@staminna/directus-mcp-server

Enhanced MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for Directus v12.0.0 with TypeScript, WebSocket support, and full API coverage.

Test Coverage

| Statements | Branches | Functions | Lines | |------------|----------|-----------|-------| | | | | |

Coverage badges are generated from coverage/coverage-summary.json by npm run badges (no external service required). Run npm run test:coverage first.

Features

• 🔐 Full Authentication - Token-based authentication with Directus
• 📦 Collection Management - CRUD operations for collections and items
• 📁 File Operations - Upload, download, and manage files
• 🔄 Flow Management - Create, update, trigger, and manage Directus Flows
• 👥 User Management - User CRUD and role management
• 🔍 Schema Tools - Analyze and validate collection schemas
• 🩺 Diagnostics - Collection access diagnostics and troubleshooting
• ⚡ WebSocket Support - Real-time subscriptions (coming soon)

Installation

Via npm (Recommended)

npm install -g @staminna/directus-mcp-server

From Source

git clone https://github.com/staminna/mcp-server-claude.git
cd mcp-server-claude
npm install
npm run build

Environment Variables

| Variable | Required | Description | |----------|----------|-------------| | DIRECTUS_URL | Yes | Your Directus instance URL (e.g., http://localhost:8065) | | DIRECTUS_TOKEN | Yes | Static API token with appropriate permissions | | DIRECTUS_PROMPTS_COLLECTION_ENABLED | No | Enable AI prompts collection (true/false) | | DIRECTUS_PROMPTS_COLLECTION | No | Collection name for AI prompts (default: ai_prompts) | | DIRECTUS_RESOURCES_ENABLED | No | Enable resources feature (true/false) | | DIRECTUS_RESOURCES_EXCLUDE_SYSTEM | No | Exclude system collections from resources (true/false) | | NODE_ENV | No | Environment mode (development/production) |

Authentication — no OAuth required

This server uses a static Directus access token (DIRECTUS_TOKEN) and runs over stdio transport. OAuth is not required, by design:

• The MCP specification only defines OAuth 2.1 authorization for HTTP-based transports. For stdio servers the spec says implementations "SHOULD NOT" use it and should instead retrieve credentials from the environment — exactly what this server does.
• Directus 12 fully supports static access tokens. The OAuth 2.1 support Directus added (mid-2026) applies to its own built-in remote MCP endpoint and is optional; there are no breaking changes to token authentication in Directus 12 (see DIRECTUS_V12_BREAKING_CHANGES.md).
• OAuth only becomes relevant if you expose an MCP server remotely over HTTP (Streamable HTTP/SSE). As a local stdio subprocess of Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, etc., this server needs only the env token.

Generate the token in Directus under User Settings → Token (use a dedicated user with least-privilege role for production).

Using with a Claude subscription (Max/Pro) — no API key needed

MCP servers do not consume Anthropic API tokens themselves; only the AI client's model calls do. If you use this server inside Claude Code or Claude Desktop with a Claude Max (or Pro) subscription, the model usage is covered by the subscription — you do not need an Anthropic API key. An API key is only required when driving Claude programmatically via the Claude API (e.g. the remote MCP connector).

IDE Configuration

🟣 Cursor

1. Open Cursor Settings: Cmd+, (macOS) or Ctrl+, (Windows/Linux)
2. Search for "MCP" or navigate to Features → MCP Servers
3. Click "Edit in settings.json"
4. Add the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "directus": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@staminna/directus-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DIRECTUS_URL": "http://localhost:8065",
        "DIRECTUS_TOKEN": "your-directus-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or if installed locally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "directus": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/mcp-server-claude/dist/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DIRECTUS_URL": "http://localhost:8065",
        "DIRECTUS_TOKEN": "your-directus-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

5. Save the file and restart Cursor

🌊 Windsurf

1. Open Windsurf Settings: Cmd+, (macOS) or Ctrl+, (Windows/Linux)
2. Search for "MCP Servers"
3. Click "Edit in settings.json"
4. Add the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "directus": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@staminna/directus-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DIRECTUS_URL": "http://localhost:8065",
        "DIRECTUS_TOKEN": "your-directus-token-here",
        "DIRECTUS_PROMPTS_COLLECTION_ENABLED": "true",
        "DIRECTUS_PROMPTS_COLLECTION": "ai_prompts",
        "DIRECTUS_RESOURCES_ENABLED": "true",
        "DIRECTUS_RESOURCES_EXCLUDE_SYSTEM": "true",
        "NODE_ENV": "production"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or if installed locally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "directus": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/mcp-server-claude/dist/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DIRECTUS_URL": "http://localhost:8065",
        "DIRECTUS_TOKEN": "your-directus-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

