---
id: django-session-timeout
version: "0.1.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# django-session-timeout — Middleware to expire sessions after specific amount of time

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 77.4K/mo

## What it is and what it does

django-session-timeout is a Django middleware that enforces automatic session expiration based on time. It adds timestamp tracking to sessions and can expire them either after a fixed duration from session creation or after a period of user inactivity. The middleware integrates into Django's standard session framework and requires minimal configuration—just adding it to MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES and setting SESSION_EXPIRE_SECONDS.

The package supports flexible expiration strategies: you can track inactivity with optional grace-period grouping to reduce database writes, and redirect expired sessions to a custom URL. It depends on Django and six, making it lightweight and compatible with existing Django projects.

Use it for:

- Enforce security policies requiring user sessions to expire after a fixed time period in web applications.
- Log out inactive users automatically to reduce unauthorized access risk in shared or public-facing systems.
- Implement inactivity-based timeouts that reset on user activity to balance security with user experience.
- Redirect expired sessions to a login page or custom endpoint for graceful session termination.
- Group activity timestamps by different periods to reduce database load while tracking user inactivity.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Adds automatic session expiration to Django applications, allowing sessions to expire after a fixed duration or period of inactivity.

Yes. The package is stable, actively maintained, has low install friction, carries no known vulnerabilities, and solves a common Django security need. MIT licensing imposes no restrictions. Install it if you need automatic session expiration; the configuration is straightforward and the middleware integrates cleanly into Django's standard session handling.

## Install

pip install django-session-timeout
uv add django-session-timeout
poetry add django-session-timeout

## Installing django-session-timeout

Before you install: Low friction installation with only 2 runtime dependencies. Actively maintained with recent commits; last update was 2026-04-28. Stable production release status.

License in practice: MIT license is permissive, allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install django-session-timeout

# In settings.py, add to MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES:
'django_session_timeout.middleware.SessionTimeoutMiddleware',

# Set expiration time:
SESSION_EXPIRE_SECONDS = 3600

Requires Django and six as runtime dependencies; must be added to Django's MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES configuration.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package supports Django versions released after 3.0 (classifiers list only through 3.0)
- Whether Python 3.8+ is supported (classifiers only list through 3.7)

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 77.4K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

django session expiration, session timeout middleware, django user session timeout, expire inactive sessions, django session management, session inactivity timeout, django middleware session, django-middleware, session-management, security

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