Using MCP Server with Azure Managed Redis in VS Code
Overview Have you thought about asking your VS Code to generate test data and automatically upload them to Redis, without having to write any code? Wouldn’t it be nice to code and manage resources all in one place in VS Code? This blog walks you through setting up VS Code to connect with Redis MCP Server and an Azure Managed Redis to accomplish these. By the end of this blog, we will be able to run VS Code in agent mode and tell it to generate customer test data in English, and it will leverage the MCP server to write the data into Redis. What is MCP and Redis MCP? Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI models use external tools and services through a unified interface, enabling seamless integration and standardized interactions. VS Code agent mode lets you run the VS Code tool as an agent, connecting directly to MCP servers like Redis MCP. This enables seamless integration between your development environment and Redis-powered context management, making it easy to automate tasks, manage data, and interact with Redis from within VS Code. This article provides a step-by-step guide to setting up a Redis MCP server connected to Azure Managed Redis using agent mode in Visual Studio Code. Quick Start: Step-by-Step Instructions Prerequisites Create an Azure Managed Redis (AMR) Instance Create an Azure Managed Redis in the Azure Portal Download or clone redis/mcp-redis Start VS Code in Agent mode with MCP servers enabled Download and install VS Code Use agent mode in VS Code Enable MCP support in VS Code (Optional) Add AMR to Redis Insight to view data in Azure Managed Redis Download Redis Insight Setup Redis MCP server in VS Code The following instructions are adapted from Use MCP Servers in VS Code to describe how to use the Redis MCP server. The example uses a Windows 11 development machine. Set up a new workspace in VS Code for your project. Add .vscode/mcp.json Create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your workspace. Copy over the required configuration content for MCP server connection. Below is an example. Notice that the REDIS_SSL setting needs to be added for Azure Managed Redis, if you followed the recommended security options when creating it. { "servers": { "redis": { "type": "stdio", "command": "C:\\Users\\user1\\.local\\bin\\uv.exe", "args": [ "--directory", "C:\\Users\\user1\\source\\repos\\mcp-redis", "run", "src/main.py" ], "env": { "REDIS_HOST": "yourredisname.yourredisregion.redis.azure.net", "REDIS_PORT": "10000", "REDIS_USERNAME": "default", "REDIS_PWD": "<replace_with_your_access_key_token>”, "REDIS_SSL": "true" } } } } Add settings.json Update your workspace’s settings.json to allow the agents you want to use. For example, if you want to use copilot-swe and copilot/claude-sonnet-4 with the Redis MCP server, the file would look like: { "chat.mcp.serverSampling": { "MCPWorkspace/.vscode/mcp.json: redis": { "allowedModels": [ "copilot/copilot-swe", "copilot/claude-sonnet-4" ] } } } Start MCP server. In the Run Commands bar (Ctrl+Shift+P), type: >MCP: List Servers Select Redis Select Start Server Open Copilot Chat Window In VS Code, open the Agent chat window (Ctrl+Shift+I) On the bottom menu of the Chat window, ensure Agent mode is selected among Agent, Ask, and Edit. Test MCP Server to add test data to Redis Type: generate 10 customer information with an integer ID as the key and hashset with properties like First Name, Last Name, Phone number, Address. Then put each of the 10 customer entries in the Redis See the output calling MCP tool. Note that MCP might prompt for permissions to execute. Select ‘Allow for this session’ from the dropdown menu Optionally verify that the key value pair has been added to the Azure Managed Redis instance through Redis Insight tool. This workflow makes it fast and intuitive to leverage Redis MCP with Azure Managed Redis, using VS Code’s agent mode for powerful, context-driven development. You’ll be able to automate Redis operations, manage context, and interact with agents—all from your familiar VS Code environment.
