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Directus deep-copy extension for relational items
A Directus extension that properly deep-copies items including M2A relationships, translations, and nested O2M/M2M relations. Targets development teams using Directus in production who need reliable duplication without data corruption. The extension would hook into the existing duplication flow and add configurable deep-copy behavior.
Why this matters
You manage a content-heavy application built on Directus with complex Many-to-Any relationships and multilingual translations. When you duplicate an item to use as a template, you discover that editing the copy silently corrupts the original because relational child items are shared by reference instead of being independently copied. Your translations get overwritten. You check the original item and find unintended changes with no warning or audit trail. You search for a fix and find an open issue months old with no resolution, forcing you to manually re-create relational items every time you duplicate content.
- · Built for Development teams and organizations self-hosting Directus with complex content models involving M2A relationships and multilingual translations.
- · Most likely monetization: SaaS subscription.
The Pain · Narrative
You manage a content-heavy application built on Directus with complex Many-to-Any relationships and multilingual translations. When you duplicate an item to use as a template, you discover that editing the copy silently corrupts the original because relational child items are shared by reference instead of being independently copied. Your translations get overwritten. You check the original item and find unintended changes with no warning or audit trail. You search for a fix and find an open issue months old with no resolution, forcing you to manually re-create relational items every time you duplicate content.
Score Breakdown
Market Signal
Go-to-Market
Technical leads at SMBs and agencies self-hosting Directus with content models that include M2A relationships and multi-language translations
~3,000-5,000 organizations actively using Directus with complex relational models in production
Directus community Discord/GitHub discussions organic posting
$29/month per Directus instance
15 paying users within 30 days of launching in the Directus marketplace and community channels
MVP Scope · 1–2 weeks
- Build a standalone Node.js script that takes a Directus item ID and deep-copies it with all M2A children using the Directus REST API
- Add support for O2M and M2M relationship types in the deep-copy logic
- Add translation record duplication by detecting and cloning language variants
- Write integration tests against a local Directus Docker instance with sample M2A collections
- Create a simple CLI interface accepting collection name, item ID, and config flags
- Package the deep-copy logic as a Directus extension (hook module) that overrides the native duplication endpoint
- Add a configuration UI in Directus settings for per-collection duplication depth and field selection
- Implement a preview endpoint that returns the planned copy tree as JSON before execution
- Add an audit log table recording source item, duplicated item, timestamp, and operator
- Write documentation and a demo video showing the before/after behavior with M2A items
Differentiation
Why This Might Fail
Self-rebuttal — the most important trust signal
- 1Directus core team may fix this bug natively in a near-term release, especially since the issue has community visibility and multiple follow-ups, eliminating the market entirely
- 2The addressable market is narrow — only Directus users with M2A relationships who also experience this bug — making customer acquisition cost potentially higher than lifetime value
- 3Maintaining compatibility across Directus major versions (the issue references v11.x) is an ongoing engineering burden that could consume all revenue from a small customer base
Evidence Summary
How AI synthesized this insight — no verbatim quotes
At least three users have independently confirmed that duplicating items with M2A relationships in Directus creates shared references rather than independent copies, with one specifically reporting the same issue affecting translations. Multiple users have followed up over several months asking for updates, indicating the problem persists without resolution and that manual workarounds remain costly. The issue is filed against a recent version (v11.x) and affects PostgreSQL deployments, suggesting production-grade usage where data integrity matters.
Action Plan
Validate this opportunity before writing code
Recommended Next Step
Validate
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Landing Page Copy Kit
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Headline
Directus deep-copy extension for relational items
Sub-headline
A Directus extension that properly deep-copies items including M2A relationships, translations, and nested O2M/M2M relations. Targets development teams using Directus in production who need reliable duplication without data corruption. The extension would hook into the existing duplication flow and add configurable deep-copy behavior.
Who It's For
For Development teams and organizations self-hosting Directus with complex content models involving M2A relationships and multilingual translations
Feature List
✓ Deep-copy M2A relationships with independent child records ✓ Translation record duplication without shared references ✓ Configurable duplication depth per collection/relationship type ✓ Preview mode showing the duplication tree before execution ✓ Audit log of all duplication operations
Where to Validate
Share your landing page in r/GitHub · directus/directus — that's exactly where these pain points were discovered.
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