DiceDB

What is DiceDB?
DiceDB is an open-source, fast, reactive, in-memory database optimized for modern hardware. Commonly used as a cache, it offers a familiar interface while enabling real-time data updates through query subscriptions. It delivers higher throughput and lower median latencies, making it ideal for modern workloads.
Get started
Setting up DiceDB with Docker
The easiest way to get started with DiceDB is using Docker by running the following command.
$ docker run -p 7379:7379 dicedb/dicedb:latest
The above command will start the DiceDB server running locally on the port 7379 and you can connect
to it using DiceDB CLI and SDKs.
Build from source
To build DiceDB from source, you need to have the following
- Golang
- Any of the below supported platform environments:
- Linux based environment
- OSX (Darwin) based environment
- WSL under Windows
$ git clone https://github.com/dicedb/dice
$ cd dice
$ make build
The above command will create a binary dicedb. Execute the binary and that will
start the DiceDB server., or, you can run the following command to run like a usual
Go program
$ go run main.go
You can skip passing the flag if you are not working with .WATCH feature.
Setting up CLI
Using cURL
The best way to connect to DiceDB is using DiceDB CLI and you can install it by running the following command
$ sudo su
$ curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DiceDB/dicedb-cli/refs/heads/master/install.sh | sh
If you are working on unsupported OS (as per above script), you can always follow the installation instructions mentioned in the dicedb/cli repository.
Building from source
$ git clone https://github.com/DiceDB/dicedb-cli
$ cd dicedb-cli
$ make build
The above command will create a binary dicedb-cli. Execute the binary will
start the CLI and will try to connect to the DiceDB server.
Want to contribute?
We have multiple repositories where you can contribute. So, as per your interest, you can pick one and build a deeper understanding of the project on the go.
Essentials for Development
Pointing to local checked-out dicedb-go
It is advised to checkout dicedb-go repository also because dice takes
a strong dependency on it. To point to the local copy add the following line
at the end of the go.mod file.
replace github.com/dicedb/dicedb-go => ../dicedb-go
Note: this is the literal line that needs to be added at the end of the go.mod file.
Refer to this article, to understand what it is and why it is needed.
Do not check-in the go.mod file with this change.
Install GoLangCI
$ sudo su
$ sudo curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/golangci/golangci-lint/master/install.sh | sudo sh -s -- -b /bin v1.64.6
Local Setup with Custom Config
Follow these steps to generate and customize your dicedb configuration in a local setup:
$ go run main.go config-init
This will generate configuration file (dicedb.yaml) in metadata directory.
Metadata directory is OS-specific,
- macOS:
/usr/local/etc/dicedb/dicedb.yaml
- Linux:
/etc/dicedb/dicedb.yaml
If you run with a sudo privileges, then these directories are used, otherwise
the current working directory is used as the metada directory.
Running Tests
Unit tests and integration tests are essential for ensuring correctness and in the case of DiceDB, both types of tests are available to validate its functionality.
For unit testing, you can execute individual unit tests by specifying the name of the test function using the TEST_FUNC environment variable and running the make unittest-one command. Alternatively, running make unittest will execute all unit tests.
Executing one unit test
TEST_FUNC=<name of the test function> make unittest-one
TEST_FUNC=TestByteList make unittest-one
Running all unit tests
make unittest
Integration tests, on the other hand, involve starting up the DiceDB server and running a series of commands to verify the expected end state and output. To execute a single integration test, you can set the TEST_FUNC environment variable to the name of the test function and run make test-one. Running make test will execute all integration tests.
Executing a single integration test
Make sure you have DiceDB running before you run the following commands.
By default it connects to the local instance of DiceDB running on port 7379.
TEST_FUNC=<name of the test function> make test-one
TEST_FUNC=^TestSet$ make test-one
Running all integration tests
$ make test
Getting Started
To get started with building and contributing to DiceDB, please refer to the issues created in this repository.
Docs
We use Astro framework to power the dicedb.io website and Starlight to power the docs. Once you have NodeJS installed, fire the following commands to get your local version of dicedb.io running.
$ cd docs
$ npm install
$ npm run dev
Once the server starts, visit http://localhost:4321/ in your favourite browser. This runs with a hot reload which means any changes you make in the website and the documentation can be instantly viewed on the browser.
Docs directory structure
docs/src/content/docs/commands is where all the commands are documented
docs/src/content/docs/tutorials is where all the tutorials are documented
How to contribute
The Code Contribution Guidelines are published at CONTRIBUTING/README.md; please read them before you start making any changes. This would allow us to have a consistent standard of coding practices and developer experience.
Contributors can join the Discord Server for quick collaboration.
Contributors
License
This project is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License. See the LICENSE file for details.