workflowstacks
automation

directus: Turn Any Database into a Headless CMS with 38k+ GitHub stars

Build custom admin panels, instant APIs, and auth layers—perfect for founders who need a flexible, no‑code backend for web or mobile apps.

From the repo · “The flexible backend for all your projects 🐰 Turn your DB into a headless CMS, admin panels, or apps with a custom UI, instant APIs, auth & more.”

intermediate⏱ 1-2 hours💵 Free (self-hosted)
38,615 stars+100★ this week4,980 forksTypeScriptGuide quality 9/10 · reviewed Oct 5Updated 10/21/2026100% free · open source
What it is

Directus lets you turn your database into apps, admin panels, or headless CMS projects with APIs, custom UI, and more.

Real use case example

"A solo developer, building a custom e-commerce site for their new startup, uses Directus to quickly build a headless CMS for managing products and orders. They set up API endpoints for their frontend, create a custom UI for administrators, and instantly deploy their project without worrying about a long setup process."

Best insideClaude DesktopCursorCodex CLIAny AI Client
When to use it
  • •You need a flexible backend to power a custom web or mobile application
  • •You want to transform your existing database into a user-friendly, data management interface
  • •You require a scalable, API-driven solution for your startup's data infrastructure
Ready-to-paste prompt
npx directus fetch --collection=items --filter='name=Example' --fields='*' to fetch all fields of items with the name 'Example' from the 'items' collection
Heads up: Make sure you have a compatible database (such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQLite) installed and configured before running 'npx directus init', as Directus requires a database to function
Saves to your device
Use with Claude
New

Skip the builder — one click puts this in Claude, Cursor, Antigravity and more.

✅ Light setup

Installs with a command or two; your AI agent can do it for you.

Try it instantly — no install
Claude Code
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/directus && curl -fsSL https://workflowstacks.com/api/skills/directus/claude-skill -o ~/.claude/skills/directus/SKILL.md
Open in another AI app

Opens the app with this repo with the prompt ready to go — no copy-paste needed.

Connect the whole catalog (MCP)
claude mcp add --transport http workflowstacks https://workflowstacks.com/api/mcp

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How directus: Turn Any Database into a Headless CMS with 38k+ GitHub stars works
Codeflow
Free to inspect

Directus: Turn Any Database into a Headless CMS with 38k+ GitHub stars is a very large TypeScript project (~348k lines across 3625 code files, plus 282 test files). Setup is light: installs like a normal app. Reading the code is optional. Last commit this month, Other license, has a test suite.

Size
Very large codebase
~348k lines · 3625 code files · days to read — use, don't read
Setup
One-command install
Installs like a normal app. Reading the code is optional.
Runs on
Node.js · Docker
No API keys detected
TypeScript 80%Vue 18%
Where to start reading
  1. 1
    readme.md
    Start here — what it does and how to install it
  2. 2
    AGENTS.md
    The instructions the AI actually follows
  3. 3
    directus/cli.js
    Where the program starts running
  4. 4
    package.json
    Dependencies and the commands it exposes
  5. 5
    app/readme.md
    Inside app/ — the main logic begins here
What's in each folder
app/Core code — the actual logic1670 files
directus/Core code — the actual logic6 files
api/Backend / API1255 files
packages/Sub-packages / plugins1052 files
sdk/SDKs / client libraries240 files
tests/Tests — proof it works332 files
.github/CI / automation (GitHub Actions)28 files
.changeset/Tool / agent settings8 files
READMEHas testsDocumentedCI checksDocker readyOther licenseUpdated this month
Quick Actions
Details
Creator
directus
Language
TypeScript
Category
automation
Published
12/12/2012

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Featured on WorkflowStacks
[![Featured on WorkflowStacks](https://workflowstacks.com/api/badge/directus.svg)](https://workflowstacks.com/skills/directus?utm_source=github&utm_medium=badge)
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MCP config

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MCP config

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Let Claude run read-only queries against your Postgres database.

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Let Claude control a headless browser — navigate, screenshot, scrape.

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