> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://upstash.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# SUBSCRIBE

> Subscribe to channels.

Use `SUBSCRIBE` to subscribe the current connection to one or more channels.

The server confirms each channel with its own reply carrying the running number of subscriptions this connection holds, and from then on messages published to those channels arrive on the connection as they are sent.

Under RESP2 a subscribed connection may only run subscription commands plus `PING`, `RESET`, and `QUIT`, which is why subscribers normally use a dedicated connection. Under RESP3 messages arrive as push replies and ordinary commands remain usable on the same connection. Messages published while the connection is not subscribed are not delivered later, since pub/sub keeps no history.

## Syntax

```redis theme={"system"}
SUBSCRIBE <channel> [<channel> ...]
```

## Arguments

| Argument    | Required | Repeatable | Description   |
| ----------- | -------- | ---------- | ------------- |
| `<channel>` | Yes      | Yes        | Channel name. |

## Important points

* This is a connection-oriented command and is available over native Redis TCP, not the stateless REST endpoint.
* Subscription commands require a dedicated TCP connection. In RESP3, subscription events use push replies.

## Response

The reply reports the result of the operation. Error replies have the same shape in RESP2 and RESP3 and are surfaced as exceptions by the SDKs below.

| Protocol | Reply                                                   |
| -------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| RESP2    | Three-element subscription-state array per channel      |
| RESP3    | Three-element subscription-state push reply per channel |

<Note>
  Client libraries often decode bulk strings, maps, sets, and numeric strings into language-native values. The table describes the Redis wire reply.
</Note>

## Examples

TCP examples use the TLS `REDIS_URL` from the Upstash console. REST examples use `UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL` and `UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN`.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Redis CLI" icon="terminal">
    ```bash theme={"system"}
    SUBSCRIBE events
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="ioredis" icon="node-js" iconType="brands">
    ```ts theme={"system"}
    import Redis from "ioredis";

    const subscriber = new Redis(process.env.REDIS_URL!);
    await subscriber.subscribe("events");
    subscriber.on("message", (channel, message) => console.log(channel, message));
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="node-redis" icon="node-js" iconType="brands">
    ```ts theme={"system"}
    import { createClient } from "redis";

    const subscriber = await createClient({ url: process.env.REDIS_URL }).connect();
    await subscriber.subscribe("events", (message, channel) => {
      console.log(channel, message);
    });
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="redis-py" icon="python" iconType="brands">
    ```python theme={"system"}
    import os
    import redis

    client = redis.from_url(os.environ["REDIS_URL"])
    pubsub = client.pubsub()
    pubsub.subscribe("events")
    for message in pubsub.listen():
        print(message)
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="go-redis" icon="golang" iconType="brands">
    ```go theme={"system"}
    package main

    import (
        "context"
        "fmt"
        "os"

        "github.com/redis/go-redis/v9"
    )

    func main() {
        ctx := context.Background()
        opts, err := redis.ParseURL(os.Getenv("REDIS_URL"))
        if err != nil {
            panic(err)
        }
        client := redis.NewClient(opts)
        pubsub := client.Subscribe(ctx, "events")
        for message := range pubsub.Channel() {
            fmt.Println(message.Channel, message.Payload)
        }
    }
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="jedis" icon="java" iconType="brands">
    ```java theme={"system"}
    import java.net.URI;
    import redis.clients.jedis.Jedis;
    import redis.clients.jedis.JedisPubSub;

    try (Jedis jedis = new Jedis(new URI(System.getenv("REDIS_URL")))) {
      jedis.subscribe(new JedisPubSub() {
        @Override
        public void onMessage(String channel, String message) {
          System.out.println(channel + ": " + message);
        }
      }, "events");
    }
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="redis-rs" icon="rust" iconType="brands">
    ```rust theme={"system"}
    fn main() -> redis::RedisResult<()> {
        let url = std::env::var("REDIS_URL").expect("REDIS_URL is not set");
        let client = redis::Client::open(url)?;
        let mut connection = client.get_connection()?;
        let mut pubsub = connection.as_pubsub();
        pubsub.subscribe("events")?;
        loop {
            let message = pubsub.get_message()?;
            let payload: String = message.get_payload()?;
            println!("{payload}");
        }
        #[allow(unreachable_code)]
        Ok(())
    }
    ```
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>


## Related topics

- [SUBSCRIBE](/docs/redis/sdks/ts/commands/pubsub/subscribe.md)
- [REST API](/docs/redis/features/restapi.md)
- [Server-Side Usage](/docs/realtime/features/server-side.md)
- [History](/docs/realtime/features/history.md)
- [Quickstart](/docs/realtime/overall/quickstart.md)