Action Directe (French: [aksjɔ̃ diʁɛkt]) is a short 15-metre (49 ft) overhanging sport climb at the limestone Waldkopf crag in Frankenjura, Germany. When it was first climbed by German climber Wolfgang Güllich in 1991, it became the first climb in the world to have a consensus 9a (5.14d) grade. Action Directe is considered an important route in rock climbing history, and is one of the most attempted climbs at its grade, where it is considered the "benchmark" for the level of 9a. The plyometric training techniques and customized equipment that Güllich used to prepare for the unique physical demands of Action Directe also revolutionized climbing and what could be achieved.

A close friend of Güllich, German climber Milan Sykora introduced him to the route that he had been working on at a large limestone prow at the Waldkopf crag, which was akin to an enormous boulder. Sykora was one of the leading German climbers at the time and had created several new routes UIAA grade X. In the 1980s, Sykora had bolted a line coming from the right and had managed to climb the individual moves through the upper section, and believed the lower section feasible but too hard for himself – he generously offered the project to Güllich, who promptly bolted the direct start, and hence the name "Directe"; Güllich said that it also named after the French terror group Action directe as climbing it felt like an attack on the fingers.

Güllich completed the first free ascent on 14 September 1991, after 11 days of working the route – spread over three weeks – and using a 16-move sequence including a direct start with a dynamic jump into a two-finger pocket to redpoint it. Güllich was 30 at the time and had been married just 5 days previously to freeing the route. Four years later the route was repeated when East German climber Alexander Adler fulfilled what he called an "obsession" to repeat the climb.

Subsequent climbers have used a slightly different circa 11 to 13-move sequence to Güllich's original very direct 16-move sequence. At the 25-year anniversary of its first ascent, ten climbers who had completed the route assembled and estimated only Adler had repeated Güllich's exact 16-move sequence, and that all others had crossed slightly right to use a shorter sequence.

Güllich conservatively assigned a UIAA grade of XI, which was between 8c+ (5.14c) and 9a (5.14d). Subsequent ascents would verify its grade, which has since described as the "gold standard" or "benchmark" for 9a (5.14d); and the first ever 9a in history. It wasn't for almost another decade, until 2001 when Chris Sharma freed the 35-metre Realization/Biographie at Céüse in France, that a higher consensus 9a+ (5.15a) grade would be assigned.

On 22 May 2020, French climber Mélissa Le Nevé made the first female free ascent and almost three decades after Güllich's original ascent was still only the 27th person to have climbed it. Two claimed ascents, Richard Simpson (2005), and Said Belhaj (2018), are disputed.

Action Directe is famous for its unique style, involving physically demanding dynamic moves (known as dynos in bouldering) off single-finger pockets in the limestone, and in particular, a powerful initial dynamic jump-start into a two-finger pocket while leaning back at an extreme angle of 45-degrees. The route is short at 15-metre (49 ft) and took Güllich only 70-seconds to complete his very direct 16-move sequence; most ascents post the second ascent move rightwards to a more efficient 11 to 13 move sequence described as slightly easier than Güllich's original sequence (although still solidly 9a).

After his 2016 ascent, German climber David Firnenburg described it as: "The initial dyno into the sharp two-finger pocket is followed by a passage with extreme lock-offs on small finger pockets. Then there are technically complicated side holds and pinches with difficult foot changes before you run out with a tricky must-hit crimp at the very end, where I still fell several times before sending".