Azure Cache for Redis to Azure Managed Redis: A Practical Guide with AI-Assisted Migration Planning
Author: Purna Mehta, Product Manager, Redis Inc and Shruti Pathak, Product Manager, Microsoft Today we’re introducing two capabilities for migrating from Azure Cache for Redis (ACR) to Azure Managed Redis (AMR): an AI-assisted planning skill and a native migration workflow in the Azure portal. Used together, these tools provide a structured path from initial assessment to a fully cleaned-up Azure Managed Redis deployment. This post walks through each phase of the migration, what to expect at each step, and how the agent and portal work together to reduce complexity and risk. Why Migrate to Azure Managed Redis? Azure Managed Redis is Microsoft’s next-generation managed Redis offering for enterprise workloads on Azure. It delivers higher throughput and lower latency than Azure Cache for Redis, along with flexible SKU tiers, enhanced clustering, active geo-replication, and advanced persistence options. Azure Managed Redis supports Redis-based AI workloads on Azure, including integrations for vector search and intelligent caching. If you’re building AI-powered applications on Azure, Azure Managed Redis is the recommended platform for Redis-based scenarios. We recognize that migrating a production cache requires care. That is why we built an end-to-end experience that begins with AI-assisted planning and ends with a guided portal migration. There is also a practical reason to start planning now: Azure Cache for Redis is being retired, and Azure Managed Redis is the path forward for Redis workloads on Azure. Migrating early gives you time to validate dependencies, update configurations, and make the transition on your own schedule instead of under deadline pressure. Just as importantly, the Azure Cache for Redis hostname will eventually expire, so cleaning up references to the old hostname is an important part of completing the migration cleanly. For details, see the retirement announcement and this blog post. The rest of this post outlines the planning and execution phases for migrating from Azure Cache for Redis to Azure Managed Redis with the Redis migration tooling. Phase 1: Migration Planning Before touching any infrastructure, you need a clear view of what you are migrating, what the target should look like, and which risks to address. The new Azure Cache for Redis migration agent skill helps with that. You can also refer to the migration documentation here. The migration agent skill can be added to any AI agent and invoked from AI-powered chat assistants such as GitHub Copilot and Claude. With read access to your Azure subscription, the skill can inspect your existing Azure Cache for Redis instances and help you: - Compare and contrast Azure Cache for Redis and Azure Managed Redis - Guide through selecting the appropriate Azure Managed Redis SKUs - Help convert IaC templates - Help with planning and execution of migration along with troubleshooting common issues You interact with it conversationally, asking questions and refining the plan iteratively until you are confident in the approach. In a typical planning session, the skill analyzes your source cache configuration in detail, including SKU and tier, memory size, eviction policy, persistence settings, clustering topology, TLS configuration, and any geo-replication setup. It then maps those properties to available Azure Managed Redis tiers and recommends the most appropriate target configuration for your workload. The skill can also fetch real-time cache usage metrics and recommend SKU optimizations. Beyond the SKU recommendation, the skill identifies potential compatibility issues and configuration gaps you need to address before migrating. This might include client library version requirements, changes to supported Redis commands, differences in eviction policy behavior between tiers, or networking considerations if your cache is deployed in a VNet. Surfacing these issues early, before you have provisioned anything, gives you time to address them without pressure. The skill can also help you choose a migration strategy. If downtime tolerance is low, it walks you through online migration options and what to expect during cutover. If your workload can tolerate a maintenance window, it can outline a simpler offline path. You can also ask follow-up questions about cost, rollback, or how to validate the new instance before switching traffic. At the end of the planning session, ask the agent for a structured migration checklist. It should summarize the recommended target configuration, pre-migration action items, and the step-by-step plan for Phases 2 and 3. This gives your team a shared reference for execution. Note: The AI-assisted migration planner is intended to support planning, not replace expert judgment. For highly critical workloads, we recommend working closely with a Solutions Architect or migration specialist to validate your plan before proceeding. Phase 2: Provision the Target Azure Managed Redis Cache With a clear migration plan from Phase 1, you are ready to create your Azure Managed Redis target instance. This step is straightforward, but one constraint matters: the target AMR cache must be in the same subscription and region as the source ACR cache. This is a requirement of the portal migration workflow in Phase 3, which links the two instances together to perform the migration. In the Azure portal, create a new Azure Managed Redis resource in the same subscription and region as your source