diff --git a/src/app/api/local/redis/redisRuntime.ts b/src/app/api/local/redis/redisRuntime.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5417b3db8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/api/local/redis/redisRuntime.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
+import { execFile } from "node:child_process";
+import { promisify } from "node:util";
+
+export const REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME = process.env.OMNIROUTE_REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME || "omniroute-redis";
+
+export const RUNTIME_PREFERENCE = ["podman", "docker"] as const;
+
+type ExecFileAsync = (
+  file: string,
+  args: readonly string[],
+  options: { timeout: number }
+) => Promise<{ stdout: string; stderr: string }>;
+
+const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile) as ExecFileAsync;
+
+export async function detectRedisContainerRuntime(
+  runCommand: ExecFileAsync = execFileAsync
+): Promise<string | null> {
+  for (const candidate of RUNTIME_PREFERENCE) {
+    try {
+      await runCommand(candidate, ["--version"], { timeout: 3000 });
+      return candidate;
+    } catch {
+      // try next
+    }
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+export function redisRuntimeUnavailableResponse() {
+  return NextResponse.json(
+    { ok: false, error: "No container runtime (podman or docker) found on PATH" },
+    { status: 503 }
+  );
+}
+
+export async function runRedisRuntimeCommand(
+  runtime: string,
+  args: readonly string[],
+  timeout: number,
+  runCommand: ExecFileAsync = execFileAsync
+) {
+  const { stdout, stderr } = await runCommand(runtime, args, { timeout });
+  return { stdout: stdout.trim(), stderr: stderr.trim() };
+}
diff --git a/src/app/api/local/redis/start/route.ts b/src/app/api/local/redis/start/route.ts
index 5bf4d5e9cb..671d255f8d 100644
--- a/src/app/api/local/redis/start/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/local/redis/start/route.ts
@@ -1,42 +1,27 @@
 import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
-import { execFile } from "node:child_process";
-import { promisify } from "node:util";
 
 import { isLocalRequestAllowed } from "@/lib/security/localEndpoints";
 import { sanitizeErrorMessage } from "@omniroute/open-sse/utils/error";
 
-const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
+import {
+  REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME,
+  detectRedisContainerRuntime,
+  redisRuntimeUnavailableResponse,
+  runRedisRuntimeCommand,
+} from "../redisRuntime";
 
-const CONTAINER_NAME = process.env.OMNIROUTE_REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME || "omniroute-redis";
 const HOST_PORT = process.env.OMNIROUTE_REDIS_HOST_PORT || "6379";
 const IMAGE = process.env.OMNIROUTE_REDIS_IMAGE || "docker.io/redis:7-alpine";
 
-const RUNTIME_PREFERENCE = ["podman", "docker"];
-
-async function detectRuntime(): Promise<string | null> {
-  for (const candidate of RUNTIME_PREFERENCE) {
-    try {
-      await execFileAsync(candidate, ["--version"], { timeout: 3000 });
-      return candidate;
-    } catch {
-      // try next
-    }
-  }
-  return null;
-}
-
 export async function POST() {
   const guard = isLocalRequestAllowed();
   if (!guard.allowed) {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: guard.reason }, { status: 403 });
   }
 
-  const runtime = await detectRuntime();
+  const runtime = await detectRedisContainerRuntime();
   if (!runtime) {
-    return NextResponse.json(
-      { ok: false, error: "No container runtime (podman or docker) found on PATH" },
-      { status: 503 }
-    );
+    return redisRuntimeUnavailableResponse();
   }
 
   try {
@@ -48,15 +33,22 @@ export async function POST() {
       "run",
       "-d",
       "--name",
-      CONTAINER_NAME,
+      REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME,
       "-p",
       `${HOST_PORT}:6379`,
       "--restart",
       "unless-stopped",
       IMAGE,
     ];
-    const { stdout, stderr } = await execFileAsync(runtime, args, { timeout: 30_000 });
-    return NextResponse.json({ ok: true, runtime, name: CONTAINER_NAME, port: HOST_PORT, stdout: stdout.trim(), stderr: stderr.trim() });
+    const { stdout, stderr } = await runRedisRuntimeCommand(runtime, args, 30_000);
+    return NextResponse.json({
+      ok: true,
+      runtime,
+      name: REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME,
+      port: HOST_PORT,
+      stdout,
+      stderr,
+    });
   } catch (err) {
     // Hard Rule #12: never put a raw execFile error (command line + paths) in the body.
     return NextResponse.json(
@@ -64,4 +56,4 @@ export async function POST() {
       { status: 500 }
     );
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/app/api/local/redis/stop/route.ts b/src/app/api/local/redis/stop/route.ts
index 6f7f73c59f..4ce9fd224a 100644
--- a/src/app/api/local/redis/stop/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/local/redis/stop/route.ts
@@ -1,27 +1,14 @@
 import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
-import { execFile } from "node:child_process";
-import { promisify } from "node:util";
 
 import { isLocalRequestAllowed } from "@/lib/security/localEndpoints";
 import { sanitizeErrorMessage } from "@omniroute/open-sse/utils/error";
 
