Initial readme.

README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+# Libvalkey
+
+Libvalkey is the official C client for the [Valkey](https://valkey.io) database. It also supports any server that uses the `RESP` protocol (version 2 or 3). This project supports both standalone and cluster modes.
+
+## Table of Contents
+
+- [Features](#features)
+- [Supported platforms](#supported-platforms)
+- [Building](#building)
+  - [Building with make](#building-with-make)
+  - [Building with CMake](#building-with-cmake)
+- [Contributing](#contributing)
+- Using the library
+  - [Standalone mode](docs/standalone.md)
+  - [Cluster mode](docs/cluster.md)
+
+## Features
+
+- Commands are executed in a generic way, with printf-like invocation.
+- Supports both `RESP2` and `RESP3` protocol versions.
+- Supports both synchronous and asynchronous operation.
+- Optional support for `SSL` and `RDMA` connections.
+- Asynchronous API with several event libraries to choose from.
+- Supports both standalone and cluster mode operation.
+- Can be compiled with either `make` or `CMake`.
+
+## Supported platforms
+
+This library supports and is tested against `Linux`, `FreeBSD`, `macOS`, and `Windows`. It should build and run on various proprietary Unixes although we can't run CI for those platforms. If you encounter any issues, please open an issue.
+
+## Building
+
+Libvalkey is written in C targeting C99. Unfortunately we have no plans on supporting C89 or earlier. The project does use a few widely supported compiler extensions, specifically for the bundled `sds` string library, although we have plans to remove this from the library.
+
+We support plain GNU make and CMake. Following is information on how to build the library.
+
+### Building with make
+
+```bash
+# Build and install the default library
+sudo make install
+
+# With all options
+sudo USE_SSL=1 USE_RDMA=1 make install
+
+# If your openssl is in a non-default location
+sudo USE_SSL=1 OPENSSL_PREFIX=/path/to/openssl make install
+```
+
+### Building with CMake
+
+See [CMakeLists.txt](CMakeLists.txt) for all available options.
+
+```bash
+# Build and install
+mkdir build && cd build
+cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo ..
+sudo make install
+
+# Build with TLS and RDMA support
+mkdir build && cd build
+cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo -DENABLE_SSL=1 -DENABLE_RDMA=1 ..
+sudo make install
+```
+
+## Contributing
+
+Contributions from the community are welcome. Feel free to open a PR with a bugfix or new feature. Note that if you would like to merge a large feature it's probably a good idea to open an issue first rather than spending a lot of time on a PR that may not be accepted.