Redis Query Engine

Guidance for using the Redis Query Engine (RQE) to index and search Hash or JSON documents. Covers schema design with FT.CREATE, field-type choices, query syntax, index lifecycle management, and the most common performance pitfalls.

1. Use DIALECT 2 (the modern default)

DIALECT 2 is the baseline. Other dialects (1, 3, 4) are deprecated as of Redis 8. Most modern client libraries already default to it — but specify it explicitly in raw commands for portability.

FT.SEARCH idx:products "@name:laptop" DIALECT 2

DIALECT 2 is required for vector search queries. It also handles special characters and NULLs predictably.

See references/dialect.md.

2. Pick the right field type

The field type decides both what you can query and how fast that query is. Use the narrowest type that supports your access pattern.