# PEXPIRE

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

## Arguments

<ParamField body="key" type="str" required>
  The key to expire.
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="milliseconds | datetime.timedelta" type="int" required>
  The timeout in milliseconds as int or datetime.timedelta
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="nx" type="bool">
  Set expiry only when the key has no expiry
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="xx" type="bool">
  Set expiry only when the key has an existing expiry
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="gt" type="bool">
  Set expiry only when the new expiry is greater than current one
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="lt" type="bool">
  Set expiry only when the new expiry is less than current one
</ParamField>

## Response

<ResponseField type="bool">
  `True` if the timeout was set
</ResponseField>

<RequestExample>
```py Example
# With milliseconds
redis.set("mykey", "Hello")
redis.expire("mykey", 500)

# With a timedelta
redis.set("mykey", "Hello")
redis.expire("mykey", datetime.timedelta(milliseconds=500))
```
</RequestExample>