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Directus — layer APIs, a visual Studio, and MCP on existing SQL databases

OSS scale score 316.0OSS health 100Update pace 40 commits/30d
About these scores

OSS scale score is an unbounded metric that log-compresses and weights Stars, Watchers, Forks, and Contributors. Discovery score is the current OSS scale score minus the score at discovery. Update pace is commits in the last 30 days, growth momentum is the OSS scale score difference within the recent observation window, and OSS health is a 0–100 rating based on available recency, Community Health, and release data.

Stars
37,928
Primary language
TypeScript
License
Not determined
Repository last updated
Sep 20, 2026

Overview

Directus is a backend/data platform that adds instant REST and GraphQL APIs, a visual Studio, authentication/policies, workflows, an AI assistant, and MCP server to existing SQL databases.

Features and best fit

Based on official documentation; not hands-on tested · Content checked:

Generate REST and GraphQL APIs from an existing SQL schema

Connect databases such as PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, SQL Server, or SQLite and expose schema-aware APIs plus a visual management interface.

Sources: [2][3]

Apply the same access policies to humans and AI agents

Studio users, the AI assistant, and MCP-connected agents operate under shared role and field-level permissions.

Sources: [2][3]

For combining headless CMS and custom backend needs on one data platform

It fits content systems, internal tools, admin panels, and AI-agent data access that should share one backend.

Sources: [2]

Understand the gap between current MSCL rights and future GPL rights

Current versions are source-available with competing-use restrictions and transition to GPL-3.0 four years after release. Review organization/feature licensing requirements as well.

Sources: [4][2]

Official sources

  1. [1]directus/directus repository(2026-09-21)
  2. [2]Directus README(2026-09-21)
  3. [3]Directus documentation(2026-09-21)
  4. [4]Directus MSCL 1.0 license(2026-09-21)
Supplemental curator note

Directus is functionally a flexible data platform, but current releases use the Monospace Sustainable Core License 1.0 (MSCL-1.0-GPL), a source-available license that restricts competing use and license-key circumvention. Each version receives GPL-3.0 rights four years after release. Current versions should not be treated as ordinary GPL-licensed OSS.

Try it in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Get the source

    git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/directus/directus.git
  2. 2

    Enter the repository

    cd directus
  3. 3

    Check the official steps

    Continue with the commands in the README Installation, Quick Start, or Getting Started section.

    find . -maxdepth 1 -iname 'README*' -exec sed -n '1,220p' {} \; -quit
Check the official README

Growth

Growth trends · Last 30 days

37,928 Stars

Trend data is still being collected.

Development activity

Last 90 days · weekly

Commits (last 30 days)
40
Open PRs
57

Development activity is still being collected.

Built with

Categories and tags

Categories

Tags

GitHub data

GitHub dataView detailed GitHub data
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GitHub Topics

  • api
  • cms
  • graphql
  • app
  • database
  • vue
  • sqlite
  • mysql
  • postgresql
  • mssql
  • directus
  • node
Stars
37,928
Forks
4,953
Watchers
336
Open issues
350
Contributors
442
Primary language
TypeScript
License
Not determined
Repository last updated
Sep 20, 2026
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