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Quick Start Guide

This guide will get you up and running with Django Redis Panel in just a few minutes.

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:

  • ✅ Django Redis Panel installed
  • ✅ A running Redis server
  • ✅ Django admin access

Step 1: Access the Admin Panel

  1. Start your Django development server: 

    python manage.py runserver

  2. Navigate to your Django admin interface: 

    http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/

  3. Log in with your admin credentials

  4. Look for the "DJ_REDIS_PANEL" section in the admin home page

Step 2: Explore Your Redis Instances

  1. Click on "Manage Redis keys and values"

  2. You'll see a list of your configured Redis instances with their status:

  3. 🟢 Connected: Instance is accessible

  4. 🔴 Error: Connection failed

  5. Click on any instance to view its overview

Step 3: Instance Overview

The instance overview page shows:

  • Connection Info: Host, port, database number
  • Server Info: Redis version, uptime, memory usage
  • Database Stats: Total keys, expires, memory usage per database
  • Quick Actions: Direct links to browse keys

Instance Overview

Step 4: Browse Redis Keys

  1. From the instance overview, click "Browse Keys" or navigate to the key search page

  2. You'll see the key browser with:

  3. Search box: Enter patterns like user:* or session:*
  4. Database selector: Switch between Redis databases
  5. Pagination controls: Navigate through results

Key Search

Search Examples

Try these search patterns:

  • * - Show all keys
  • user:* - All keys starting with "user:"
  • *session* - All keys containing "session"
  • cache:user:* - Nested pattern matching

Step 5: Inspect Key Details

  1. Click on any key from the search results

  2. The key detail page shows:

  3. Key information: Name, type, TTL, size
  4. Value display: Formatted based on data type
  5. Actions: Edit, delete, update TTL (if enabled)

Key Detail - String

Data Type Examples

Simple text values with edit capability 

Key: user:1:name
Value: "John Doe"

Field-value pairs displayed in a table 

Key: user:1:profile
Fields:
- name: "John Doe"
- email: "john@example.com"
- age: "30"

Ordered list of values with pagination 

Key: user:1:notifications
Items:
0: "Welcome message"
1: "New feature available"

Unique values in no particular order 

Key: user:1:tags
Members:
- "premium"
- "verified"
- "active"

Step 6: Key Management (Optional)

If key editing is enabled in your configuration, you can:

Edit Key Values

  1. Click the "Edit" button on a key detail page
  2. Modify the value in the text area
  3. Click "Save" to update the key

Update TTL (Time To Live)

  1. Use the TTL controls to set expiration
  2. Options include:
  3. Set specific expiration time
  4. Set seconds/minutes/hours from now
  5. Remove expiration (make key persistent)

Delete Keys

Destructive Operation

Key deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. Use with caution.

  1. Click the "Delete" button
  2. Confirm the deletion in the popup
  3. The key will be permanently removed from Redis

Common Workflows

Debugging Application Issues

  1. Search for user-specific keys: 

    user:123:*

  2. Check session data: 

    session:*

  3. Inspect cache entries: 

    cache:*

Cache Management

  1. Find all cache keys: 

    cache:*

  2. Check cache hit rates in instance overview

  3. Clear specific cache entries by deleting keys

Session Debugging

  1. Find user sessions: 

    session:*

  2. Inspect session data to debug login issues

  3. Remove problematic sessions if needed

Tips and Best Practices

Search Efficiency

  • Use specific patterns instead of * for large datasets
  • Enable cursor-based pagination for better performance
  • Use database selection to narrow down results

Safety

  • Always verify key contents before deletion
  • Use read-only mode in production environments
  • Test configuration changes in development first

Performance

  • Enable cursor pagination for large key sets
  • Use specific search patterns to reduce result sets
  • Monitor Redis memory usage in instance overview

Troubleshooting

Can't see Redis Panel in admin

  • Verify dj_redis_panel is in INSTALLED_APPS
  • Check that you're logged in as a staff user
  • Ensure URLs are properly configured

Connection errors

  • Verify Redis server is running
  • Check host, port, and credentials in configuration
  • Test Redis connection outside of Django

No keys visible

  • Verify you're looking in the correct database
  • Check if Redis instance actually contains data
  • Try using * pattern to show all keys

Next Steps

Now that you're familiar with the basics: