PEXPIRE - Upstash Documentation

Use PEXPIRE to give a key a lifetime in milliseconds, after which the key is deleted automatically.

It is the millisecond form of EXPIRE and behaves identically otherwise: replacing the value with SET clears the expiration, while in-place updates keep it, and a negative lifetime deletes the key immediately. The sub-second precision matters for short-lived keys such as locks and rate limit windows.

The optional condition decides when the new expiration is applied: NX only when the key has none, XX only when it already has one, GT only when the new expiration is later than the current one, and LT only when it is earlier.

Syntax#

PEXPIRE <key> <milliseconds> [NX | XX | GT | LT]

Arguments#

Argument	Required	Repeatable	Description
`<key>`	Yes	No	Redis key targeted by the command.
`<milliseconds>`	Yes	No	Lifetime in milliseconds.
`(NX \| XX \| GT \| LT)`	No	No	Choose one form: `NX` (only when the key has no expiration); `XX` (only when the key already has one); `GT` (only when the new expiration is later than the current one); `LT` (only when it is earlier).

Important points#

NX cannot be combined with XX, GT, or LT, and GT and LT cannot be used together.
A key with no expiration counts as an infinite one, so GT never sets an expiration on such a key and LT always does.

Response#

The reply reports the result of the operation. Error replies have the same shape in RESP2 and RESP3 and are surfaced as exceptions by the SDKs below.

Protocol	Reply
RESP2	Integer: `1` if the timeout was set, `0` otherwise
RESP3	Integer: `1` if the timeout was set, `0` otherwise

Note

Client libraries often decode bulk strings, maps, sets, and numeric strings into language-native values. The table describes the Redis wire reply.

Examples#

TCP examples use the TLS REDIS_URL from the Upstash console. REST examples use UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL and UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN.

Redis CLI

PEXPIRE my-key 1000

@upstash/redis

import { Redis } from "@upstash/redis";const redis = Redis.fromEnv();await redis.pexpire(key, 60_000); // 1 minute

upstash_redis

from upstash_redis import Redisredis = Redis.from_env()result = redis.pexpire("my-key", 1000)print(result)

ioredis

import Redis from "ioredis";const redis = new Redis(process.env.REDIS_URL!);const result = await redis.pexpire("my-key", "1000");console.log(result);

node-redis

import { createClient } from "redis";const client = await createClient({ url: process.env.REDIS_URL })  .on("error", console.error)  .connect();const result = await client.pExpire("my-key", 1000);console.log(result);

redis-py

import osimport redisclient = redis.from_url(os.environ["REDIS_URL"])result = client.pexpire("my-key", 1000)print(result)

go-redis

package mainimport (    "context"    "fmt"    "os"    "time"    "github.com/redis/go-redis/v9")func main() {    opts, err := redis.ParseURL(os.Getenv("REDIS_URL"))    if err != nil {        panic(err)    }    client := redis.NewClient(opts)    result, err := client.PExpire(context.Background(), "my-key", time.Second).Result()    if err != nil {        panic(err)    }    fmt.Println(result)}

jedis

import java.net.URI;import redis.clients.jedis.Jedis;try (Jedis jedis = new Jedis(new URI(System.getenv("REDIS_URL")))) {  Object result = jedis.pexpire("my-key", 1000);  System.out.println(result);}

redis-rs

use redis::TypedCommands;fn main() -> redis::RedisResult<()> {    let url = std::env::var("REDIS_URL").expect("REDIS_URL is not set");    let client = redis::Client::open(url)?;    let mut connection = client.get_connection()?;    let result = connection.pexpire("my-key", 1000)?;    println!("{result:?}");    Ok(())}