# Directus 12 Licensing: How to handle the 5-activation limit with local dev containers & CI?

**URL:** <https://community.directus.com/t/directus-12-licensing-how-to-handle-the-5-activation-limit-with-local-dev-containers-ci/2377>\
**Category:** Help\
**Tags:** license\
**Created:** [July 1, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://community.directus.com/t/directus-12-licensing-how-to-handle-the-5-activation-limit-with-local-dev-containers-ci/2377 "2026-07-01T16:05:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Robin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.directus.com/robin/32/1750_2.png) [@Robin](https://community.directus.com/u/Robin)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://community.directus.com/t/directus-12-licensing-how-to-handle-the-5-activation-limit-with-local-dev-containers-ci/2377/1 "2026-07-01T16:05:07Z")

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# 

I’m upgrading a non-profit project to Directus 12 using an Open Innovation Grant license. Because v12 is heavily restricted by default, I need to use the license during development. According to their [docs](https://directus.com/docs/licensing/overview) I should do so:

> For example, an Open Innovation Grant license supports up to 5  
> activations, intended to cover the distinct environments of a single  
> project (such as local, dev, staging, and production).

It seems like each time I start the container or a when the e2e tests are running on the CI one activation is used up, even though the NODE\_ENV in the dev container is set to development.

I reached out via their licensing contact form but was just brushed off and told to re-read the docs page. Has anyone found a workaround for handling the license limits with ephemeral containers or CI pipelines?

btw. login with Github is broken…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jogchum](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.directus.com/jogchum/32/107_2.png) [@jogchum](https://community.directus.com/u/jogchum)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2026, 5:13pm UTC](https://community.directus.com/t/directus-12-licensing-how-to-handle-the-5-activation-limit-with-local-dev-containers-ci/2377/2 "2026-07-01T17:13:05Z")

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Like the answer on Reddit:

An instance is the combination of the PUBLIC\_URL and the key itself. If both are equal that should not count towards a new instance activation (not tested) but that is how it should work.

There should be an improvement at some point that makes this more bearable by introducing some kind of grace period upfront. But that might change.

I would indeed suggest to read the docs but also check the community forum, there is discussions about this topic there as well.