Archer has not played for England in any format since March 2023 because of an elbow injury.
"The whole plan with Jofra is he is going to play white-ball cricket this summer," Key told Sky Sports on Friday.
Archer's England career has been plagued by injuries and he has not played a Test match since the tour of India in 2021.
"Jofra's been out at Sussex's pre-season in India and bowled quickly out there. He bowled really well," Key said.
"He's now just gone back to the Caribbean, where he will play a little bit of club cricket, stuff like that.
"It's all about getting himself ready for that T20 World Cup. He'll hopefully play the Pakistan (T20) series (in May), but it's all fingers crossed with Jofra at the moment.
"We're taking it slowly so we get him back for not just a short period, but a long period."
The T20 World Cup begins in the West Indies and USA on June 1st.
