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Directus: your first steps

Picked Directus? Your site came with Directus installed on the Node.js runtime — a data platform and headless CMS that wraps your PostgreSQL database in an admin app and an instant API.

What gets installed

  • Directus from the official npm package (pinned; checksums verified by npm), running as a systemd service on Node.js 22 with its own PostgreSQL database in your container, schema created by directus bootstrap.
  • Your administrator (the email address on your veldhost account), uploads/ for files and extensions/ for your own extensions next to the code.
  • Settings live in .env in the site's code root (Files tab): the database, the secret, the public address and the storage location. Telemetry is off.

First login

  1. Your site page shows the sign-in address (/admin/login), your login email and a generated password — we display it for 7 days, so save it now.
  2. Sign in, then set your own password under User Directory → your profile.
  3. Create a collection under Settings → Data Model, add fields and items; the REST API answers at /items/<collection> and GraphQL at /graphql as soon as a role may read it (Settings → Access Control).
  4. Files uploaded in the File Library are stored in uploads/ and included in your backups.

Updating

  • Press Back up now on the Files tab first.
  • Bump the directus version in package.json (Files tab), then run a deploy: it runs npm install and restarts; Directus applies its database migrations on start.

Limits

  • Directus needs 1 GB of memory (Pro or higher).
  • Reset mails and flows that send email need an EMAIL_TRANSPORT in .env; until then, ask support to reset a password.