Directus Docs

Legacy Version

These are the docs for Directus 8, a legacy version of the platform. If you're looking for the current Directus 9 documentation, go here: https://docs.directus.io

Installing from source

Advanced

You most likely don't need this. Please don't install Directus from source unless you're absolutely sure of what you're doing.

When you have a complex infrastructure that requires special CI and CD integrations that will handle building dependencies etc, you might want to build from source.

CI/CD

If you're thinking about using this to auto-deploy new versions of Directus, you can also consider using a build script to remove the vendor folder and re-install the dependencies using composer. That will net you the same end-result will still being able to rely on the GitHub releases.

Step 1: Clone the app and API repos separately

The directus/directus repo contains a pre-built bundle for both at all times. There is no "source bundle" available. You have to clone the individual repos for the app and API; directus/app and directus/api respectively.

Make sure to be on the latest tagged release. You can use this snippet to get to the latest tag (h/t to Julien Renaux):

$ git fetch --tags

$ latestTag=$(git describe --tags `git rev-list --tags --max-count=1`)

$ git checkout $latestTag

Step 2: Install the dependencies

App

The app uses Vue and manages its dependencies through NPM. Install the npm dependencies using npm or yarn.

API

The API uses Composer for its package management. Install the dependencies using Composer.

Step 3: Build the app for production

Running npm run build will build the app production ready to the dist folder.

Step 4: Move the app inside the API.

The app expects to be served from the APIs /public/admin folder. Therefore, you have to move the contents of the app's dist folder into the APIs /public/admin folder.

(Optional) Step 5: Remove unnecessary files

Depending on your needs, you might not want / need some of the files in the API repo. The folders that are required to run Directus are: bin, config, logs, migrations, public, src, vendor.