go-redis/redis · error

redis: unsupported pubsub message: %q

Error message

redis: unsupported pubsub message: %q

What it means

Error "redis: unsupported pubsub message: %q" thrown in go-redis/redis.

Source

Thrown at pubsub.go:480

			default:
				return nil, fmt.Errorf("redis: unsupported pubsub message payload: %T", payload)
			}
		case "pmessage":
			channel := reply[2].(string)
			msg := &Message{
				Pattern: reply[1].(string),
				Channel: channel,
				Payload: reply[3].(string),
			}
			// Record PubSub message received (pattern message, not sharded)
			otel.RecordPubSubMessage(ctx, cn, "received", channel, false)
			return msg, nil
		case "pong":
			return &Pong{
				Payload: reply[1].(string),
			}, nil
		default:
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("redis: unsupported pubsub message: %q", kind)
		}
	default:
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("redis: unsupported pubsub message: %#v", reply)
	}
}

// ReceiveTimeout acts like Receive but returns an error if message
// is not received in time. This is low-level API and in most cases
// Channel should be used instead.
func (c *PubSub) ReceiveTimeout(ctx context.Context, timeout time.Duration) (interface{}, error) {
	if c.cmd == nil {
		c.cmd = NewCmd(ctx)
	}

	// Don't hold the lock to allow subscriptions and pings.
	cn, err := c.connWithLock(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err

View on GitHub (pinned to 36d97525cd)

Solutions

1. Check the quoted message kind; the server sent an unsupported pubsub frame type
2. Upgrade go-redis if the server uses newer pubsub message kinds

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at pubsub.go:480 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: Keep go-redis current with the server version to support all message kinds.

AI-assisted analysis of go-redis/redis@36d97525cd (2026-08-06). Data as JSON: /data/errors/a3334eadf5ec3666.json. Report an issue: GitHub.