Directus Has a Free Headless CMS That Wraps Any SQL Database

#directus #cms #headless #backend

Most headless CMS platforms force you into their data model. Directus is different: it wraps your existing SQL database and gives you an instant API + admin panel — without touching your schema.

The Key Insight

Directus does not own your data. It reads your database schema and generates:

REST API endpoints
GraphQL API
Admin UI with WYSIWYG editing
Role-based access control
File management
Webhooks and automation

Your database stays yours. Remove Directus, and your data is untouched.

Setup

npx create-directus-project my-project
# Choose: PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MS SQL, MariaDB, CockroachDB, or OracleDB
# Set admin email and password
# Done!

Or Docker:

services:
  directus:
    image: directus/directus:latest
    ports:
      - "8055:8055"
    environment:
      SECRET: "your-secret-key"
      ADMIN_EMAIL: "admin@example.com"
      ADMIN_PASSWORD: "password"
      DB_CLIENT: "pg"
      DB_HOST: "postgres"
      DB_PORT: "5432"
      DB_DATABASE: "directus"
      DB_USER: "postgres"
      DB_PASSWORD: "postgres"

REST API (Auto-Generated)

# List all articles
curl http://localhost:8055/items/articles \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN"

# Filter, sort, paginate
curl "http://localhost:8055/items/articles?filter[status][_eq]=published&sort=-date_created&limit=10"

# Deep relations
curl "http://localhost:8055/items/articles?fields=*,author.name,comments.*"

GraphQL API (Also Auto-Generated)

query {
  articles(filter: { status: { _eq: "published" } }, sort: ["-date_created"]) {
    id
    title
    content
    author {
      name
      avatar {
        id
      }
    }
    comments {
      body
      user {
        name
      }
    }
  }
}

JavaScript SDK

import { createDirectus, rest, readItems, createItem } from "@directus/sdk";

const client = createDirectus("http://localhost:8055").with(rest());

// Type-safe queries
const articles = await client.request(
  readItems("articles", {
    fields: ["id", "title", "content", { author: ["name"] }],
    filter: { status: { _eq: "published" } },
    sort: ["-date_created"],
    limit: 10,
  })
);

// Create
const newArticle = await client.request(
  createItem("articles", {
    title: "New Post",
    content: "Hello world",
    status: "draft",
  })
);

Flows (Visual Automation)

Directus has a built-in automation engine:

Trigger: Item created in "orders" collection
Action: Send webhook to payment processor
Action: Send email notification
Action: Update inventory collection

All configured visually in the admin panel.

Why Directus Over Strapi/Payload

Feature	Strapi	Payload	Directus
Wraps existing DB	No	No	Yes
Database support	PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite	MongoDB, PostgreSQL	7 databases
GraphQL	Plugin	Built-in	Built-in
Visual automation	No	No	Yes (Flows)
Self-hosted	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cloud option	Yes	Yes	Yes