cache. Apply the tier and SKU recommended in Phase 1, whether that is Balanced for general-purpose workloads, Memory Optimized for memory-intensive scenarios, or Compute Optimized for throughput-heavy applications. Configure the instance as outlined in your migration checklist, including Redis Users for Entra ID authentication, private endpoints, eviction policy, persistence, clustering, and TLS. The migration agent skill can also help update your IaC templates by converting them from Azure Cache for Redis to Azure Managed Redis. Once the instance is provisioned and running, note the resource name. You will select it by name when you start migration in Phase 3. At this point the AMR instance is empty, which lets you validate the configuration, test connectivity from your application environment, and confirm everything looks correct before migration. Note: Redis Migration tooling works by switching the DNS endpoint from your source Azure Cache for Redis instance to the target Azure Managed Redis instance. No data is transferred as part of this process. Phase 3: Initiate Migration from the Azure Portal Note: Before using the Redis migration tooling, please review the limitations of the tooling and other migration options. To use the Redis Migration tooling, navigate to your source Azure Cache for Redis instance in the Azure Portal and select Migrate in the command bar. Choose a target Azure Managed Redis instance from the dropdown, which lists only AMR instances in the same subscription and region as your source cache. Review the migration summary comparing source and target configurations. An automated compatibility check surfaces warnings or errors with guidance for resolving them. You can acknowledge warnings to proceed, but errors must be addressed first. We strongly recommend running the migration during a maintenance window or low-traffic period. Your resource state will update to “Migrating” while the migration is in process. After migration completes, the Azure Cache for Redis hostname redirects requests to the Azure Managed Redis instance, allowing applications to continue using the existing source connection string temporarily. Note: Keep your source ACR cache running and do not delete it. If you encounter problems after the migration, you can initiate a rollback to the original ACR cache and resume normal operation while you investigate. The source cache remains available and unchanged throughout the migration process. Once you are confident the new instance is stable and performing as expected, you can retry Phase 3 and then proceed to Phase 4 to clean up the source cache. Phase 4: Ensure success and delete old Azure Cache for Redis instance After migration, monitor application health to confirm everything is working as expected. If issues arise, you can roll back the migration. Once you have verified success, you can delete the source Azure Cache for Redis instance. The Azure Cache for Redis instance is now decoupled from its hostname and can be deleted safely. The hostname will continue to point to the new Azure Managed Redis instance. Phase 5: Update applications to use the Azure Managed Redis hostname After you confirm the migrated Azure Managed Redis instance is running as expected, update your applications to use the Azure Managed Redis connection string instead of the old Azure Cache for Redis connection string. This step is required because the old Azure Cache for Redis hostname will be purged automatically. Because traffic is already flowing to the migrated instance, this update should have minimal impact. It is easy to postpone this step, but doing it promptly keeps your subscription clean, avoids unnecessary cost, and removes ambiguity about which cache instance is active. The main cleanup task is purging the source Azure Cache for Redis hostname. Before you do, confirm that no applications or services still reference the old connection string, including Key Vault secrets, environment variables, monitoring dashboards, and background jobs. Take a few minutes to search broadly, since any missed reference will fail after the old hostname is purged. Once all references have been updated, use the ‘unlink’ API to purge the source Azure Cache for Redis hostname. If the Azure Cache for Redis instance has associated resources such as private endpoints, or diagnostic settings, review whether they should be removed or reconfigured for the new AMR instance. Finally, update any internal documentation, runbooks, and architecture diagrams that still reference the old cache. At that point, the migration is complete. Getting Started Both the migration planning agent skill and the portal migration workflow are available today. Here is how to get started: The migration agent skill is available here and includes setup instructions. To provision your Azure Managed Redis target, find instructions here. To start migration, go to your source Azure Cache for Redis cache in the Azure portal and select "Migrate to Azure Managed Redis" from the command bar. More details about the migration tooling are available here. We recommend starting every migration with a session with the planning agent, even when the migration seems straightforward. It consistently surfaces configuration details and compatibility issues that are easy to miss and can cause problems later. A few minutes of planning up front is well worth the time. Reach us at AzureManagedRedis@microsoft.com or through your account team with questions, suggestions, or stories from your migration journey.
