Ensure Folders

Directus Flow Operation: Ensure Folders

A small Directus operation extension that idempotently ensures a hierarchy of up to 5 nested folders (folder1..folder5) in the Directus folders collection. It will reuse existing folders found by name (scoped by parent) or create them if missing, threading the parent folder id through each level.

Behavior / contract

• Inputs (options):
  • folder1 (string, required) — top-level folder name
  • folder2 (string, optional)
  • folder3 (string, optional)
  • folder4 (string, optional)
  • folder5 (string, optional)
• Outputs: a flat object with keys folder1, folder2, folder3, folder4, folder5, and lastFolder. Each value is a folder id (string) or null when not provided or not created.
• Logic:
  • Iterates i = 1..5. For each folder{i} that is a non-empty string, it:
    • Looks for an existing folder with the same name and the current parent value (null for top-level).
    • If found, uses its id; otherwise creates a new folder with name and parent.
    • Sets parent to the found/created id for the next level.
  • Stops early when it encounters the first empty/missing folder name and returns the current result.
  • Idempotent: running the operation multiple times with the same names returns the same ids and does not create duplicates.
  • Handles a race when creating a folder by retrying the lookup if creation fails with a conflict.

Response shape (example)

{
  "folder1": "a1b2c3...",
  "folder2": "d4e5f6...",
  "folder3": null,
  "folder4": null,
  "folder5": null,
  "lastFolder": "d4e5f6..."
}

• lastFolder equals the id of the deepest created/found folder (the last non-empty folder). If only folder1 is supplied, lastFolder equals folder1's id.

Usage (Directus Flow Operation)

• Add the ensure-folders operation to a Flow.
• Provide folder1 (required) and optionally folder2..folder5.
• The operation returns the object (above) which can be used by downstream operations.

Example payload (when invoking via API or testing in the Flow UI)

{
  "folder1": "Tenants",
  "folder2": "Project X",
  "folder3": "CollectionName"
}

Development / installation

1. Place this extension in /directus/extensions/ensure-folders (build result of this repo).
2. Restart Directus so it discovers the extension.
3. Use the Flow builder to add the ensure-folders operation.

License & Contributing

Any use of this plugin in a commercial or public product must visibly mention the original author and repository. Apache 2.0 License.