Directus restaurant catalog example

This is a generic pattern for a restaurant or catalog CMS. It uses fake collection names and local URLs only. Route scans still need a running frontend; backend-only projects can start with config and agent context.

Collection shape

Collection	Use	Route	Fields to check
`branches`	Physical locations	/branches/:slug	name, slug, city, is_active
`menu_categories`	Menu grouping	/categories/:slug	name, slug
`menu_items`	Dishes or products	/menu/:branch/:slug when route data exists	name, slug, description, base_price, category_id
`item_branch_pricing`	Per-branch pricing and availability	not directly routable	menu_item_id, branch_id, price, is_available
`inventory`	Stock per item and branch	not directly routable	menu_item_id, branch_id, current_stock, low_stock_threshold

Config

Keep the Directus collections explicit. Only map routes when the frontend can actually render that document shape. If a branch-specific menu route needs a branch slug, make that slug available in the fetched item data or use a denormalized route field.

A starter version of this shape is available from cms-lab init --cms directus --router pages.

import { defineConfig, readCmsDataPath } from "@cms-lab/core";

export default defineConfig({
  site: { url: "http://localhost:3000" },
  framework: { type: "next", router: "app" },
  cms: {
    provider: "directus",
    url: "http://localhost:8055",
    token: process.env.DIRECTUS_TOKEN,
    collections: [
      { type: "branch", collection: "branches", uidField: "slug" },
      { type: "category", collection: "menu_categories", uidField: "slug" },
      { type: "menu_item", collection: "menu_items", uidField: "slug", urlField: "routing.url" },
      { type: "pricing", collection: "item_branch_pricing", uidField: "id", routable: false },
      { type: "inventory", collection: "inventory", uidField: "id", routable: false },
    ],
  },
  routes: [
    { type: "branch", pattern: "/branches/:slug", getPath: (doc) => "/branches/" + doc.uid },
    {
      type: "menu_item",
      pattern: "/menu/:branch/:slug",
      getPath: (doc) => {
        if (doc.url) return doc.url;

        const branchSlug = readCmsDataPath(doc.data, "branch.slug");
        if (typeof branchSlug !== "string") {
          throw new Error("menu_item is missing branch.slug route data");
        }

        return "/menu/" + branchSlug + "/" + doc.uid;
      },
    },
  ],
});

Required fields

Required field checks are useful today for high-volume collections and junction collections. Relationship checks cover the first useful cross-document invariant: whether one collection has matching related rows in another collection.

checks: {
  fields: {
    required: [
      { type: "branch", path: "name" },
      { type: "branch", path: "slug" },
      { type: "branch", path: "city", severity: "warning" },
      { type: "menu_item", path: "name" },
      { type: "menu_item", path: "slug" },
      { type: "menu_item", path: "description", severity: "warning" },
      { type: "menu_item", path: "base_price", severity: "warning" },
      { type: "pricing", path: "menu_item_id" },
      { type: "pricing", path: "branch_id" },
      { type: "pricing", path: "price" },
      { type: "inventory", path: "current_stock", severity: "warning" },
    ],
  },
  relationships: [
    {
      from: "menu_item",
      to: "pricing",
      where: { fromField: "id", toField: "menu_item_id" },
      min: 1,
      severity: "warning",
    },
    {
      from: "branch",
      to: "pricing",
      where: { fromField: "id", toField: "branch_id" },
      min: 1,
      severity: "warning",
    },
  ],
}

Images and alt text

If Directus stores images as file objects, cms-lab can use file descriptions as alt text. If a project stores only external image URLs, add a separate text field such as image_alt and require it.

checks: {
  fields: {
    required: [
      { type: "menu_item", path: "image_url", severity: "warning" },
      { type: "menu_item", path: "image_alt", severity: "warning" },
    ],
  },
}

What this catches today

Branch pages that return 404 or 500.
Menu item route builders that cannot produce a valid path.
Missing slugs, required fields, SEO fields, and image alt text.
Junction rows missing required IDs or price fields.
Items or branches without any matching pricing rows.

What is not built in yet: richer conditional rules such as "every active menu item must have an available pricing row per active branch" or "ignore archived branches when checking availability." Keep those in project-specific checks until adapter-specific rules exist.

Next steps: Directus provider, backend-only workflow, and large catalog scanning.