Redis Software and Redis Cloud have introduced a feature called smart client handoffs, designed to maintain app connectivity during planned software maintenance. This feature, integrated into official Redis client libraries, allows apps to remain online by coordinating connectivity and timeouts without requiring special orchestration in application code. It achieves seamless transitions during upgrades or maintenance operations by implementing transparent endpoint rebinds and adaptive timeouts, which ensure that in-flight requests are preserved and hard disconnects are avoided. This approach shifts the burden from applications to the Redis client libraries, which proactively handle the phases of maintenance operations such as upgrades, shard migrations, or failovers. Smart client handoffs are automatically enabled in Redis Cloud Essentials and Pro databases, while Redis Software users can activate it by upgrading to version 8.0.2 and enabling the feature via the REST API, allowing clients to opt in and manage their behavior during maintenance events.