Troubleshoot

Troubleshooting

Common errors, diagnostics, and fixes for Directus MCP and API.

Quick Diagnostics

Check MCP Connection

Call the schema tool with no parameters. If it returns collections, MCP is connected.

Tool: schema
Input: {}

If this fails, the MCP server is not reachable or the token is invalid.

Check API Health

# Simple ping
curl "${DIRECTUS_URL}/server/ping"
# Should return: "pong"

# Detailed health
curl "${DIRECTUS_URL}/server/health" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${DIRECTUS_TOKEN}"

# Test token validity
curl "${DIRECTUS_URL}/users/me" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${DIRECTUS_TOKEN}"

MCP-Specific Errors

"action is required"

Cause: Missing action parameter in MCP tool call.

Fix: Always include "action": "read" (or create/update/delete):

{ "action": "read", "collection": "posts", "query": { "limit": 10 } }

"collection is required"

Cause: items, fields tools need a collection name.

Fix: Add "collection": "your_collection_name".

"data must be an array"

Cause: Items create expects data as an array.

Fix: Wrap single items in an array:

{ "action": "create", "collection": "posts", "data": [{ "title": "Test" }] }

Empty response from schema

Cause: User has no read permissions on collections.

Fix: Check the MCP user's role has read access to directus_collections, directus_fields, directus_relations.

Tool not found

Cause: MCP server ID doesn't match tool prefix.

Fix: List available tools. If your MCP server is registered as directus-1, tools are mcp__directus-1__*, not mcp__directus__*.

HTTP Status Errors

401 Unauthorized

Cause: Missing, expired, or invalid token.

Fix:

• Check token is included in header: Authorization: Bearer TOKEN
• For JWTs: token may have expired (default 900s) — refresh it
• For static tokens: verify in User Directory > user profile > Token field

403 Forbidden

Cause: User has valid token but insufficient permissions.

Fix:

• Check user's role permissions: Settings > Roles > [role] > Permissions
• Common missing permissions:
  • Read on system collections (directus_collections, directus_fields)
  • Create/Update on target collections
  • Schema management permissions for collection/field creation
• For MCP: ensure the MCP user has permissions matching intended operations

403 on file assets (/assets/{id}) — the most common 403 issue when integrating with frontends:

• Directus file assets require authentication by default — unauthenticated requests to /assets/{id} return 403
• Fix option 1: Add ?access_token=TOKEN to asset URLs (quick, works for server-rendered pages)
• Fix option 2: Grant the Public role read access to directus_files (Settings > Roles > Public > directus_files > enable Read) — preferred for public-facing sites
• When using next/image, the 403 manifests as broken/missing images with no obvious error since Next.js proxies through /_next/image

404 Not Found

Cause: Collection, item, or endpoint doesn't exist.

Fix:

• Verify collection name with schema tool (discovery mode)
• Check item UUID exists before updating/deleting
• Confirm API endpoint path is correct

409 Conflict

Cause: Unique constraint violation or concurrent modification.

Fix:

• Check for duplicate values on unique fields
• Re-read the item before retrying update
• For collections: check if name already exists

422 Unprocessable Entity

Cause: Validation error — required field missing, wrong data type, or constraint violation.

Fix:

• Read the schema to understand required fields: schema tool with keys: ["collection"]
• Check field types match expected values
• Common issues:
  • String field receiving a number
  • Non-nullable field missing in create
  • UUID field receiving invalid format
  • Relation field referencing non-existent target

429 Too Many Requests

Cause: Rate limiting.

Fix: Wait and retry with exponential backoff. Reduce batch sizes.

500 Internal Server Error

Cause: Server-side error.

Fix:

• Check Directus server logs
• May indicate database connection issues
• May indicate extension errors

Schema Errors

"Collection already exists"

Fix: Use schema tool to check existing collections before creating.

"Field already exists"

Fix: Read fields first: fields tool with action: "read" and collection name.

"Related collection does not exist"

Cause: Creating a relation to a collection that hasn't been created yet.

Fix: Create collections in dependency order. Independent collections first, then dependent ones.

"Invalid foreign key"

Cause: Relation target doesn't exist or field type doesn't match.

Fix:

• Ensure both collections exist
• Ensure the M2O field is uuid type (matching the target's primary key type)
• Ensure the relation field has been created before creating the relation

Flow Errors

Operations not executing

Cause: Operations not connected via resolve/reject.

Fix:

1. Read the flow: flows tool with action: "read" and flow key
2. Verify operation field on the flow points to the first operation
3. Verify each operation's resolve/reject points to the next operation

Condition not matching

Cause: Wrong filter syntax in condition operation.

Fix: Use nested objects, NOT dot notation:

// CORRECT
{ "$trigger": { "payload": { "status": { "_eq": "published" } } } }

// WRONG — will never match
{ "$trigger.payload.status": { "_eq": "published" } }

Request operation failing

Cause: Wrong header or body format.

Fix:

• Headers must be array: [{ "header": "Content-Type", "value": "application/json" }]
• Body must be stringified JSON: "{\"key\": \"value\"}"

Data chain variable empty

Cause: Referencing wrong operation key.

Fix: Use the exact key value set on the operation. Don't use $last.

Performance Issues

Slow Queries

• Add fields parameter — don't fetch all fields
• Use limit — don't fetch all records
• Simplify deep queries — nested relation queries are expensive
• Filter at API level, not in code

Large Batch Operations

• Process in batches of 10-25 items
• Add delays between batches if hitting rate limits
• Use offset pagination instead of fetching everything

MCP Response Timeout

• Reduce query complexity (fewer nested relations)
• Add limit to all queries
• Split large operations into smaller sequential calls

Permission Debugging

Check What a Role Can Do

curl "${DIRECTUS_URL}/permissions?filter[role][_eq]=ROLE_UUID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${DIRECTUS_TOKEN}" | jq '.data[] | {collection, action}'

Common Permission Setup for MCP User

Minimum permissions for a developer MCP user:

Enable "Allow Deletes" in MCP settings if deletion via MCP is needed.