Directus JavaScript SDK ​

Learn how to use the new Directus JavaScript SDK to easily access and manipulate your data.

Features ​

• TypeScript first: The SDK provides a robust and type-safe development experience
• Modular architecture: The SDK is split into separate modules, giving you granular control over which features to include and which can be pruned at build-time
• Lightweight and dependency-free: It does not require external libraries, ensuring a lighter bundle and streamlined experience.

Installation ​

Install the SDK:

npm install @directus/sdk

npm install @directus/sdk

Basic Usage ​

Create a Directus client using the createDirectus hook from @directus/sdk. The client gives you access to your Directus project and data.

import { createDirectus } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com');

import { createDirectus } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com');

Creating a Composable Client ​

The Directus SDK is a "Composable Client" that allows you to customize and build a client with the specific features you need. The client starts as an empty wrapper without any functionality. To add features, use the following composables:

• rest(): REST request functions, adds .request(...) to the client.
• graphql(): GraphQL request functions, adds .query(...) to the client.
• authentication(): Authentication functions including refresh logic, adds .login(...), .logout(), and .refresh() to the client.
• staticToken(): Authentication functions for static tokens.
• realtime(): WebSocket connectivity, adds .connect(), .subscribe(...), .sendMessage(...) and .onWebSocket(...) to the client.

For example, to create a client with REST or GraphQL support, use the following:

import { createDirectus, rest, graphql } from '@directus/sdk';

// Client with REST support
const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

// Client with GraphQL support
const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(graphql());

import { createDirectus, rest, graphql } from '@directus/sdk';

// Client with REST support
const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

// Client with GraphQL support
const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(graphql());

import { createDirectus, rest, graphql } from '@directus/sdk';

interface Article {
	id: number;
	title: string;
	content: string;
}

interface Schema {
	articles: Article[];
}

// Client with REST support
const client = createDirectus<Schema>('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

// Client with GraphQL support
const client = createDirectus<Schema>('http://directus.example.com').with(graphql());

import { createDirectus, rest, graphql } from '@directus/sdk';

interface Article {
	id: number;
	title: string;
	content: string;
}

interface Schema {
	articles: Article[];
}

// Client with REST support
const client = createDirectus<Schema>('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

// Client with GraphQL support
const client = createDirectus<Schema>('http://directus.example.com').with(graphql());

If using TypeScript, you need to provide a Schema when creating a Directus client to make use of type hinting and completion. This schema contains definitions for each collection and provides you with type hints (on input) and completion (on output).

Authentication ​

Use the authentication() composable to add user login and tokens auto-refresh to the client.

For example, to login to your directus instance, invoke the login method

import { createDirectus, authentication } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(authentication());

await client.login(email, password);

import { createDirectus, authentication } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(authentication());

await client.login(email, password);

There are many ways to create authenticated requests with the Directus SDK. Read our SDK Authentication guide for more.

Making Requests ​

To query or update your collection in Directus, use the rest() or graphql() composable.

Using REST ​

Add the rest() composable to the client, this enables the .request(...) method to query the collection.

For example, to make a request to an articles collection.

Read a single item ​

import { createDirectus, rest, readItem } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const article_id = 5;
const result = await client.request(readItem('articles', article_id));

import { createDirectus, rest, readItem } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const article_id = 5;
const result = await client.request(readItem('articles', article_id));

Read all items ​

import { createDirectus, rest, readItems } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const result = await client.request(readItems('articles'));

import { createDirectus, rest, readItems } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const result = await client.request(readItems('articles'));

Read specific fields ​

import { createDirectus, rest, readItems } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const result = await client.request(
	readItems('articles', {
		fields: ['id', 'title'],
	})
);

import { createDirectus, rest, readItems } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const result = await client.request(
	readItems('articles', {
		fields: ['id', 'title'],
	})
);

Read all fields ​

import { createDirectus, rest, readItems } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const result = await client.request(
	readItems('articles', {
		fields: ['*'],
	})
);

import { createDirectus, rest, readItems } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const result = await client.request(
	readItems('articles', {
		fields: ['*'],
	})
);

Read nested fields ​

import { createDirectus, rest, readItems } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const result = await client.request(
	readItems('articles', {
		fields: ['*', { author: ['*'] }],
	})
);

import { createDirectus, rest, readItems } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const result = await client.request(
	readItems('articles', {
		fields: ['*', { author: ['*'] }],
	})
);

