Decision Guide
Not sure which plugin you need? This guide helps you decide in under 2 minutes.
Quick Decision Flowchart
Decision Matrix
| Scenario | Plugin | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Slow database queries | Cache | Store results, serve from memory |
| Duplicate form submissions | Idempotency | Detect and replay responses |
| Payment processing | Idempotency + Locks | Prevent double charges |
| Cron job on multiple instances | Locks | Only one instance executes |
| API abuse protection | Rate Limit | Throttle excessive requests |
| Login brute force | Rate Limit | Progressive delays |
| Flaky third-party API | Circuit Breaker | Fail fast, probe recovery |
| Payment gateway outages | Circuit Breaker | Fallback while OPEN |
| User login sessions ("log out everywhere", device page, seat limits) | Session | Store for express-session/@fastify/session + per-user index |
| Cron/migrations/cleanup on a multi-instance fleet | Leader | @LeaderOnly: exactly one instance runs the work, automatic failover |
| Real-time cross-instance events | Pub/Sub | Instant fan-out, fire-and-forget |
| WebSocket broadcast on a cluster | Pub/Sub | Every instance receives and relays |
| Background job processing | Streams | Reliable async with retries |
| Event-driven architecture | Streams | Pub/sub with persistence |
| Production monitoring | Metrics | Prometheus integration |
| Request tracing | Tracing | OpenTelemetry spans |
Common Combinations
E-commerce / Payments
Idempotency + Locks + Cache + Metrics- Idempotency: Prevent duplicate orders/charges
- Locks: Serialize payment processing per order
- Cache: Product catalog, user sessions
- Metrics: Monitor transaction rates
Public API
Rate Limit + Cache + Metrics + Tracing- Rate Limit: Protect from abuse, implement tiers
- Cache: Reduce backend load
- Metrics: Track usage per client
- Tracing: Debug slow requests
Event-Driven Microservices
Streams + Idempotency + Locks + Tracing- Streams: Event bus between services
- Idempotency: Handle duplicate events
- Locks: Coordinate distributed operations
- Tracing: Follow requests across services
Background Processing
Streams + Locks + Metrics- Streams: Job queue with consumer groups
- Locks: Prevent duplicate cron execution
- Metrics: Monitor queue depth and processing time
What RedisX Does NOT Solve
| Need | Use Instead |
|---|---|
| Job scheduling with delays | BullMQ |
| Complex workflows/sagas | Temporal |
| Full-text search | Elasticsearch |
| Graph queries | Neo4j |
| Time-series data | TimescaleDB |
| Message broker with routing | RabbitMQ |
Plugin Dependencies
All plugins depend on Core. Metrics and Tracing enhance other plugins with observability.
Next Steps
Once you've identified your plugins:
- Installation — Install required packages
- Quick Start — Basic configuration
- Choose your concept guide: