We provide an open source Upstash MCP to use natural language to interact with your Upstash account, e.g.:
  • “Create a new Redis database in us-east-1”
  • “List my databases”
  • “Show all keys starting with “user:” in my users-db”
  • “Create a backup”
  • “Show me the throughput spikes for the last 7 days”

​
Quickstart

​
Step 1: Get your API Key

  1. Go to Account > Management API > Create API key and create an API key.
  2. Note down your <UPSTASH_EMAIL> and <UPSTASH_API_KEY>.

​
Step 2: Locate mcp.json

  • Cursor: Navigate to Cursor Settings > Features > MCP and click + Add new global MCP server. This will open the mcp.json file.
  • Claude: Navigate to Settings > Developer and click Edit Config. This will open the claude_desktop_config.json file. Refer to the MCP documentation for more details.
  • Copilot: Create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your workspace directory. For Copilot, first update the mcp.json file as described in the next step on this page, then follow the Copilot documentation (starting from step 2) to configure MCP servers in VS Code Chat.

​
Step 3: Configure the MCP File

There are two transport modes for MCP servers: stdio and sse.
  • Stdio: Best for local development. The server runs locally, and the client connects directly to it.
  • SSE: Designed for server deployments. However, since clients don’t yet support SSE connections with all the features we need, you need a proxy server. The proxy acts as a stdio server for the client and communicates with the SSE server in the background.

​
Option 1: Stdio Server

Add the following configuration to your MCP file: 
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upstash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/mcp-server",
        "run",
        "<UPSTASH_EMAIL>",
        "<UPSTASH_API_KEY>"
      ]
    }
  }
}

​
Option 2: SSE Server with Proxy

SSE (Server-Sent Events) is the next stage in MCP transport modes after stdio. It is designed for server deployments and will eventually be followed by an HTTP-based transport mode. However, since clients currently do not support direct connections to SSE servers, we use a proxy to bridge the gap. The proxy, powered by supergateway, acts as a stdio server locally while communicating with the SSE server in the background. This allows you to use the SSE server seamlessly with your client. Add the following configuration to your mcp.json file: 
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upstash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "supergateway",
        "--sse",
        "https://mcp.upstash.io/sse",
        "--oauth2Bearer",
        "<UPSTASH_EMAIL>:<UPSTASH_API_KEY>"
      ]
    }
  }
}

​
Step 4: Use MCP with Your Client

Once your MCP is configured, your client can now interact with the MCP server for tasks like:
  • Seeding data
  • Querying databases
  • Creating new databases
  • Managing backups
  • Analyzing performance metrics
For example, you can ask your client to “add ten users to my Redis database” or “show me the throughput spikes for the last 7 days.”