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CMS & Data Platforms
Headless CMSDigital Asset ManagementAPI-First Data Platform

Directus Implementation & Development

Your Directus Setup Breaks in Production — Or It Ships Right

0
Vendor Lock-in
Your SQL DB, your data
100%
Open Source
No licensing fees
95+
Lighthouse Score
Decoupled frontend perf
<4wk
To Production
Typical implementation
What Directus Implementation Actually Fixes — And What It Won't

Your database schema ships to production. Directus mirrors it — every table becomes a collection, every foreign key becomes a relationship interface. That shapes everything: role permissions, API endpoints, webhook flows, extension logic. Here's what makes Directus different from dropping in WordPress or Contentful: it doesn't abstract your data into proprietary formats. Your team edits rows. Your frontend queries real SQL. Your migrations run where they belong. But that also means bad schema design on day one becomes technical debt by week three. Misconfigured roles leak data. Poorly indexed queries hammer your database. Custom extensions written without hooks break on version updates. This is why implementation matters — your Directus instance either becomes the flexible data layer your business needs, or it becomes another silo your developers route around.

Waar projecten falen

Your current CMS locks content in proprietary formats, and multi-channel delivery becomes a mess fast Every new channel — app, kiosk, AR — means rebuilding content infrastructure from scratch. Again.
Meanwhile, developers are burning weeks on CRUD interfaces and auth systems instead of shipping features that matter Time-to-market slips. Competitors move faster with better tooling.
Your DAM lives in a separate silo from your CMS, so you've got duplicate assets, broken references, and brand inconsistency spreading across channels Storage costs keep climbing, and nobody's quite sure which logo is the right one.
Non-technical team members can't touch content without pulling in a developer That bottleneck doesn't just slow things down — it kills content velocity entirely.
You've outgrown WordPress or Strapi, but building a custom backend from zero sounds like a multi-month nightmare Here's the thing: months of custom dev work still won't get you what Directus already does out of the box.
Database migrations feel risky — and they are You can't afford downtime or data loss. Directus connects directly to your existing PostgreSQL or MySQL database without a migration, but misconfiguration can cause permission leaks and broken schemas. That's exactly why setup matters.

Compliance

Schema-First Data Modeling

We design your Directus collections and relationships directly on your SQL database. No proprietary abstraction layers. Your data stays portable and queryable with standard SQL tools.

Granular Role-Based Access

Custom permission matrices for every role in your org. Field-level read/write controls, IP restrictions, SSO integration — your data governance stays tight without becoming a bureaucratic nightmare.

Custom Extension Development

When Directus core doesn't cover your edge case, we build custom endpoints, hooks, interfaces, and modules to fill the gap. TypeScript-first, fully tested, version-controlled.

DAM & Media Pipeline

We configure digital asset management with automatic transformations, focal-point cropping, and CDN delivery. One source of truth for every image, video, and document across your entire stack.

Workflow Automation

Custom content statuses, approval chains, and event-driven hooks that actually match how your editorial and operational teams work. No more approvals tracked in spreadsheets.

Infrastructure & Security Hardening

Self-hosted on AWS, Azure, or GCP with Docker orchestration, automated backups, SSL, rate limiting, and regular vulnerability patching. Prefer managed? We'll configure Directus Cloud instead.

Wat we bouwen

Rebuild CRUD interfaces every time your schema changes

Auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs that update when your schema does — filtering, sorting, deep joins, WebSocket subscriptions included

Export content to JSON, pray relationships survive the import

Pair Directus with Next.js for static generation, ISR, or server rendering — fast pages, flexible content API, zero vendor lock-in

Store assets in three different S3 buckets with zero single source of truth

Native multilingual workflows with locale-specific fields and automatic admin translation — no hacks, no plugins

Wait on developers to update a single text field

Structured migrations from WordPress, Strapi, Contentful, or custom databases — relationships intact, zero data loss

Spend months building admin panels that Directus generates in minutes

Wire Directus into Stripe, Shopify, Algolia, SendGrid, Slack via custom hooks and Flows automation — your stack, unified

Risk downtime migrating databases because your CMS can't connect to existing tables

Ship with native MCP server support so AI agents read and write under the same permission rules as human users

Ons proces

01

Schema & Requirements Audit

We start by mapping your existing data model, content workflows, user roles, and integration points. You get a technical spec and architecture diagram before we write a single line of code.
Week 1
02

Infrastructure & Deployment

Then we deploy Directus to your chosen environment — self-hosted Docker on AWS, GCP, or Azure, or Directus Cloud. Database connected, SSL configured, backups automated.
Week 2
03

Schema, Roles & Extensions

Collections, fields, and relationships get built to spec. Role-based permissions configured. Custom extensions, hooks, and workflows developed and tested.
Weeks 2–3
04

Frontend & Integration Wiring

Next, we connect your Next.js frontend to the Directus APIs, integrate third-party services, execute content migration, and configure preview environments for your editorial team.
Weeks 3–4
05

Launch & Knowledge Transfer

Finally: production deployment, performance validation, team training. You walk away with documentation covering schema decisions, extension code, and operational runbooks. Post-launch support is included for 30 days.
Week 4+
DirectusNext.jsPostgreSQLNode.jsVercelDockerAWS

Veelgestelde vragen

How is Directus different from Strapi or Contentful?

Directus connects directly to your existing SQL database — no proprietary storage, no data held hostage. Your data stays in standard PostgreSQL or MySQL. Strapi creates its own schema. Contentful hosts your content on their servers. Directus gives you full data ownership, no vendor lock-in, and no licensing fees. It's fully open source.

Can Directus handle digital asset management?

Yes. Directus has a built-in DAM with automatic image transformations, focal-point cropping, metadata management, and CDN integration. It handles images, videos, documents, and any other file type you throw at it. We configure storage adapters for S3, Google Cloud Storage, or Azure Blob depending on your infrastructure.

Do I need to migrate my existing database to use Directus?

No migration needed. Directus is database-agnostic and connects to your existing PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, MS SQL, or CockroachDB instance. It introspects your current schema and builds an admin interface on top of it. Your tables, relationships, and data don't move.

How long does a typical Directus implementation take?

Most implementations go to production in 3–4 weeks. Simple CMS setups can launch in 2. Complex projects with custom extensions, multi-system integrations, and large data migrations may run 6–8 weeks. We scope everything upfront so there aren't timeline surprises halfway through.

Is Directus suitable for enterprise-scale applications?

Absolutely. Directus supports granular role-based access control, SSO via SAML/OAuth, custom approval workflows, and horizontal scaling via Docker orchestration. We've deployed it behind load balancers with read replicas for high-traffic applications — it handles millions of items without breaking a sweat.

What ongoing maintenance does a Directus installation require?

Self-hosted Directus needs regular version updates, security patches, database backups, and infrastructure monitoring. We offer maintenance plans that cover all of it, or we document everything thoroughly so your team can handle it independently. If you'd rather not think about infrastructure at all, Directus Cloud manages that automatically.

Directus Implementation from $8,000
Fixed-fee. 30-day post-launch support included.
See all packages →
Next.js DevelopmentHeadless CMS DevelopmentCore Web Vitals OptimizationWordPress to Next.js Migration

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