go-redis/redis · error

pubsub: connection is not usable

Error message

pubsub: connection is not usable

What it means

Error "pubsub: connection is not usable" thrown in go-redis/redis.

Source

Thrown at pubsub.go:175

func (c *PubSub) releaseConnWithLock(
	ctx context.Context,
	cn *pool.Conn,
	err error,
	allowTimeout bool,
) {
	c.mu.Lock()
	c.releaseConn(ctx, cn, err, allowTimeout)
	c.mu.Unlock()
}

func (c *PubSub) releaseConn(ctx context.Context, cn *pool.Conn, err error, allowTimeout bool) {
	if c.cn != cn {
		return
	}

	if !cn.IsUsable() || cn.ShouldHandoff() {
		c.reconnect(ctx, fmt.Errorf("pubsub: connection is not usable"))
		return
	}

	if isBadConn(err, allowTimeout, c.opt.Addr) {
		c.reconnect(ctx, err)
	}
}

func (c *PubSub) reconnect(ctx context.Context, reason error) {
	if c.cn != nil && c.cn.ShouldHandoff() {
		newEndpoint := c.cn.GetHandoffEndpoint()
		// If new endpoint is NULL, use the original address
		if newEndpoint == internal.RedisNull {
			newEndpoint = c.opt.Addr
		}

		if newEndpoint != "" {
			// Update the address in the options

View on GitHub (pinned to 36d97525cd)

Solutions

1. Reconnect/resubscribe the PubSub; the underlying connection became unusable
2. Check for network errors or server-side disconnects that invalidated the conn

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at pubsub.go:175 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: Monitor PubSub health with ReceiveTimeout and re-create the subscription on failure.

AI-assisted analysis of go-redis/redis@36d97525cd (2026-08-06). Data as JSON: /data/errors/ad03480c73014861.json. Report an issue: GitHub.