService cache) { _cache = cache; } [HttpGet("{id}")] public async Task<IActionResult> GetProduct(int id) { string key = $"product:{id}"; var product = await _cache.GetAsync<Product>(key); if (product != null) return Ok(product); // Simulate DB fetch product = new Product { Id = id, Name = $"Product {id}" }; await _cache.SetAsync(key, product, TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1)); return Ok(product); } } public record Product { public int Id { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } }
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Step 6: Test It

Run the app:

dotnet run
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Now call the API:

GET https://localhost:5001/api/products/1
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  • First request → loads product from DB (simulated).
  • Next request → served instantly from Redis. 🚀

Conclusion

Redis + .NET Core = faster apps and better scalability.
Use it for caching, sessions, pub/sub, and real-time apps.

👉 you can get source code from github

I’m Morteza Jangjoo and “Explaining things I wish someone had explained to me”

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