Join Us at Build 2025: Explore What’s New with Azure Managed Redis
We're thrilled to be at Microsoft Build 2025—both in Seattle and online—to share the latest updates and innovations in Azure Managed Redis. Whether you're modernizing .NET apps, building intelligent AI services, or scaling global web apps, Azure Managed Redis has never been more essential. As a fully managed, first-party service built in partnership with Redis, Azure Managed Redis brings enterprise-grade caching, real-time data, and integrated vector capabilities to your app architecture—with seamless integration into the Azure ecosystem. Check out what’s happening with Azure Managed Redis at Build: 🔍 Breakout Sessions Explore how Azure Managed Redis powers modern, scalable, and AI-enhanced applications in these featured breakout sessions: BRK203: Get faster AI agent responses and low app latency with Azure Managed Redis Discover how Azure Managed Redis boosts AI application performance—including those using Azure SQL—by delivering low latency, fast response times, optimized configurations, and seamless .NET caching integration. BRK201: Innovate, deploy, & optimize your apps without infrastructure hassles Explore the latest in autoscaling, high availability, and observability for cloud applications—without managing infrastructure. Learn how Azure Managed Redis and other services simplify deployment, scaling, and monitoring for web apps, microservices, AI/ML, and analytics workloads. 💬 Meet the Experts Have questions? Looking to talk architecture, migration, or real-time performance tuning? Visit us in the Expert Meetup Zone to connect with the Microsoft and Redis product teams, engineers, and architects behind Azure Managed Redis. 🔎 How to find it: Log into the Microsoft Build 2025 website or use the official event mobile app to view the venue map and session schedule. 📍 To find the Expert Meetup zone, check out the official MS Build Event Guide for a venue maps and other logistical information. 🍹 Redis x Microsoft Build Happy Hour Let’s keep the conversation going! You’re invited to the Microsoft Build Happy Hour with Redis—open to all Build attendees. 🗓️ Tuesday, May 20th, 6:30–8:30 PM 📍 Register here Whether you're a long-time Redis developer or just getting started, this is a great chance to network and have fun with the Redis and Azure community. 🧪 Hands-On Labs (featuring open-source Redis) Dive into practical scenarios and learn how Redis supercharges AI and app experiences: LAB340: Accelerate AI App Development with AI Gateway Capabilities in Azure API Management Leverage Redis as a fast datastore for low-latency inferencing and vector-based lookups. LAB306: Integrating and Enhancing Applications with .NET Aspire Enhance application performance and user experience by integrating Redis for session caching and real-time responsiveness. Get Started with Azure Managed Redis Want to try it out before or after Build? 🚀 Start building 📘 Explore the documentation We can’t wait to connect with you at Build 2025—in Seattle or online!Data Migration with RIOT-X for Azure Managed Redis
By: Roy de Milde, Global Black Belt and App Innovation Specialist, Microsoft and George von Bülow, Senior Solution Architect, Redis Introduction Customers are increasingly seeking efficient ways to migrate their current cache systems to Azure Managed Redis. This growing demand has led to the development of innovative tools and applications to facilitate the migration process. Azure Managed Redis offers numerous benefits, including enhanced performance, scalability, and security features. By migrating to Azure Managed Redis, customers can take advantage of its fully managed service, which reduces the operational burden and allows them to focus on their core business activities. Additionally, Azure Managed Redis provides seamless integration with other Azure services, enabling customers to build more robust and scalable applications. The migration process can be complex, but with the right tools and guidance, customers can achieve a smooth transition and unlock the full potential of Azure Managed Redis. We are writing this blog to give more insights around this and help customers understand the benefits and process of migrating to Azure Managed Redis with RIOT-X RIOT-X Explanation RIOT-X is a tool created by the field engineers at Redis. RIOT-X, which stands for Redis Input/Output Tools, is a command-line utility designed to help users seamlessly transfer data in and out of Redis. It supports various sources and targets, including files (CSV, JSON, XML), data generators, relational databases, and Redis itself through snapshot and live replication. The introduction of RIOT-X addresses the challenges faced by customers during migration, offering a streamlined and reliable solution. By leveraging RIOT-X, customers can ensure a smooth transition to Azure Managed Redis, benefiting from enhanced performance, scalability, and security features provided by Azure. Migration RIOT-X can be used