5. Save the file
6. Quit Windsurf completely (Cmd+Q or Ctrl+Q)
7. Reopen Windsurf and wait ~10 seconds for MCP to initialize

🤖 Claude Desktop

1. Locate your Claude Desktop config file:

   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
   • Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Create or edit the config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "directus": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@staminna/directus-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DIRECTUS_URL": "http://localhost:8065",
        "DIRECTUS_TOKEN": "your-directus-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or if installed locally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "directus": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/mcp-server-claude/dist/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "DIRECTUS_URL": "http://localhost:8065",
        "DIRECTUS_TOKEN": "your-directus-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Save the file and restart Claude Desktop

🔮 Claude.ai (Web with MCP)

For Claude.ai web interface with MCP support:

1. Navigate to Claude.ai settings
2. Find the MCP configuration section
3. Add a new MCP server with:

{
  "name": "directus",
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "@staminna/directus-mcp-server"],
  "env": {
    "DIRECTUS_URL": "http://localhost:8065",
    "DIRECTUS_TOKEN": "your-directus-token-here"
  }
}

Note: Claude.ai MCP support may require a Pro subscription and specific browser extensions.

Available Tools

Collection Management

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | list_collections | List all collections in Directus | | get_collection_schema | Get schema for a specific collection | | get_collection_items | Get items from a collection with filtering | | create_collection | Create a new collection | | create_item | Create a new item in a collection | | update_item | Update an existing item | | delete_items | Delete items from a collection | | bulk_operations | Execute bulk create, update, delete |

Schema & Fields

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | create_field | Create a new field in a collection | | update_field | Update an existing field | | delete_field | Delete a field from a collection | | create_relationship | Create relationships (O2O, O2M, M2O, M2M, M2A) | | analyze_collection_schema | Analyze schema with relationship mapping | | validate_collection_schema | Validate schema and relationships | | analyze_relationships | Analyze relationships across collections |

Flow Management

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | get_flows | Get all flows with optional filtering | | get_flow | Get a specific flow by ID | | create_flow | Create a new automation flow | | update_flow | Update an existing flow | | delete_flow | Delete a flow | | trigger_flow | Manually trigger a flow | | get_operations | Get flow operations |

User Management

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | get_users | Get all users with filtering | | get_user | Get a specific user by ID |

File Management

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | get_files | Get files with filtering and pagination |

Diagnostics

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | diagnose_collection_access | Diagnose collection access issues | | refresh_collection_cache | Refresh collection cache | | validate_collection_creation | Validate newly created collections |

Usage Examples

Once configured, you can interact with Directus through your AI assistant:

"List all collections in my Directus instance"

"Create a new collection called 'blog_posts' with title, content, and published fields"

"Get all items from the 'products' collection where status is 'published'"

"Create a new flow that triggers on item creation in the 'orders' collection"

"Analyze the schema of the 'users' collection including relationships"

Troubleshooting

MCP Server Not Connecting

1. Verify Directus is running: Ensure your Directus instance is accessible at the configured URL
2. Check token permissions: The API token needs appropriate permissions for the operations you want to perform
3. Restart IDE: After changing MCP configuration, fully restart your IDE
4. Check logs: Look for MCP-related errors in your IDE's developer console

Permission Errors

Ensure your Directus token has the required permissions:

• Admin token for full access
• Or configure specific role permissions for collections you need to access

Connection Timeout

If using a remote Directus instance:

• Verify the URL is correct and accessible
• Check firewall/network settings
• Ensure CORS is properly configured on Directus

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Watch mode
npm run dev

# Run server
npm start

# Type check
npm run typecheck

# Lint
npm run lint

Testing

The project ships unit, integration and end-to-end suites (vitest). Coverage thresholds (90% statements/lines/functions, 85% branches) are enforced — the test run fails below them.

# Unit + integration tests
npm test

# With coverage report (coverage/ — text, html, lcov, json-summary)
npm run test:coverage

# End-to-end: builds, then spawns the real server over stdio against a mock Directus
npm run test:e2e

# Everything
npm run test:all

# Refresh the README coverage badges from the last coverage run
npm run badges

The e2e suite uses the official MCP SDK client (StdioClientTransport) to spawn dist/index.js as a subprocess, talking to an in-process mock Directus on an ephemeral port — no real Directus instance or network access needed.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT © Jorge Domingues Nunes

Links

• npm Package
• GitHub Repository
• Directus Documentation
• MCP Protocol Specification