# Creating Extensions
# Scaffolding your Directus Extension
The easiest way to start developing extensions is to use the create-directus-extension
utility:
npm init directus-extension
After specifying the name of the extension, the type of the extension and the programming language you want to use, the utility will create a folder with the recommended file structure to create an extension.
# Extension Folder Structure
The folder created by the utility is in fact a npm package. It comes with a few pre-installed packages depending on the
extension type and the language you chose. The most important one is @directus/extensions-sdk
. This package includes a
CLI, which allows you to build your extension and to scaffold additional extensions, and it provides Typescript helpers
and other utilities.
Inside the created folder there is a src/
folder. This folder contains the entrypoint of your extension. If you write
additional source files, they should go into this folder.
Entrypoint
The entrypoint is either called index.js
or index.ts
, depending on which programming language you chose.
The generated package.json
file contains an additional directus:extension
field with the following sub-fields:
type
— The type of the extensionpath
— The path to the built extensionsource
— The path to the source entrypointhost
— A semver string that indicates with which versions of the Directus host, the extension is compatible with
The CLI will use those fields by default to determine the input and output file paths and how the extension should be built.
# Building your Extension
Before your extension can be used by Directus, it has to be built. If you used the create-directus-extension
utility
to scaffold your extension, building your extension is as easy as running:
npm run build
The generated package.json
contains a script that calls the directus-extension
CLI which is part of
@directus/extensions-sdk
:
{
"scripts": {
"build": "directus-extension build"
}
}
If you prefer to scaffold your extension manually, you can use the directus-extension
CLI binary directly. The
--help
flag provides useful information regarding the available options and flags.
Internally, the CLI uses Rollup to bundle your extension to a single entrypoint.
Watch
The CLI supports rebuilding extensions whenever a file has changed by using the --watch
flag.
# Configuring the CLI
Most of the time, it should be sufficient to use the CLI as is. But, in some cases it might be necessary to customize it
to your specific needs. This can be done by creating a extension.config.js
file at the root of your extension package
with the following content:
module.exports = {
plugins: [],
};
# Supported Options
plugins
— An array of Rollup plugins that will be used when building extensions in addition to the built-in ones.
CommonJS or ESM
By using the type
field inside your package.json
file or using the appropriate file extension (.mjs
or .cjs
),
the config file can be loaded as a CommonJS or ESM file.
# Deploying your Extension
To deploy your extension, you have to move the output from the dist/
folder into your project's
./extensions/<extension-folder>/<extension-name>/
folder. <extension-folder>
has to be replaced by the extension
type in plural form (e.g. interfaces). <extension-name>
should be replaced with the name of your extension.
Configurable Folders
The path to the built extension as well as the extensions directory are configurable and may be located elsewhere.
# Developing your Extension
To learn more about developing extensions of a specific type, you can refer to one of the individual guides:
# App Extensions
# API Extensions
Live Reloading
When working on extensions, try setting the
EXTENSIONS_AUTO_RELOAD
environment variable. This will make the API reload extensions
on changes automatically.
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