-const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
-
-const CONTAINER_NAME = process.env.OMNIROUTE_REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME || "omniroute-redis";
-
-const RUNTIME_PREFERENCE = ["podman", "docker"];
-
-async function detectRuntime(): Promise<string | null> {
-  for (const candidate of RUNTIME_PREFERENCE) {
-    try {
-      await execFileAsync(candidate, ["--version"], { timeout: 3000 });
-      return candidate;
-    } catch {
-      // try next
-    }
-  }
-  return null;
-}
+import {
+  REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME,
+  detectRedisContainerRuntime,
+  redisRuntimeUnavailableResponse,
+  runRedisRuntimeCommand,
+} from "../redisRuntime";
 
 export async function POST() {
   const guard = isLocalRequestAllowed();
@@ -29,17 +16,24 @@ export async function POST() {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: guard.reason }, { status: 403 });
   }
 
-  const runtime = await detectRuntime();
+  const runtime = await detectRedisContainerRuntime();
   if (!runtime) {
-    return NextResponse.json(
-      { ok: false, error: "No container runtime (podman or docker) found on PATH" },
-      { status: 503 }
-    );
+    return redisRuntimeUnavailableResponse();
   }
 
   try {
-    const { stdout, stderr } = await execFileAsync(runtime, ["stop", CONTAINER_NAME], { timeout: 15_000 });
-    return NextResponse.json({ ok: true, runtime, name: CONTAINER_NAME, stdout: stdout.trim(), stderr: stderr.trim() });
+    const { stdout, stderr } = await runRedisRuntimeCommand(
+      runtime,
+      ["stop", REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME],
+      15_000
+    );
+    return NextResponse.json({
+      ok: true,
+      runtime,
+      name: REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME,
+      stdout,
+      stderr,
+    });
   } catch (err) {
     const rawMessage = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
     // exit code != 0 from `stop` typically means "not running" — surface that as ok=false but don't 500
@@ -52,4 +46,4 @@ export async function POST() {
       { status: 500 }
     );
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/tests/unit/local-redis-runtime.test.ts b/tests/unit/local-redis-runtime.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7898495a79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/local-redis-runtime.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+
+import {
+  REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME,
+  detectRedisContainerRuntime,
+  redisRuntimeUnavailableResponse,
+  runRedisRuntimeCommand,
+} from "../../src/app/api/local/redis/redisRuntime.ts";
+
+test("detectRedisContainerRuntime returns the first available runtime", async () => {
+  const calls: string[] = [];
+  const runtime = await detectRedisContainerRuntime(async (file) => {
+    calls.push(file);
+    if (file === "podman") {
+      throw new Error("missing");
+    }
+    return { stdout: "Docker version 1\n", stderr: "" };
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(runtime, "docker");
+  assert.deepEqual(calls, ["podman", "docker"]);
+});
+
+test("detectRedisContainerRuntime returns null when no runtime is available", async () => {
+  const runtime = await detectRedisContainerRuntime(async () => {
+    throw new Error("missing");
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(runtime, null);
+});
+
+test("runRedisRuntimeCommand trims command output", async () => {
+  const result = await runRedisRuntimeCommand(
+    "docker",
+    ["stop", REDIS_CONTAINER_NAME],
+    15_000,
+    async () => ({
+      stdout: " stopped \n",
+      stderr: " warning \n",
+    })
+  );
+
+  assert.deepEqual(result, { stdout: "stopped", stderr: "warning" });
+});
+
+test("redisRuntimeUnavailableResponse preserves the route error shape", async () => {
+  const response = redisRuntimeUnavailableResponse();
+
+  assert.equal(response.status, 503);
+  assert.deepEqual(await response.json(), {
+    ok: false,
+    error: "No container runtime (podman or docker) found on PATH",
+  });
+});