In Redis, we can use the OBECT IDLETIME command to check how many seconds has passed since the last access to a given key.

Syntax

The syntax goes like this:

OBJECT IDLETIME key

Example

Here’s a basic example to demonstrate:

OBJECT IDLETIME animals

Result:

(integer) 255617

We get an integer reply with the number of seconds since the last time the key was accessed.

Let’s access the key:

LRANGE animals 0 -1

Result:

1) "Cat"
2) "Dog"
3) "Buffalo"
4) "Cow"

Now let’s run OBJECT IDLETIME again:

OBJECT IDLETIME animals

Result:

(integer) 24

We can see that the value was reset and it has now been just 24 seconds since the key was accessed.

Let’s wait a day and run the command again:

OBJECT IDLETIME animals

Result:

(integer) 88203

One thing to remember is that the OBJECT IDLETIME command is only available when the maxmemory-policy configuration directive is not set to one of the LFU policies.