How to create a Redis database and connect it to your application?

1. Prerequisites

To follow this tutorial, you will need:

Standard Plan or higher: Redis database management is a feature available starting from the Standard plan.
Dashboard Access: Your login credentials for the Square Cloud platform.

2. Creating the Database Instance

Access the Square Cloud Dashboard.
Go to the Databases page and select the Create database option.
Name your instance.
Choose Redis from the list of available databases.
Select the desired RAM and confirm the creation.
After initialization, you will have access to the essential credentials in a URL: Host, Port, Password.

3. Understanding SSL Certificates

Square Cloud requires encrypted connections (TLS/SSL) to protect data transmitted in memory. To establish this connection, you will need to use the certificates provided by the platform.

In your database settings tab, you will find the following download options:

certificate.pem: This is a combined file containing the private key (key) and the certificate (cert). For most connection drivers, this is the only required file.
client-key.key and client-cert.crt: Available separately for legacy systems or drivers that require individual files.

4. Technical Connection Configuration

For Redis, a secure connection is identified by the rediss:// protocol (with two "s"s). When configuring the driver, you must point to the .pem file to validate the identity of both the client and the server.

Technical parameters generally follow this mapping when using the .pem file:

ssl_ca_certs: Path to certificate.pem
ssl_certfile: Path to certificate.pem
ssl_keyfile: Path to certificate.pem

Connection String Example (URI)

rediss://default:{password}@square-cloud-db-{id}.squareweb.app:{port}?ssl_ca_certs=./certificate.pem&ssl_certfile=./certificate.pem&ssl_keyfile=./certificate.pem

Connection Examples via Code

If your connection uses the separate files, simply follow the examples below:

Python Example:

import redis
import os
import ssl
from pathlib import Path

ca_cert_path = Path(__file__).with_name("ca-certificate.crt")
r = redis.from_url(
    "rediss://default:JTI6bNRaws1Z1jokWU8mRfoW@square-cloud-db-{id}.squareweb.app:{port}",
    decode_responses=True,
    ssl_cert_reqs=ssl.CERT_REQUIRED,
    ssl_ca_certs=str(ca_cert_path)
)

JavaScript Example:

import { createClient } from "redis";
import fs from "fs";

const client = createClient({
  url: "rediss://default:JTI6bNRaws1Z1jokWU8mRfoW@square-cloud-db-{id}.squareweb.app:{port}",
  socket: {
    tls: true,
    ca: fs.readFileSync("ca-certificate.crt")
  },
});

async function main() {
  await client.connect();
  console.log("Connected to Redis!");
}

main()

5. Best Practices and Security

.gitignore File: The certificate.pem file contains sensitive information. Never upload it to public repositories; add it to your .gitignore immediately.
Secure Protocol: Always ensure you use the rediss:// prefix instead of redis:// to guarantee that the driver attempts to perform the SSL handshake.

Extra

For a better visual guide, watch our video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJsgRKsQrCI

Updated on: 05/21/2026

Was this article helpful?

Thank you!