Create a Project | Directus Docs

There are several ways to start a new Directus project. This guide walks through the most common scenarios.

Directus requires a license to self-host
Directus is licensed under a BSL 1.1 for commercial usage. This means you require a license if you are an entity with over $5 million in total finances. Otherwise, you can continue to enjoy Directus in full and commercially without a license.
Request a license.

Directus Cloud

Directus Cloud provides infrastructure from the team who builds Directus. Projects can be created in over 15 global deployment regions and feature autoscaling for improved availability.

Create and login to your Directus Cloud account. The very first time you log in to your Directus Cloud account, you will be prompted to create a team. Each Directus Cloud project exists within the scope of one team.

Create a new project page on Directus Cloud. Fields include name, region, url, and project template. An area to the side shows Directus Cloud Starter tier is selected at $15 a month.

Everything you need to start building. Provisioned in 90 seconds.

Once started, it should take around 90 seconds for the Cloud project to be created. During this time, a link will be sent to the email associated with your Cloud account.

The email will contain your project URL as well as an email and password to login. If you used GitHub to create your account, this will be the email address associated with your GitHub account.

Docker Installation

You will need Docker installed and running on your machine. You can download it here.

What is Docker?
Docker is a developer tool that allows software-creators to distribute their work along with all dependencies and required environment settings. This means that applications can run reliably and consistently, making it the perfect way to use Directus both locally and in-production.As soon as there are new releases of Directus, we publish them on Docker Hub.

Quickstart

Run the following command in your terminal:

docker run -p 8055:8055 directus/directus

The initial admin email address and password will be shown in the terminal. Directus should now be available at http://localhost:8055 or http://127.0.0.1:8055.

This quickstart allows you to explore Directus at a glance, but lacks many features including persistence. Once you stop the Docker container from running, any changes you’ve made will be lost.

Docker Compose

This is the recommended way to get started with Directus. Create a new empty directory on your machine called directus. Within this new directory, create the three empty sub-directories database, uploads, and extensions.

Create a docker-compose.yml file in the directus directory:

docker-compose.yml

services:
    directus:
        image: directus/directus:11.3.2
        ports:
            - 8055:8055
        volumes:
            - ./database:/directus/database
            - ./uploads:/directus/uploads
            - ./extensions:/directus/extensions
        environment:
            SECRET: "replace-with-random-value"
            ADMIN_EMAIL: "admin@example.com"
            ADMIN_PASSWORD: "d1r3ctu5"
            DB_CLIENT: "sqlite3"
            DB_FILENAME: "/directus/database/data.db"
            WEBSOCKETS_ENABLED: "true"

Breakdown of Docker Compose File

This file defines a single Docker container that will use the specified version of the directus/directus image.
The ports list maps internal port 8055 is made available to our machine using the same port number, meaning we can access it from our computer's browser.
The volumes section maps internal directus/database and directus/uploads to our local file system alongside the docker-compose.yml meaning data is backed up outside of Docker containers.
The environment section contains any configuration environment variables we wish to set.
- SECRET is required and should be a long random value. SECRET is used to sign access tokens.
- ADMIN_EMAIL and ADMIN_PASSWORD is the initial admin user credentials on first launch.
- DB_CLIENT and DB_FILENAME are defining the connection to your database.
- WEBSOCKETS_ENABLED is not required, but enables Directus Realtime.

Open the Terminal, navigate to your directus directory, and run the following command:

docker compose up

Directus should now be available at http://localhost:8055 or http://127.0.0.1:8055.

The project that runs from this docker-compose.yml file is not production-ready but enough to use many features.

Deploy Directus

We also have a number of guides on self-hosting Directus on various cloud providers, like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

See how to deploy Directus on multiple hosting providers.

Next Steps

Now you have a project running, learn how to create a data model, and then use the auto-generated APIs created by Connect.

Overview

Learn about the Directus Data Engine and Studio, when to use it, and a how it works.

Configure a Data Model

This guide will cover creating a collection in Directus via the Data Studio, creating fields, and configuring relationships.