diff --git a/src/json-pack/resp/RespDecoder.ts b/src/json-pack/resp/RespDecoder.ts
index c63c337cd9..54cb42997a 100644
--- a/src/json-pack/resp/RespDecoder.ts
+++ b/src/json-pack/resp/RespDecoder.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,25 @@ export class RespDecoder<R extends IReader & IReaderResettable = IReader & IRead
     }
   }
 
+  public readCmd(): [cmd: string, ...args: Uint8Array[]] {
+    const reader = this.reader;
+    const type = reader.u8();
+    if (type !== RESP.ARR) throw new Error('INVALID_COMMAND');
+    const c = reader.peak();
+    if (c === RESP.MINUS) throw new Error('INVALID_COMMAND');
+    const length = this.readLength();
+    if (length === 0) throw new Error('INVALID_COMMAND');
+    const cmd = this.readAsciiAsStrBulk().toUpperCase();
+    const args: [cmd: string, ...args: Uint8Array[]] = [cmd];
+    this.tryUtf8 = false;
+    for (let i = 1; i < length; i++) {
+      const type = reader.u8();
+      if (type !== RESP.STR_BULK) throw new Error('INVALID_COMMAND');
+      args.push(this.readStrBulk() as Uint8Array);
+    }
+    return args;
+  }
+
   // ---------------------------------------------------------- Boolean reading
 
   public readBool(): boolean {
diff --git a/src/json-pack/resp/RespStreamingDecoder.ts b/src/json-pack/resp/RespStreamingDecoder.ts
index 4dac79aab4..c9116f2dce 100644
--- a/src/json-pack/resp/RespStreamingDecoder.ts
+++ b/src/json-pack/resp/RespStreamingDecoder.ts
@@ -67,6 +67,29 @@ export class RespStreamingDecoder {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Decode only one RESP command from the stream, if the value is not a
+   * command, an error will be thrown.
+   *
+   * @returns Redis command and its arguments or `undefined` if there is
+   * not enough data to decode.
+   */
+  public readCmd(): [cmd: string, ...args: Uint8Array[]] | undefined {
+    const reader = this.reader;
+    if (reader.size() === 0) return undefined;
+    const x = reader.x;
+    try {
+      const args = this.decoder.readCmd();
+      reader.consume();
+      return args;
+    } catch (error) {
+      if (error instanceof RangeError) {
+        reader.x = x;
+        return undefined;
+      } else throw error;
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Skips one value from the stream. If `undefined` is returned, then
    * there is not enough data to skip or the stream is finished.
diff --git a/src/json-pack/resp/__tests__/RespDecoder.spec.ts b/src/json-pack/resp/__tests__/RespDecoder.spec.ts
index a165f852e2..ab192c83b8 100644
--- a/src/json-pack/resp/__tests__/RespDecoder.spec.ts
+++ b/src/json-pack/resp/__tests__/RespDecoder.spec.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import {RespDecoder} from '../RespDecoder';
 import {bufferToUint8Array} from '../../../util/buffers/bufferToUint8Array';
 import {RespAttributes, RespPush} from '../extensions';
 import {Writer} from '../../../util/buffers/Writer';
-import {Uint} from '@automerge/automerge';
+import {utf8} from '../../../util/buffers/strings';
 
 const decode = (encoded: string | Uint8Array): unknown => {
   const decoder = new RespDecoder();
@@ -215,3 +215,21 @@ describe('nulls', () => {
     expect(decoded).toBe(null);
   });
 });
+
+describe('commands', () => {
+  test('can decode a PING command', () => {
+    const encoded = encoder.encodeCmd(['PING']);
+    const decoder = new RespDecoder();
+    decoder.reader.reset(encoded);
+    const decoded = decoder.readCmd();
+    expect(decoded).toEqual(['PING']);
+  });
+
+  test('can decode a SET command', () => {
+    const encoded = encoder.encodeCmd(['SET', 'foo', 'bar']);
+    const decoder = new RespDecoder();
+    decoder.reader.reset(encoded);
+    const decoded = decoder.readCmd();
+    expect(decoded).toEqual(['SET', utf8`foo`, utf8`bar`]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/json-pack/resp/__tests__/RespStreamingDecoder.spec.ts b/src/json-pack/resp/__tests__/RespStreamingDecoder.spec.ts
index ec185ffcc2..112fd3a054 100644
--- a/src/json-pack/resp/__tests__/RespStreamingDecoder.spec.ts
+++ b/src/json-pack/resp/__tests__/RespStreamingDecoder.spec.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import {RespStreamingDecoder} from '../RespStreamingDecoder';
 import {RespEncoder} from '../RespEncoder';
 import {concatList} from '../../../util/buffers/concat';
 import {documents} from '../../../__tests__/json-documents';
+import {utf8} from '../../../util/buffers/strings';
 
 const encoder = new RespEncoder();
 
@@ -66,3 +67,11 @@ test('can stream 49 bytes at a time', () => {
   }
   expect(decoded).toEqual(docs);
 });
+
+test('can decode a command', () => {
+  const encoded = encoder.encodeCmd(['SET', 'foo', 'bar']);
+  const decoder = new RespStreamingDecoder();
+  decoder.push(encoded);
+  const decoded = decoder.readCmd();
+  expect(decoded).toEqual(['SET', utf8`foo`, utf8`bar`]);
+});
diff --git a/src/util/buffers/strings.ts b/src/util/buffers/strings.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f4ac5b7378
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/buffers/strings.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import {bufferToUint8Array} from './bufferToUint8Array';
+
+export const ascii = (txt: TemplateStringsArray | string | [string]): Uint8Array => {
+  if (typeof txt === 'string') return ascii([txt]);
+  [txt] = txt;
+  const len = txt.length;
+  const res = new Uint8Array(len);
+  for (let i = 0; i < len; i++) res[i] = txt.charCodeAt(i);
+  return res;
+};
+
+export const utf8 = (txt: TemplateStringsArray | [string] | string): Uint8Array => {
+  if (typeof txt === 'string') return utf8([txt]);
+  [txt] = txt;
+  return bufferToUint8Array(Buffer.from(txt, 'utf8'));
+};