> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connected Clients, Redis

> Connected Clients for Redis instances. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it.

**Card class:** [Non-Hero](/nerve-centre/overview#card-classes-explained)  •  **Category:** [Capacity](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type)

## At a glance

> **Connected Clients** is the live count of client connections currently established to the Redis instance, taken straight from `connected_clients` in `INFO clients`. It is the raw input behind the saturation cards: on its own it tells you how busy the front door is, and when read against the configured `maxclients` ceiling it tells you how close you are to refusing new connections. A steady, predictable count is healthy; sudden steps up or a slow ratchet that never falls back usually means a connection leak in an application pool.

|                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **What it tracks** | The number of client connections currently open to the Redis server (`connected_clients`).                                                                                                                       |
| **Data source**    | `INFO clients` → `connected_clients`. Excludes connections from replicas, which are counted separately.                                                                                                          |
| **Time window**    | `RT` (real-time snapshot).                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| **Alert trigger**  | None set. The paging thresholds live on [Clients vs maxclients %](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/redis/clients-vs-maxclients) and [Rejected Connections (24h)](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/redis/rejected-connections-24h). |
| **Roles**          | engineering, operations                                                                                                                                                                                          |

## What it tracks

Every application worker, queue consumer, session reader, and `redis-cli` session that holds an open socket to the server counts here. The number should map to the sum of your connection pools across all application instances plus a small allowance for ad-hoc tooling. Two patterns matter: a sharp jump usually follows a deploy that increased pool size or added a new service; a slow, monotonic climb that never recedes is the classic signature of a connection leak, where the application opens sockets it never returns or closes. Both push you toward the `maxclients` ceiling (10,000 by default on self-hosted Redis, lower on small managed nodes), at which point new connections are refused and downstream services start erroring. Because this card is the unscaled raw number, pair it with the saturation gauge to understand how much headroom remains.

## Reconciling against the source

Verify directly with `INFO clients` (the `connected_clients` field) or enumerate live sessions with `CLIENT LIST` and count the rows. On ElastiCache and MemoryDB, cross-check the `CurrConnections` CloudWatch metric, and remember that `NewConnections` shows the churn rate, which is useful for spotting a pool that is opening and closing sockets rather than reusing them.

***

### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre

*Connected Clients* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Redis and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English.

[Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.