BRPOP(3valkey)

📦
version 9.0.6 · 2 versions
, in fedora 44

💖 BRPOP — the valkey manual, but make it a group chat 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the brpop page of the Valkey Command Manual. yes this is BRPOP(3valkey), yes it's iconic, yes we're doing this. sit down, hydrate, let's go 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

brpop — pops the last element off a list and hands it to you. but if there's nothing there? it blocks and waits, like a bestie waiting outside the fitting room. and if you popped the last element? the list gets deleted, no cap, it's just gone 💀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

BRPOP key [key...] timeout

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so BRPOP is a blocking list pop primitive. it's literally the blocking version of valkey-rpop(7) RPOP, except the way it blocks is that it holds your connection hostage when there's nothing to pop from any of the lists you gave it. not dramatic, just honest. 🙈

an element gets popped from the tail of the first list that's non-empty. and the keys? they get checked in the order you give them, so order matters bestie, it's giving first-come-first-served 💅

also: go read the BLPOP documentation for the exact semantics, because BRPOP is identical to BLPOP — the only difference is that it pops from the tail of a list instead of the head. that's it. that's the whole plot twist 🎀

✨ REPLY ✨

RESP2

one of these two, pick your fighter:

  • valkey-protocol(7) Nil reply: nothing could be popped and the timeout expired 😭
  • valkey-protocol(7) Array reply: the key the element was popped from, plus the value of the popped element ✨

RESP3

again, one of two:

  • valkey-protocol(7) Null reply: nothing could be popped and the timeout expired 😭
  • valkey-protocol(7) Array reply: the key the element was popped from, plus the value of the popped element ✨

✨ COMPLEXITY ✨

O(N) where N is the number of keys you provided. so like, the more keys you throw at it, the more work it does. math is math 🧮

✨ ACL CATEGORIES ✨

@blocking @list @slow @write

✨ HISTORY ✨

  • Available since: 2.0.0 — a classic, a legend, an OG 👑
  • Changed in 6.0.0: timeout is now interpreted as a double instead of an integer. glow up fr fr ✨

✨ EXAMPLES ✨

watch and learn, this is the whole vibe:

127.0.0.1:6379> DEL list1 list2
(integer) 0
127.0.0.1:6379> RPUSH list1 a b c
(integer) 3
127.0.0.1:6379> BRPOP list1 list2 0
1) "list1"
2) "c"

see how it pulled "c" — the tail — off list1 and told us exactly which key it came from? that's the whole thing. ate. 🔥

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

blmove(3valkey), blmpop(3valkey), blpop(3valkey), brpoplpush(3valkey), lindex(3valkey), linsert(3valkey), llen(3valkey), lmove(3valkey), lmpop(3valkey), lpop(3valkey), lpos(3valkey), lpush(3valkey), lpushx(3valkey), lrange(3valkey), lrem(3valkey), lset(3valkey), ltrim(3valkey), rpop(3valkey), rpoplpush(3valkey), rpush(3valkey), rpushx(3valkey)

and that's the page bestie 🦋 this was Valkey version 9.0.0, dated 2025-10-21 — go block on some lists, stay hydrated, and remember: popping from the tail is a lifestyle 💜🌸

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