> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/upstash/redis-js/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# expire

> Set a key's time to live in seconds

## Description

Set a timeout on a key. After the timeout has expired, the key will automatically be deleted.

## Method Signature

```typescript theme={null}
expire(key: string, seconds: number, option?: ExpireOption): Promise<0 | 1>
```

## Parameters

<ParamField path="key" type="string" required>
  The key to set expiration on
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="seconds" type="number" required>
  The number of seconds until the key expires
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="option" type="ExpireOption">
  Optional modifier for the expiration behavior:

  * `"NX"` - Set expiry only when the key has no expiry
  * `"XX"` - Set expiry only when the key has an existing expiry
  * `"GT"` - Set expiry only when the new expiry is greater than current one
  * `"LT"` - Set expiry only when the new expiry is less than current one

  Case-insensitive (can use lowercase: `"nx"`, `"xx"`, `"gt"`, `"lt"`)
</ParamField>

## Return Value

<ResponseField name="result" type="0 | 1">
  * `1` if the timeout was set
  * `0` if the timeout was not set (key doesn't exist or condition not met)
</ResponseField>

## Examples

### Basic expiration

```typescript theme={null}
await redis.set("mykey", "value");
const result = await redis.expire("mykey", 10);
console.log(result); // 1

// Key will be deleted after 10 seconds
```

### Set expiry only if key has no expiry (NX)

```typescript theme={null}
await redis.set("mykey", "value");

const result1 = await redis.expire("mykey", 100, "NX");
console.log(result1); // 1 (set because key had no expiry)

const result2 = await redis.expire("mykey", 50, "NX");
console.log(result2); // 0 (not set because key already has expiry)
```

### Set expiry only if new expiry is greater (GT)

```typescript theme={null}
await redis.set("mykey", "value");
await redis.expire("mykey", 100);

const result1 = await redis.expire("mykey", 200, "GT");
console.log(result1); // 1 (200 > 100)

const result2 = await redis.expire("mykey", 50, "GT");
console.log(result2); // 0 (50 < 200)
```

### Non-existent key

```typescript theme={null}
const result = await redis.expire("nonexistent", 10);
console.log(result); // 0
```

## See Also

* [ttl](/api/commands/ttl) - Get the time to live for a key
* [persist](/api/commands/persist) - Remove the expiration from a key