Connection Expiration

What is Connection Expiration?

Connection expiration is an optional feature that enables a specific date and time to be set, after which the platform automatically deletes the circuit. This is designed for scenarios where access should be inherently temporary - for example, granting a third-party vendor access to a diagnostic interface for the duration of a support engagement, creating a demo environment that should be torn down after a presentation, or providing time-boxed access for a security audit or penetration test. Rather than relying on manual deletion of the circuit when access is no longer needed (which is error-prone and a common source of security drift), the expiration feature ensures that circuits are automatically removed on schedule.

Setting an Expiration

To set an expiration on a circuit, open the circuit's settings panel and navigate to the Expiration section. Use the date and time picker to select the desired expiration date and time. All times are specified and displayed in the UTC timezone; the local timezone offset should be taken into account when setting the expiration. The picker provides two convenience shortcuts: "Today" (which sets the expiration to the end of the current day in UTC) and "Clear" (which removes any previously set expiration, making the circuit persistent). The display format for set expirations is human-readable, for example Jan 01, 2025 at 15:30 UTC. The expiration must be set to a date and time in the future - the system does not accept a past date. The expiration can be modified or cleared at any time before it triggers.

Expiration Behavior

When the expiration date and time is reached, the platform automatically deletes the circuit. Expiration triggers deletion, not disabling. The circuit, its domain, all IP rules, country blocks, user allowlists, and associated log data are permanently removed, equivalent to a manual deletion of the circuit. The expiration check runs periodically, and the accuracy is approximately 5 minutes, meaning the circuit may remain active for up to 5 minutes past the nominal expiration time before it is removed. To temporarily suspend access while keeping the circuit's configuration intact, use the enable/disable toggle instead of setting an expiration.

WARNING

When a circuit expires, it is deleted - not merely disabled. All configuration, security rules, allowed user lists, and associated log data are permanently removed. To pause access temporarily, use the enable/disable toggle. Reserve expiration for circuits that should genuinely cease to exist after a specific date.