go-redis/redis · error

redis: unexpected response %#v

Error message

redis: unexpected response %#v

What it means

Thrown by MapMapStringInterfaceCmd.readReply (command.go:6368) on the RESP2 branch. The reply is expected to be an array of [key, value, ...] pairs; if any top-level element is not itself an array (e.g. a string or integer), the parser cannot turn it into a map and aborts.

Source

Thrown at command.go:6368

		return err
	}
	resultMap := map[string]interface{}{}

	switch midResponse := data.(type) {
	case map[interface{}]interface{}: // resp3 will return map
		for k, v := range midResponse {
			stringKey, ok := k.(string)
			if !ok {
				return fmt.Errorf("redis: invalid map key %#v", k)
			}
			resultMap[stringKey] = v
		}
	case []interface{}: // resp2 will return array of arrays
		n := len(midResponse)
		for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
			finalArr, ok := midResponse[i].([]interface{}) // final array that we need to transform to map
			if !ok {
				return fmt.Errorf("redis: unexpected response %#v", data)
			}
			m := len(finalArr)
			if m%2 != 0 { // since this should be map, keys should be even number
				return fmt.Errorf("redis: unexpected response %#v", data)
			}

			for j := 0; j < m; j += 2 {
				stringKey, ok := finalArr[j].(string) // the first one
				if !ok {
					return fmt.Errorf("redis: invalid map key %#v", finalArr[i])
				}
				resultMap[stringKey] = finalArr[j+1] // second one is value
			}
		}
	default:
		return fmt.Errorf("redis: unexpected response %#v", data)
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 36d97525cd)

Solutions

  1. Inspect the raw reply (`redis-cli FT.CONFIG GET <option>`) and compare against what go-redis expects (array of [k, v, ...] pairs).
  2. Upgrade/downgrade the RediSearch module to a version whose reply shape matches, or upgrade go-redis.
  3. Only query known-valid CONFIG options.
  4. Remove any intermediary that reshapes the reply.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Try / catch

v, err := client.FTConfigGet(ctx, option).Result()
if err != nil {
    // confirm option exists / module loaded; degrade to empty map
    v = map[string]interface{}{}
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: client.FTConfigGet(ctx, option) over RESP2 when the reply is not the expected array-of-arrays shape — e.g. a module/server that returns a flat array, an error-like bulk string mixed in, or a proxy that reshapes the reply.

Common situations: Module version mismatch (RediSearch FT.CONFIG reply shape changed); querying an option that does not exist returns an unexpected layout; RESP-rewriting proxy.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of go-redis/redis@36d97525cd (2026-08-06). Data as JSON: /data/errors/163a004f5b0af077.json. Report an issue: GitHub.