for various migration scenarios, depending on the connectivity between the source and target Redis databases, and requirements for application availability. Snapshot Migration In the simplest case, data is directly replicated from the source (which can be any flavor or version of Redis) to Azure Managed Redis during a scheduled downtime period. After replication, the applications that are using Redis are reconfigured to connect to Azure Managed Redis. The corresponding RIOT-X command is: riotx replicate redis://source redis://target Live Migration If the application is mission critical and cannot afford any downtime, then a live migration comes into play. This is like the snapshot scenario, but RIOT-X continuously updates the database in Azure Managed Redis with changes applied to the source database. The modified command uses the --mode live argument: riotx replicate --mode live redis://source redis://target Applications can now be updated with blue-green deployments or similar techniques, where read and write components are changed independently. The source Redis database continues to run until the application migration has been completed. Export/Import Migration For cases where there is no direct network connection between the source database and Azure Managed Redis, RIOT-X allows exporting data in a standard format, such as JSON or CSV. The data file is then transferred to a location accessible by Azure Managed Redis and imported with RIOT-X. These are the corresponding commands: riotx file-export --uri redis://source --type=json export.json riotx file-import --uri redis://target --type=json export.json Technical Setup RIOT-X can be run on Windows, macOS and Linux. Windows scoop bucket add redis https://github.com/redis/scoop.git scoop install riotx MacOS brew install redis/tap/riotx Linux Download the pre-compiled binary from RIOT-X releases and unzip. unzip riotx-standalone-0.6.2-*.zip You can also run RIOT-X as a Docker container: docker run riotx/riotx [OPTIONS] [COMMAND] RIOT-X supports the standard authentication methods for Redis. If you are using Entra Id authentication with Azure Managed Redis, you must enable access keys for the duration of the migration. Support for Entra Id has been added as a feature request for RIOT-X. Architecture RIOT-X is essentially an ETL tool where data is extracted from the source system, transformed, and loaded into the target system. RIOT-X is a standalone system and does not need to be co-located with a Redis server. Connection to Redis source and target databases is achieved through the Redis serialization protocol (RESP), with support for both RESP2 and RESP3. Replication between a Redis source and target works as follows: Identify source keys to be replicated Read data associated with each key Write each key to the target If the source and target databases use different Redis versions (which is the case for Azure Cache for Redis at version 6.2 and Azure Managed Redis at version 7.4), then data structure replication must be enabled with the --struct argument: riotx replicate --struct redis://source redis://target Getting started with Azure Managed Redis We are excited to offer the public preview of Azure Managed Redis, built to drive innovation and prepare your applications for AI. If you are attending Microsoft Build 2025, please join us at this session and stop by the Azure Managed Redis booth for demos and to speak with an expert. To get started with Azure Managed Redis today, please check out our product page for more information or contact our sales team. Resources Azure Managed Redis product page Azure Managed Redis pricing page Azure Cache for Redis product pageAzure Managed Redis is now generally available: enterprise-grade performance and flexibility
We are excited to announce the general availability of Azure Managed Redis, a fully-managed, first-party service built in partnership with Redis. Designed to meet the needs of modern, cloud-native and AI-powered applications, Azure Managed Redis is now ready for production workloads globally, offering improved performance, flexible deployment options, and cost-efficient scalability. Azure Managed Redis serves as both an in-memory key-value datastore for caching and an integrated vector datastore for AI applications, making it a powerful foundation for real-time intelligence. Now available in over 50 Azure regions, Azure Managed Redis enables developers to build fast, intelligent apps backed by one of the world’s most trusted real-time data stores —seamlessly integrated into the Azure ecosystem. Availability SLA only applies to caches that are using replication 2 Up to 40% more cost-effective than the current Azure Cache for Redis offering A high-performance, enterprise-grade Redis service Azure Managed Redis delivers up to 15x higher performance compared to Azure Cache for Redis, at a significantly lower price point, making it the most cost-effective managed Redis option available on Azure today. With multi-region