diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4e1a56a..8435ef3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ $value = $cache->get('mykey');
 
 $cache->set('tagging', [
     'tags' => ['tag1', 'tag2'],
-    'value' => 'myvalue',
+    'other_value' => 'myothervalue',
 ]);
 ```
 
@@ -245,18 +245,31 @@ filtering my tags or invalidating many cache entries at once.
 // NOTE: we are using the cacheCollection() method here
 $collection = mongo()->cacheCollection();
 
-// find all that have the tag 'tag1'
+// find all that have the tag 'tag1' and are NOT expired
 $documents = $collection->find([
-    'tags' => ['$in' => ['tag1']],
+    'value.tags' => ['$in' => ['tag1']],
+    'expires_at' => ['$gt' => time()],
 ]);
+foreach ($documents as $document) {
+    // $document->value->tags
+    // $document->value->other_value
+}
 
 // delete any cache entry older than 5 minutes
 $deleteResult = $collection->deleteMany([
     'expires_at' => ['$lt' => time() - 5*60]
 ]);
 $deletedCount = $deleteResult->getDeletedCount();
+
+// you can also manually clean expired cache entries
+mongo()->clean();
 ```
 
+> [!NOTE]
+>
+> Querying the cache directly is not recommended for regular use-cases. It will not check for the expiration of the
+> cache entries and delete them automatically.
+
 ## Using the Cache Driver in Kirby
 
 You can also use the MongoDB-based cache as a **cache driver** for Kirby. This will allow you to use it for caching of
@@ -287,6 +300,9 @@ return [
 | username                 | `null`      |                                                                               |
 | password                 | `null`      |                                                                               |
 | database                 | `kirby`     | you can give it any name you want and MongoDB will create it for you          |
+| uriOptions               | `[]`        |                                                                               |
+| driverOptions            | `[]`        |                                                                               |
+| auto-clean-cache         | `true`      | will clean the cache once before the first get()                              |
 | khulan.read              | `false`     | read from cache is disabled by default as loading from file might be faster   |
 | khulan.write             | `true`      | write to cache for all models that use the ModelWithKhulan trait              |
 | khulan.patch-files-class | `true`      | monkey-patch the \Kirby\CMS\Files class to use Khulan for caching its content |
diff --git a/classes/Mongodb.php b/classes/Mongodb.php
index b280d02..f5267eb 100644
--- a/classes/Mongodb.php
+++ b/classes/Mongodb.php
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ final class Mongodb extends Cache
 {
     protected ?Client $_client = null;
 
+    protected bool $hasCleanedOnce = false;
+
     /**
      * Sets all parameters which are needed to connect to MongoDB.
      */
@@ -34,6 +36,7 @@ public function __construct(array $options = [])
             'driverOptions' => option('bnomei.mongodb.driverOptions'),
             'collection-cache' => option('bnomei.mongodb.collections.cache'),
             'collection-content' => option('bnomei.mongodb.collections.content'),
+            'auto-clean-cache' => option('bnomei.mongodb.auto-clean-cache'),
         ], $options);
 
         foreach ($this->options as $key => $call) {
@@ -95,6 +98,11 @@ public function set(string $key, $value, int $minutes = 0): bool
      */
     public function retrieve(string $key): ?Value
     {
+        if ($this->options['auto-clean-cache'] && $this->hasCleanedOnce === false) {
+            $this->clean(time());
+            $this->hasCleanedOnce = true;
+        }
+
         $value = $value ?? $this->cacheCollection()->findOne([
             '_id' => $this->key($key),
         ]);
@@ -183,6 +191,15 @@ public function root(): string
         return kirby()->cache('bnomei.mongodb')->root();
     }
 
+    public function clean(?int $time = null): ?int
+    {
+        $result = $this->cacheCollection()->deleteMany([
+            'expires_at' => ['$lt' => $time ?? time()],
+        ]);
+
+        return $result->isAcknowledged() ? $result->getDeletedCount() : null;
+    }
+
     public function cache(): self
     {
         return $this;
diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 075c22e..526973f 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
     "name": "bnomei/kirby-mongodb",
     "type": "kirby-plugin",
-    "version": "1.4.2",
+    "version": "1.4.3",
     "description": "Khulan is a cache driver and content cache with NoSQL interface for Kirby using MongoDB",
     "license": "MIT",
     "authors": [
diff --git a/composer.lock b/composer.lock
index 4171f2a..79ce35c 100644
--- a/composer.lock
+++ b/composer.lock
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
         "Read more about it at https://getcomposer.org/doc/01-basic-usage.md#installing-dependencies",
         "This file is @generated automatically"
     ],
-    "content-hash": "369cbfd2810cbfddd5613bf3a21c79f5",
+    "content-hash": "2acb6bf396ddb610a0869853263d09a4",
     "packages": [
         {
             "name": "getkirby/composer-installer",
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index a356498..d345389 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ function khulan(string|array|null $search = null, ?array $options = null): mixed
         'password' => null,
         'uriOptions' => [],
         'driverOptions' => [],
+        'auto-clean-cache' => true,
 
         // collections
         'collections' => [
diff --git a/tests/MongodbTest.php b/tests/MongodbTest.php
index b6f94b4..d82797e 100644
--- a/tests/MongodbTest.php
+++ b/tests/MongodbTest.php
@@ -70,6 +70,36 @@
     expect($value)->toBe('value');
 });
 
+it('can use the cache for array based values', function () {
+    $mongodb = mongo();
+    $mongodb->set('tagging', [
+        'tags' => ['tag1', 'tag2'],
+        'not_value' => 'notmyvalue',
+    ]);
+
+    $collection = mongo()->cacheCollection();
+    $documents = $collection->find([
+        'value.tags' => ['$in' => ['tag1']],
+    ]);
+
+    foreach ($documents as $document) {
+        expect($document->value->tags[0])->toEqual('tag1')
+            ->and($document->value->tags[1])->toEqual('tag2')
+            ->and($document->value->not_value)->toEqual('notmyvalue');
+    }
+});
+
+it('can clean expired entries', function () {
+    $mongodb = mongo();
+    $mongodb->set('test', 'value', 5);
+
+    $mongodb->clean(time() + 5 * 60 + 1);
+
+    $value = $mongodb->get('test');
+
+    expect($value)->toBeNull();
+});
+
 it('will not use the cache in debug mode', function () {
     Mongodb::$singleton = null;
 
diff --git a/vendor/composer/installed.php b/vendor/composer/installed.php
index 23d0184..8138637 100644
--- a/vendor/composer/installed.php
+++ b/vendor/composer/installed.php
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 <?php return array(
     'root' => array(
         'name' => 'bnomei/kirby-mongodb',
-        'pretty_version' => '1.4.2',
-        'version' => '1.4.2.0',
+        'pretty_version' => '1.4.3',
+        'version' => '1.4.3.0',
         'reference' => null,
         'type' => 'kirby-plugin',
         'install_path' => __DIR__ . '/../../',
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
     ),
     'versions' => array(
         'bnomei/kirby-mongodb' => array(
-            'pretty_version' => '1.4.2',
-            'version' => '1.4.2.0',
+            'pretty_version' => '1.4.3',
+            'version' => '1.4.3.0',
             'reference' => null,
             'type' => 'kirby-plugin',
             'install_path' => __DIR__ . '/../../',