redis container is running on 6379 port but still mcp can't connect to it

[nischal-km]

This is what I got everytime when I try to connect through MCP in my locally running docker redis container -

The Redis server is not currently running or is not accessible at 127.0.0.1:6379, so I cannot retrieve the total count of keys. Please ensure your Redis server is running and accessible, then try again. If you need help starting the server, let me know.

[sany2k8]

@nischal-km I have tried and can run both stdio and sse transport during my test with this mcp-redis. Based on your message it seems the redis is not running.

Since your Redis container is running on port 6379, but MCP can't connect, let's diagnose the connection issue step by step:

Verify Redis Container Details

# Check exact port mapping
docker ps | grep redis

# Check container logs for any errors
docker logs <your-redis-container-name>

# Test Redis connection directly
redis-cli -h 127.0.0.1 -p 6379 ping

Check MCP Server Configuration

# Check if MCP server has the right Redis settings
echo $REDIS_HOST
echo $REDIS_PORT
echo $REDIS_DB
echo $REDIS_USERNAME
echo $REDIS_PASSWORD
echo $MCP_TRANSPORT

# If not set, configure them:
export REDIS_HOST="127.0.0.1"
export REDIS_PORT="6379"
export REDIS_DB=0
export REDIS_USERNAME=""   # leave empty if no auth
export REDIS_PASSWORD=""  # leave empty if no auth
export MCP_TRANSPORT=sse # default is stdio

Debug MCP Server Startup

export MCP_TRANSPORT=sse # default is stdio
uv run src/main.py

Check for common Docker Networking Issues

Check if Redis is bound to all interfaces:

# Connect to Redis container
docker exec -it <redis-container-name> redis-cli config get bind
# Should show: 1) "bind" 2) "127.0.0.1 -::1" or similar

If Redis is only bound to localhost inside the container:

# Stop current container
docker stop <redis-container-name>
docker rm <redis-container-name>


# Start with proper binding
docker run -d --name redis-server -p 6379:6379 redis:latest redis-server --bind 0.0.0.0