Active-Active geo-replication, customers can achieve sub-millisecond latency for users around the globe, all while maintaining a 99.999% SLA. Designed as a production-grade platform, Azure Managed Redis supports the latest Redis 7.4 features and will soon support to-be-launched Redis 8. The Redis 7.4 release also introduces new non-cluster deployment mode and flexible memory and compute scaling (both in preview), as well as native vector search—enabling Redis to serve as both a high-speed cache and a core component of AI and analytics workloads. What’s new in general availability? Azure Managed Redis is built for scale, performance, and adaptability—giving customers full control over their architecture with added flexibility and pricing efficiency. Key enhancements now available at GA include: Improved performance at a lower cost: Achieve up to 15x throughput compared to previous Redis offerings on Azure. Global availability: Now supported in over 50 Azure regions across all continents. Flexible scaling (in preview): Independently scale memory and performance to match dynamic workloads and reduce unnecessary cost. Enhanced Azure Portal experience: A revamped interface optimized for quick experimentation, faster provisioning, and streamlined create-and-manage workflows Expanded cluster modes: OSS Clustering – High performance with low latency and app-aware topology changes. Enterprise Clustering – Simpler app integration with a non-clustered interface and support for advanced modules like RediSearch. No Cluster (in preview) – Ideal for OSS Redis compatibility and straightforward migrations. Built for modern AI and real-time workloads As organizations adopt intelligent applications built with generative AI, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and autonomous agents, Redis is playing a critical role as a vector-capable, real-time data platform. With Azure Managed Redis, developers can: Power advanced scenarios with built-in vector search, secondary indexing, semantic caching, and agent memory. Take advantage of multi-model data structures, including JSON, time series, geospatial, and probabilistic types. Integrate seamlessly with Azure OpenAI Service, Azure Kubernetes Service, and Azure Functions for end-to-end GenAI pipelines. In addition, developers benefit from rich ecosystem tools like the Redis Insight GUI, Redis Copilot AI assistant, and optimized client libraries for .NET, Python, Java, Go, and Node.js. Enterprise-ready reliability and compliance Azure Managed Redis is designed for mission-critical workloads, offering enterprise-grade reliability, scale, and security from day one. Up to 99.999% availability with multi-region Active-Active geo-replicated deployments. Sub-millisecond latency through in-memory data storage Support for FedRAMP, HIPAA, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, and other compliance standards. Fully integrated identity, access, and monitoring features within Azure. Organizations can easily migrate from any tier of Azure Cache for Redis and immediately benefit from the latest Redis innovations, previously only available in Enterprise and Enterprise Flash tiers. Flexible tiers for every workload Azure Managed Redis is available in four service tiers tailored to fit your performance, memory, and cost needs: Tier* Description Memory Optimized High memory-to-vCPU (1:8) ratio, ideal for dev/test and memory-intensive workloads. Balanced Standard memory-to-vCPU (1:4) for general-purpose caching and app acceleration. Compute Optimized Low memory-to-vCPU (1:2) for high-throughput, compute-bound scenarios. Flash Optimized (in preview) Tiered architecture combining RAM and NVMe for large, cost-effective caches. With independent scaling (in preview), you can fine-tune performance and memory allocation based on workload needs, improving efficiency for both caching and AI applications. *General Availability only applicable for SKU’s up to 120GB, with SKUs larger than 120GB in-preview Get started Azure Managed Redis general availability will begin rolling out over the following days. Start building with the power of Redis and the flexibility of Azure—whether you’re accelerating a web app, deploying a real-time leaderboard, or building memory for your GenAI agents. If you are attending Microsoft Build (virtually or in person) check out our session: Get faster AI agent responses and low app latency with Azure Managed Redis. For those attending in person, stop by the Azure Managed Redis booth for demos and to speak with an expert. To get started with Azure Managed Redis today, head to our product page for more information or contact your Microsoft sales representative. Resources Azure Managed Redis product page Azure Managed Redis pricing page Create an Azure Managed Redis instance Explore the documentation Featured MS Build 2025 sessions & resources Get faster AI agent responses and low app latency with Azure Managed Redis Build observable, production-ready, distributed apps on App Service
