Files
Environment variables are configurable for Directus Business Cloud and Enterprise Cloud projects via our Customer Success team. You can also set environment variables in self-hosted projects.
By default, Directus stores all uploaded files locally on the file system or can also configure Directus to use external storage services. You can also configure multiple storage adapters at the same time which allows you to choose where files are being uploaded on a file-by-file basis.
In the Data Studio, files will automatically be uploaded to the first configured storage location (in this case local). The used storage location is saved under storage in the directus_files collection.
Storage Locations
| Variable | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
STORAGE_LOCATIONS | A comma separated list of storage locations. You can use any names you'd like for these keys. | local |
For each of the storage locations listed, you must provide the following configuration (variable name must be uppercase in these options):
| Variable | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_DRIVER | Which driver to use, either local, s3, gcs, azure, cloudinary, supabase. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_ROOT | Where to store the files on disk. | '' |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_HEALTHCHECK_THRESHOLD | Healthcheck timeout threshold in ms. | 750 |
Based on your configured drivers, you must also provide additional variables, where <LOCATION> is the capitalized name of the item in the STORAGE_LOCATIONS value.
Local (local)
| Variable | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_ROOT | Where to store the files on disk. |
S3 (s3)
| Variable | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_KEY | User key. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_SECRET | User secret. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_BUCKET | S3 bucket. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_REGION | S3 region. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_ENDPOINT1 | S3 endpoint. | s3.amazonaws.com |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_ACL | S3 ACL. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_SERVER_SIDE_ENCRYPTION | S3 server side encryption. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_FORCE_PATH_STYLE | S3 force path style. | false |
1 When overriding this variable for S3, make sure to add your bucket's region in the endpoint: s3.{region}.amazonaws.com.
Google Cloud Storage (gcs)
| Variable | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_KEY_FILENAME | Path to key file on disk. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_BUCKET | Google Cloud Storage bucket. |
Azure (azure)
| Variable | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_CONTAINER_NAME | Azure Storage container. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_ACCOUNT_NAME | Azure Storage account name. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_ACCOUNT_KEY | Azure Storage key. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_ENDPOINT | Azure URL. | https://{ACCOUNT_NAME}.blob.core.windows.net |
Cloudinary (cloudinary)
| Variable | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_CLOUD_NAME | Cloudinary cloud name. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_API_KEY | Cloudinary API key. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_API_SECRET | Cloudinary API secret. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_ACCESS_MODE | Default access mode for the file. One of public, authenticated. |
Cloudinary is supported only as a storage driver. Changes made on Cloudinary are not synced back to Directus, and Directus wo't_ rely on Cloudinary's asset transformations in the /assets endpoint.
Supabase (supabase)
| Variable | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_SERVICE_ROLE | The admin service role JWT. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_BUCKET | Storage bucket. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_PROJECT_ID | Project ID. | |
STORAGE_<LOCATION>_ENDPOINT | Optional custom endpoint. |
Metadata
When uploading an image, Directus persists the description, title, and tags from available Exif metadata. For security purposes, collection of additional metadata must be configured:
| Variable | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
FILE_METADATA_ALLOW_LIST | A comma-separated list of metadata keys to collect during file upload. Use * for all1. | ifd0.Make,ifd0.Model,exif.FNumber,exif.ExposureTime,exif.FocalLength,exif.ISOSpeedRatings |
1: Extracting all metadata might cause memory issues when the file has an unusually large set of metadata
Upload Limits
| Variable | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
FILES_MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE | Maximum file upload size allowed. For example 10mb, 1gb, 10kb. | |
FILES_MIME_TYPE_ALLOW_LIST | Allow list of mime types that are allowed to be uploaded. Supports glob syntax. | */* |
Chunked Uploads
Large files can be uploaded in chunks to improve reliability and efficiency, especially in scenarios with network instability or limited bandwidth. This is implemented using the TUS protocol.
| Variable | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
TUS_ENABLED | Whether or not to enable the chunked uploads. | false |
TUS_CHUNK_SIZE | The size of each file chunks. For example 10mb, 1gb, 10kb. | 10mb |
TUS_UPLOAD_EXPIRATION | The expiry duration for uncompleted files with no upload activity. | 10m |
TUS_CLEANUP_SCHEDULE | Cron schedule to clean up the expired uncompleted uploads. | 0 * * * * |
Assets
| Variable | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
ASSETS_CACHE_TTL | How long assets will be cached for in the browser. Sets the max-age value of the Cache-Control header. | 30d |
ASSETS_TRANSFORM_MAX_CONCURRENT | How many file transformations can be done simultaneously. | 25 |
ASSETS_TRANSFORM_IMAGE_MAX_DIMENSION | The max pixel dimensions size (width/height) that is allowed to be transformed. | 6000 |
ASSETS_TRANSFORM_TIMEOUT | Max time spent trying to transform an asset. | 7500ms |
ASSETS_TRANSFORM_MAX_OPERATIONS | The max number of transform operations that is allowed to be processed (excludes saved presets). | 5 |
ASSETS_INVALID_IMAGE_SENSITIVITY_LEVEL | Level of sensitivity to invalid images. See the sharp.failOn option. | warning |
Image transformations can be heavy on memory usage. If you're using a system with 1GB or less available memory, we recommend lowering the allowed concurrent transformations to prevent you from overflowing your server.