Interval Format Reference

Several NpgsqlRest annotations accept time or duration values. This page documents the supported interval format used throughout the system.

Syntax

<number>[unit]
<number> [unit]

• number: Integer or decimal value (e.g., 30, 1.5, 0.25)
• unit: Optional time unit suffix (defaults to seconds if omitted)
• space: Optional space between number and unit

Supported Units

Unit	Short	Long Forms
Microseconds	us	usec, microsecond, microseconds
Milliseconds	ms	msec, millisecond, milliseconds
Seconds	s	sec, second, seconds
Minutes	m	min, minute, minutes
Hours	h	hour, hours
Days	d	day, days
Weeks	w	week, weeks

All unit names are case-insensitive: 5s, 5S, 5sec, 5SEC, 5Seconds are all equivalent.

Examples

Short Form (Recommended)

30s          -- 30 seconds
5m           -- 5 minutes
1h           -- 1 hour
1d           -- 1 day
2w           -- 2 weeks
500ms        -- 500 milliseconds
1000us       -- 1000 microseconds

Long Form

30seconds    -- 30 seconds
5minutes     -- 5 minutes
1hour        -- 1 hour
1day         -- 1 day
2weeks       -- 2 weeks

With Space

30 s         -- 30 seconds
5 minutes    -- 5 minutes
1 hour       -- 1 hour
1 d          -- 1 day

Decimal Values

1.5h         -- 1 hour 30 minutes
0.5d         -- 12 hours
2.5m         -- 2 minutes 30 seconds
500.5ms      -- 500.5 milliseconds

No Unit (Defaults to Seconds)

30           -- 30 seconds
120          -- 120 seconds (2 minutes)
3600         -- 3600 seconds (1 hour)
1.5          -- 1.5 seconds

Usage in Annotations

@timeout / @command_timeout

Sets query execution timeout:

comment on function quick_lookup() is
'HTTP GET
@timeout 5s';

comment on function slow_report() is
'HTTP GET
@timeout 2min';

comment on function very_long_process() is
'HTTP GET
@timeout 1h';

Single Token for @timeout

The @timeout annotation reads only the first token after the keyword. Use formats without spaces or use the short forms to avoid parsing issues.

@cache_expires_in

Sets cache expiration time:

comment on function get_live_data() is
'HTTP GET
@cached
@cache_expires_in 10s';

comment on function get_dashboard() is
'HTTP GET
@cached
@cache_expires_in 5m';

comment on function get_static_config() is
'HTTP GET
@cached
@cache_expires_in 1d';

Configuration Values

The same interval format is used in JSON configuration files:

{
  "NpgsqlRest": {
    "CommandTimeout": "30s"
  },
  "CacheOptions": {
    "DefaultExpiration": "5m",
    "LocalCacheExpiration": "1m"
  },
  "Auth": {
    "JwtClockSkew": "5m"
  }
}

Invalid Formats

The following formats are not supported:

5.5.5h       -- Multiple decimal points
h5           -- Unit before number
5 m m        -- Multiple units
5months      -- Unsupported unit
1year        -- Unsupported unit (use days or weeks)

Related

• COMMAND_TIMEOUT - Set query timeout
• CACHE_EXPIRES_IN - Set cache expiration
• Comment Annotations Guide - How annotations work