Custom endpoints ​

To call custom endpoints using the SDK, you can either manually write a command or use the customEndpoint helper, which allows you to type the output of the custom endpoint.

import { createDirectus, rest, customEndpoint } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const result = await client.request(customEndpoint<OutputType>({
	path: '/custom/endpoint',
	method: 'GET',
}));

// or manually without types
const manualResult = await client.request(() => ({
	path: '/custom/endpoint',
	method: 'GET',
}));

import { createDirectus, rest, customEndpoint } from '@directus/sdk';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com').with(rest());

const result = await client.request(customEndpoint<OutputType>({
	path: '/custom/endpoint',
	method: 'GET',
}));

// or manually without types
const manualResult = await client.request(() => ({
	path: '/custom/endpoint',
	method: 'GET',
}));

Using GraphQL ​

Add the graphql() composable to the client, this enables the .query(...) method to query the collection.

For example, to make a request to an articles collection with TypeScript:

import { createDirectus, graphql } from '@directus/sdk';

interface Article {
	id: number;
	title: string;
	content: string;
}

interface Schema {
	articles: Article[];
}

const client = createDirectus<Schema>('http://directus.example.com').with(graphql());

const result = await client.query<Article[]>(`
    query {
        articles {
            id
            title
            content
        }
    }
`);

import { createDirectus, graphql } from '@directus/sdk';

interface Article {
	id: number;
	title: string;
	content: string;
}

interface Schema {
	articles: Article[];
}

const client = createDirectus<Schema>('http://directus.example.com').with(graphql());

const result = await client.query<Article[]>(`
    query {
        articles {
            id
            title
            content
        }
    }
`);

Global APIs ​

To keep the SDK dependency-free, it does rely on the APIs mentioned below, which originally came from the browser ecosystem and may not be available in all environments.

The fetch API ​

This API is shipped with almost every modern runtime. Nevertheless, there might be reasons to overwrite or set the implementation, for example, if an alternative implementation is preferred or if you actually work with a special runtime where fetch is not available.

• node-fetch
• ofetch
• whatwg-fetch

The URL API ​

This API is shipped with almost every modern runtime. However, there are exceptions, like react-native, that require a polyfill for the SDK to work.

• url-polyfill
• react-native-url-polyfill

The WebSocket API ​

This API is optional if you're not making use of the realtime() features in the SDK. Backend JavaScript environments often do not ship with an implementation of WebSockets.

• ws
• isomorphic-ws

The logger API ​

This API is optional and currently only used for debugging the realtime() features. This will default to the Console however in environments where this isn't shipped you can overwrite this with any logger.

Polyfilling ​

These can be overwritten in two ways:

1. Via options parameter of the createDirectus function.
   (Takes precedence over the second way)

import { createDirectus } from '@directus/sdk';
import { ofetch } from 'ofetch';
import WebSocket from 'ws';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com', {
  globals: {
    WebSocket: WebSocket,
    fetch: ofetch,
  }
});

import { createDirectus } from '@directus/sdk';
import { ofetch } from 'ofetch';
import WebSocket from 'ws';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com', {
  globals: {
    WebSocket: WebSocket,
    fetch: ofetch,
  }
});

2. Directly via the globalThis object.

import { createDirectus } from '@directus/sdk';
import { ofetch } from 'ofetch';
import WebSocket from 'ws';

globalThis.WebSocket = WebSocket;
globalThis.fetch = ofetch;

// Polyfill libraries will often register itself to the globalThis object.
// For example, the following URL polyfill for react-native.
import 'react-native-url-polyfill/auto';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com');

import { createDirectus } from '@directus/sdk';
import { ofetch } from 'ofetch';
import WebSocket from 'ws';

globalThis.WebSocket = WebSocket;
globalThis.fetch = ofetch;

// Polyfill libraries will often register itself to the globalThis object.
// For example, the following URL polyfill for react-native.
import 'react-native-url-polyfill/auto';

const client = createDirectus('http://directus.example.com');

Next Steps ​

You can find code examples using the Directus SDK throughout our API reference.

You can also find an auto-generated TypeDoc of the new SDK.