KEYS

Returns all key names that match a pattern.

Browse all commands · Upstream source documentation

Reference field	Value
Canonical name	KEYS
Catalog group	Generic commands
Upstream since	1.0.0 — upstream Redis/module version, not an ffkv release
Pinned catalog	Redis 8.10.0

Syntax

KEYS pattern

ffkv behavior and limits

TTL deadlines use wall-clock time and remain absolute across restart. Key/database operations can overwrite or remove data; SCAN is incremental rather than an atomic snapshot. New typed structures remain in RAM in hybrid mode.

Source: README.md:193–195, 375–377, 584–585; tests/bdd/features/generic.feature.

All requests share the 8 MiB framing/1,024-argument ingress limit; normal RESP replies have 64 MiB wire/logical budgets with bounded nesting/value counts. Management and Lua origins impose smaller budgets. These are not a process RSS cap. Catalog inclusion is not exhaustive option or wire-format parity. See limits and compatibility.

Upstream metadata

The following fields come from the pinned Redis metadata, not measured ffkv performance or an assertion that ffkv enforces every upstream flag. Running COMMAND INFO/COMMAND DOCS describe the current engine.

Upstream Redis complexity: O(N) with N being the number of keys in the database, under the assumption that the key names in the database and the given pattern have limited length.

Upstream arity: 2 (includes the command name; a negative number is a minimum).

Command flags: READONLY.

ACL categories: KEYSPACE, DANGEROUS.

Command tips: REQUEST_POLICY:ALL_SHARDS, NONDETERMINISTIC_OUTPUT_ORDER.

Argument structure

Argument	Type	Constraints / metadata
pattern	pattern	Required

Additional pinned upstream metadata

{
  "group": "generic",
  "since": "1.0.0"
}

Metadata source · Local snapshot: src/command_metadata.json, key keys.

BDD coverage and source examples

These are source observations, not a test run performed by this documentation build. A tag identifies scenario intent; an extracted vector identifies a command invocation, which may intentionally produce an error. Scenarios may require setup, multiple connections, persistence, cluster nodes or native-module fixtures.

• Key patterns support character classes wildcards and escaped metacharacters — tests/bdd/features/generic.feature:728; command tag and invocation observed.
• Index aliases and dictionaries never become Redis keys or real indexes — tests/bdd/features/search.feature:438; invocation observed.

Extracted command vectors

The following JSON arrays are the test harness’s argument vectors, not shell commands. Numeric arguments are converted by the harness; objects of the form {"base64":"…"} represent decoded binary bytes, not a literal JSON command argument. Preserve scenario setup and connection ordering. See the CLI guide for shell quoting and binary stdin. No reply is invented or inferred.

Index aliases and dictionaries never become Redis keys or real indexes — tests/bdd/features/search.feature:452 (I execute:)

[
  "KEYS",
  "*"
]

Next source assertion: the reply equals:

[]

Key patterns support character classes wildcards and escaped metacharacters — tests/bdd/features/generic.feature:750 (I execute:)

[
  "KEYS",
  "item:?"
]

Next source assertion: the reply contains:

["item:1","item:2"]

Key patterns support character classes wildcards and escaped metacharacters — tests/bdd/features/generic.feature:742 (I execute:)

[
  "KEYS",
  "item:[1]"
]

Next source assertion: the reply equals:

["item:1"]