Upstash MCP Server

The Upstash MCP server lets your agent manage and debug your Upstash resources directly, across Redis, QStash, Workflow, and Upstash Box.

[!TIP] For most workflows, prefer installing the Upstash Skill and letting your agent drive @upstash/cli over running the MCP server.

Quickstart

You'll need your Upstash account email and an API key — create one at Upstash Console → Account → API Keys.

The Upstash MCP server works with any MCP-compatible client. If your client isn't listed below, check its documentation for how to add a stdio MCP server, then point it at the base command:

npx -y @upstash/mcp-server@latest --email YOUR_EMAIL --api-key YOUR_API_KEY

[!NOTE] Readonly API keys are supported. When the server starts with one, it automatically disables every tool that would modify state (creating databases, deleting backups, retrying workflows, etc.). Your agent can still read and query your account, but it cannot make changes.

claude mcp add --scope user upstash -- npx -y @upstash/mcp-server@latest --email YOUR_EMAIL --api-key YOUR_API_KEY

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upstash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/mcp-server@latest",
        "--email",
        "YOUR_EMAIL",
        "--api-key",
        "YOUR_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upstash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/mcp-server@latest",
        "--email",
        "YOUR_EMAIL",
        "--api-key",
        "YOUR_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcp": {
    "upstash": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": [
        "npx",
        "-y",
        "@upstash/mcp-server@latest",
        "--email",
        "YOUR_EMAIL",
        "--api-key",
        "YOUR_API_KEY"
      ],
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

codex mcp add upstash -- npx -y @upstash/mcp-server@latest --email YOUR_EMAIL --api-key YOUR_API_KEY

[mcp_servers.upstash]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@upstash/mcp-server@latest", "--email", "YOUR_EMAIL", "--api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY"]
startup_timeout_sec = 20

{
  "inputs": [
    { "type": "promptString", "id": "email", "description": "Upstash email" },
    { "type": "promptString", "id": "apiKey", "description": "Upstash API key", "password": true }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "upstash": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/mcp-server@latest",
        "--email",
        "${input:email}",
        "--api-key",
        "${input:apiKey}"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upstash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/mcp-server@latest",
        "--email",
        "YOUR_EMAIL",
        "--api-key",
        "YOUR_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upstash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/mcp-server@latest",
        "--email",
        "YOUR_EMAIL",
        "--api-key",
        "YOUR_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upstash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/mcp-server@latest",
        "--email",
        "YOUR_EMAIL",
        "--api-key",
        "YOUR_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Example prompts

Redis

• "Create a new Redis database in us-east-1"
• "List my databases sorted by memory usage"
• "Update the user schema by pulling from Redis"
• "Create a backup of this db, then clear it"
• "Show me throughput spikes during the last 7 days"

QStash & Workflow

• "Check the QStash logs and figure out why my webhook keeps failing"
• "Find failed workflow runs for user @admin today"
• "Retry the failed workflow run that started 2 hours ago"
• "Summarize what's in the DLQ right now, grouped by error type"
• "Pause the schedules that are throwing errors"

Upstash Box

• "Spin up a Box, clone this repo, and run the tests"
• "Snapshot this Box and create 5 copies from it, assign each one a GitHub issue"
• "My Box keeps failing to start, check the logs and tell me what's wrong"

Upstash Box API key (optional)

For the MCP to interact with Upstash Box, the agent needs your Box API key. By default you have to paste it into the chat (or keep it in a .env) every time the agent runs a Box tool. To avoid this, you can wire the key into the MCP setup itself so the server picks it up automatically on startup.

You can pass it in two ways.

CLI flag

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upstash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/mcp-server@latest",
        "--email",
        "YOUR_EMAIL",
        "--api-key",
        "YOUR_API_KEY",
        "--box-api-key",
        "YOUR_BOX_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Environment variable

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upstash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/mcp-server@latest",
        "--email",
        "YOUR_EMAIL",
        "--api-key",
        "YOUR_API_KEY"
      ],
      "env": {
        "UPSTASH_BOX_API_KEY": "YOUR_BOX_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Debugging

If the server is misbehaving or a tool keeps failing, enable verbose logging with the --debug flag:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "upstash": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@upstash/mcp-server@latest",
        "--email",
        "YOUR_EMAIL",
        "--api-key",
        "YOUR_API_KEY",
        "--debug"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Every internal event is then written to stderr, which your MCP client surfaces in its own log viewer. Share the relevant snippet when reporting an issue on GitHub.

Telemetry

The server sends anonymous diagnostic info to Upstash with each request: the MCP server SDK version, your runtime version (Node, Bun, etc.), and basic platform info (OS and architecture). No account data, tool arguments, or results are collected. To opt out, add --disable-telemetry to the args.

Development

Clone the project and run:

bun i
bun run watch

This continuously builds the project and watches for changes.

For testing, create a .env file in the project root:

UPSTASH_EMAIL=<UPSTASH_EMAIL>
UPSTASH_API_KEY=<UPSTASH_API_KEY>
# Optional, for Box tools:
UPSTASH_BOX_API_KEY=<UPSTASH_BOX_API_KEY>

To install the local MCP server into Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport stdio upstash -- bun --watch dist/index.js --debug

To tail logs from the MCP server in real time:

bun run logs