This is a result of my own testings with Directus, where I wanted a boilerplate setup with schema changes reflected as files so they can be version controlled and deployed on various stage/prod environments.

1. Simple Directus setup with Docker and Docker Compose for local development.
2. Adding directus-extension-sync and directus-sync, which offers handy CLI for managing and synchronizing the schema and collections within Directus.
3. Creating a custom extension (directus-extension-sync-auto) that executes npx directus-sync pull/push on schema change and startup hooks.

The custom extension introduces three new environment variables:

• DIRECTUS_SYNC_AUTO_PULL - set to true to auto-backup schemas and collections on changes in UI.
• DIRECTUS_SYNC_AUTO_PUSH - set to true to auto-sync backed-up schemas and collections on server start.
• DIRECTUS_SYNC_CONFIG_PATH - set to any custom config file for directus-sync. See all options available in their repo.

Typically, you would have both auto-pull and auto-push enabled for local development, but only auto-push on stage/prod.