Directus Website

The official Directus website - a sophisticated marketing site built with Nuxt 3, TypeScript, and a block-based CMS architecture powered by Directus headless CMS.

🌐 Live Site: directus.io 🏗️ Built with: Nuxt 3, TypeScript, Vue 3, Tailwind CSS 📱 Features: SSG, Visual Editing, Analytics, Marketplace Search

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 20.0.0
• pnpm >= 8.15.0 (package manager is enforced)

Development

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Start development server
pnpm dev

# Build for production
pnpm build

# Type checking
pnpm typecheck

# Linting & formatting
pnpm lint
pnpm format

# Bundle analysis
pnpm analyze

Architecture

Technology Stack

• 🚀 Nuxt - Vue.js framework with SSR/SSG capabilities
• 📘 TypeScript - Strict typing with full type checking enabled
• 🎨 Tailwind CSS - Utility-first CSS framework
• 📦 Directus SDK - Headless CMS integration with custom schema
• 📊 PostHog - Analytics and feature flags (custom module)
• 🔍 Typesense - Search functionality for marketplace
• 🖼️ Nuxt Image - Optimized image handling with multiple providers

Key Features

Block-Based CMS System

Dynamic content management with reusable blocks:

• PageBuilder.vue - Core component that renders sections containing blocks
• PageSection.vue - Handles section-level styling and spacing
• Block Components - Located in components/Block/, each block type has its own component

Directus Integration

• Schema Types - Comprehensive TypeScript definitions in types/schema/
• Rate Limiting - Built-in API throttling (10 requests per 500ms)
• Visual Editing - Live preview and editing capabilities

Marketplace

• Typesense Integration - Fast search for extensions, integrations, and templates
• Domain Services - Organized by collection type in layers/marketplace/
• Indexing API - Secure endpoints for content indexing

Directory Structure

├── components/          # Vue components (Base, Block, Nav, etc.)
├── composables/         # Reusable Vue composition functions
├── layouts/            # Page layouts (default, blank, tv)
├── pages/              # File-based routing with dynamic content
├── plugins/            # Nuxt plugins (Directus, PostHog, etc.)
├── middleware/         # Route middleware
├── server/             # Server-side API endpoints
├── types/schema/       # TypeScript definitions for Directus schema
├── layers/marketplace/ # Marketplace functionality (Nuxt layer)
├── modules/            # Custom Nuxt modules
└── scripts/           # Utility scripts

Environment Variables

Create your .env file by copying the .env example:

cp .env.example .env

Then update the following variables in your .env file:

Required

# CMS Integration
DIRECTUS_URL=https://your-directus-instance.com
DIRECTUS_TV_URL=https://your-directus-tv-instance.com

# Site Configuration
NUXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL=https://directus.io # or http://localhost:3000
NUXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_VISUAL_EDITING=true

# Analytics
GOOGLE_TAG_MANAGER_ID=GTM-XXXXXXX
POSTHOG_API_KEY=your-posthog-key
POSTHOG_API_HOST=https://app.posthog.com

Marketplace

# Marketplace Registry
DIRECTUS_MARKETPLACE_REGISTRY_URL=https://registry.directus.io
DIRECTUS_MARKETPLACE_REGISTRY_TOKEN=your-registry-token

# Search (Typesense)
TYPESENSE_URL=https://your-typesense-cluster.com
TYPESENSE_PUBLIC_API_KEY=your-public-key
TYPESENSE_PRIVATE_API_KEY=your-private-key

# Indexing Security - generate a secure API key
TYPESENSE_INDEXING_API_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

Marketplace Indexing

The marketplace search uses Typesense for indexing extensions, integrations, and templates.

With the dev server running, use these npm scripts:

# Index all collections
pnpm run index:all

# Index specific collections
pnpm run index:extensions
pnpm run index:integrations
pnpm run index:templates

API Endpoints

• POST /api/search/indexing/all - Index all collections
• POST /api/search/indexing/extensions - Index extensions only
• POST /api/search/indexing/integrations - Index integrations only
• POST /api/search/indexing/templates - Index templates only

All endpoints require the X-API-Key header with your TYPESENSE_INDEXING_API_KEY.

Troubleshooting

"Invalid or missing API key"

• Make sure TYPESENSE_INDEXING_API_KEY is set in your .env file
• Check that you're passing the key in the X-API-Key header

"TYPESENSEINDEXINGAPI_KEY not configured"

• The environment variable isn't set on the server
• Add it to your deployment environment variables

Connection errors

• Make sure the dev server is running
• Check that NUXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL points to the correct URL

Deployment

Netlify (Current)

The site is deployed on Netlify with automatic builds from the main branch.

Build Settings:

• Build Command: pnpm build
• Publish Directory: .output/public
• Node Version: 20+

Environment Variables: Set all required environment variables in Netlify's site settings.

Performance Optimizations

• Static Site Generation - Pre-rendered pages for optimal performance
• Image Optimization - Multiple providers (Directus, Directus TV)
• Build Cache - Shared prerender data and build caching enabled
• Bundle Analysis - Use pnpm analyze to monitor bundle size

Content Management

Block System

The website uses a sophisticated block-based content system:

• Content Editors create pages using blocks in Directus
• PageBuilder.vue dynamically renders these blocks
• Block Components in components/Block/ handle each block type
• TypeScript Types ensure type safety across the entire system

Content Types

• Pages - Dynamic pages with blocks (pages/[...permalink].vue)
• Blog Posts - Articles and announcements (pages/blog/[slug].vue)
• Features - Product feature pages (pages/features/[slug].vue)
• Team - Team member profiles (pages/team/[slug].vue)
• Case Studies - Customer success stories (pages/case-studies/[slug].vue)
• TV - Video content and shows (pages/tv/)

Visual Editing

Content editors can use Directus Visual Editor for:

• Live Preview - See changes in real-time
• Block-level Editing - Edit content directly on the page
• Modal Interface - Rich editing experience

Development Notes

Custom Modules

• PostHog Module (modules/posthog/) - Analytics with feature flags
• Prerender Module (modules/prerender.ts) - Static site generation config
• Redirects Module (modules/redirects.ts) - URL redirect handling