Vercel KV (Redis-Compatible Storage)

Status: Production Ready Last Updated: 2025-12-14 Dependencies: None Latest Versions: @vercel/kv@3.0.0

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Quick Start (3 Minutes)

1. Create & Configure

# Create KV database in Vercel dashboard: Storage → Create Database → KV
vercel env pull .env.local

Creates environment variables:

• KV_REST_API_URL - Your KV database URL
• KV_REST_API_TOKEN - Auth token

2. Install

bun add @vercel/kv

3. Use in Your App

Next.js Server Action:

'use server';

import { kv } from '@vercel/kv';

export async function incrementViews(slug: string) {
  const views = await kv.incr(`views:${slug}`);
  return views;
}

Edge API Route:

import { kv } from '@vercel/kv';

export const runtime = 'edge';

export async function GET(request: Request) {
  const value = await kv.get('mykey');
  return Response.json({ value });
}

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Critical Rules

Always Do

Rule	Why
Set TTL for temporary data	setex('key', 3600, value) - Avoid memory leaks
Use namespaced keys	user:123:profile not 123 - Prevents collisions
Handle null returns	Non-existent keys return null
Use pipeline for batch ops	Single round-trip reduces latency
Serialize JSON-compatible only	No functions, circular references
Monitor command usage	Stay within free tier (30K/month)

Never Do

Rule	Why
Store sensitive data unencrypted	KV not encrypted at rest by default
Forget to set TTL	Keys without TTL stay forever
Use generic key names	data, cache will collide
Store large values (>1MB)	Use Vercel Blob instead
Use as primary database	KV is for cache, not persistence
Commit .env.local	Contains KV tokens

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Core Operations

Set/Get with TTL:

import { kv } from '@vercel/kv';

// Set with TTL (expires in 1 hour)
await kv.setex('session:abc', 3600, { userId: 123 });

// Get value
const session = await kv.get('session:abc');

// Delete
await kv.del('session:abc');

Atomic Operations:

const views = await kv.incr('views:post:123');
const wasSet = await kv.setnx('lock:process', 'running'); // Set if not exists

Multiple Keys:

const values = await kv.mget('user:1', 'user:2', 'user:3');
await kv.mset({ 'user:1': data1, 'user:2': data2 });

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Known Issues Prevention

This skill prevents 10 documented issues:

#	Error	Quick Fix
1	KV_REST_API_URL not defined	Run vercel env pull .env.local
2	Cannot serialize BigInt	Convert to string, use plain objects
3	Unexpected data returned	Use namespaced keys: user:123:profile
4	Memory grows indefinitely	Use setex() with TTL
5	Rate limit exceeded	Batch operations, upgrade plan
6	Value too large	Use Vercel Blob for >100KB
7	TypeScript type errors	Use kv.get<Type>() with Zod validation
8	Pipeline silent failures	Check results array from exec()
9	Scan timeout errors	Limit count, iterate with cursor
10	Session expires too early	Use expire() for sliding window

See: references/known-issues.md for complete solutions with code examples.

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Common Patterns Summary

Pattern	Use Case	Key API
Cache-Aside	Read caching	get → fetch → setex
Write-Through	Write consistency	setex on write, del on delete
Rate Limiting	API protection	incr + expire
Session Management	User sessions	setex, get, expire, del
Distributed Lock	Concurrency control	setnx + expire + del
Leaderboard	Rankings	zadd, zrange, zrevrank
Pipeline	Batch operations	pipeline().exec()

See: references/common-patterns.md for complete implementations.

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Configuration

.env.local

# Created by: vercel env pull .env.local
KV_REST_API_URL="https://your-database.kv.vercel-storage.com"
KV_REST_API_TOKEN="your-token-here"

.gitignore

.env.local
.env*.local

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When to Load References

Reference	Load When...
references/known-issues.md	Debugging KV errors, type issues, or performance problems
references/common-patterns.md	Implementing caching, sessions, rate limiting, leaderboards, or locks

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Dependencies

{
  "dependencies": {
    "@vercel/kv": "^3.0.0"
  }
}

Free Tier Limits: 30,000 commands/month, 256MB storage

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Official Documentation

• Vercel KV: https://vercel.com/docs/storage/vercel-kv
• SDK Reference: https://vercel.com/docs/storage/vercel-kv/kv-reference
• GitHub: https://github.com/vercel/storage
• Redis Commands: https://redis.io/commands

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
KV_REST_API_URL not defined	Run vercel env pull .env.local
Rate limit exceeded	Use mget/pipeline, upgrade plan
Values not expiring	Use setex() not set()
JSON serialization error	Use plain objects, convert BigInt to string

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Token Savings: ~60% (patterns extracted to references) Error Prevention: 100% (all 10 documented issues) Ready for production!