Nx Workspace Patterns
Production patterns for Nx monorepo management.
When to Use This Skill Setting up new Nx workspaces Configuring project boundaries Optimizing CI with affected commands Implementing remote caching Managing dependencies between projects Migrating to Nx Core Concepts 1. Nx Architecture workspace/ ├── apps/ # Deployable applications │ ├── web/ │ └── api/ ├── libs/ # Shared libraries │ ├── shared/ │ │ ├── ui/ │ │ └── utils/ │ └── feature/ │ ├── auth/ │ └── dashboard/ ├── tools/ # Custom executors/generators ├── nx.json # Nx configuration └── workspace.json # Project configuration
- Library Types Type Purpose Example feature Smart components, business logic feature-auth ui Presentational components ui-buttons data-access API calls, state management data-access-users util Pure functions, helpers util-formatting shell App bootstrapping shell-web Templates Template 1: nx.json Configuration { "$schema": "./node_modules/nx/schemas/nx-schema.json", "npmScope": "myorg", "affected": { "defaultBase": "main" }, "tasksRunnerOptions": { "default": { "runner": "nx/tasks-runners/default", "options": { "cacheableOperations": [ "build", "lint", "test", "e2e", "build-storybook" ], "parallel": 3 } } }, "targetDefaults": { "build": { "dependsOn": ["^build"], "inputs": ["production", "^production"], "cache": true }, "test": { "inputs": ["default", "^production", "{workspaceRoot}/jest.preset.js"], "cache": true }, "lint": { "inputs": ["default", "{workspaceRoot}/.eslintrc.json"], "cache": true }, "e2e": { "inputs": ["default", "^production"], "cache": true } }, "namedInputs": { "default": ["{projectRoot}//*", "sharedGlobals"], "production": [ "default", "!{projectRoot}//?(*.)+(spec|test).[jt]s?(x)?(.snap)", "!{projectRoot}/tsconfig.spec.json", "!{projectRoot}/jest.config.[jt]s", "!{projectRoot}/.eslintrc.json" ], "sharedGlobals": [ "{workspaceRoot}/babel.config.json", "{workspaceRoot}/tsconfig.base.json" ] }, "generators": { "@nx/react": { "application": { "style": "css", "linter": "eslint", "bundler": "webpack" }, "library": { "style": "css", "linter": "eslint" }, "component": { "style": "css" } } } }
Template 2: Project Configuration // apps/web/project.json { "name": "web", "$schema": "../../node_modules/nx/schemas/project-schema.json", "sourceRoot": "apps/web/src", "projectType": "application", "tags": ["type:app", "scope:web"], "targets": { "build": { "executor": "@nx/webpack:webpack", "outputs": ["{options.outputPath}"], "defaultConfiguration": "production", "options": { "compiler": "babel", "outputPath": "dist/apps/web", "index": "apps/web/src/index.html", "main": "apps/web/src/main.tsx", "tsConfig": "apps/web/tsconfig.app.json", "assets": ["apps/web/src/assets"], "styles": ["apps/web/src/styles.css"] }, "configurations": { "development": { "extractLicenses": false, "optimization": false, "sourceMap": true }, "production": { "optimization": true, "outputHashing": "all", "sourceMap": false, "extractLicenses": true } } }, "serve": { "executor": "@nx/webpack:dev-server", "defaultConfiguration": "development", "options": { "buildTarget": "web:build" }, "configurations": { "development": { "buildTarget": "web:build:development" }, "production": { "buildTarget": "web:build:production" } } }, "test": { "executor": "@nx/jest:jest", "outputs": ["{workspaceRoot}/coverage/{projectRoot}"], "options": { "jestConfig": "apps/web/jest.config.ts", "passWithNoTests": true } }, "lint": { "executor": "@nx/eslint:lint", "outputs": ["{options.outputFile}"], "options": { "lintFilePatterns": ["apps/web/*/.{ts,tsx,js,jsx}"] } } } }
Template 3: Module Boundary Rules // .eslintrc.json { "root": true, "ignorePatterns": ["/"], "plugins": ["@nx"], "overrides": [ { "files": [".ts", ".tsx", ".js", "*.jsx"], "rules": { "@nx/enforce-module-boundaries": [ "error", { "enforceBuildableLibDependency": true, "allow": [], "depConstraints": [ { "sourceTag": "type:app", "onlyDependOnLibsWithTags": [ "type:feature", "type:ui", "type:data-access", "type:util" ] }, { "sourceTag": "type:feature", "onlyDependOnLibsWithTags": [ "type:ui", "type:data-access", "type:util" ] }, { "sourceTag": "type:ui", "onlyDependOnLibsWithTags": ["type:ui", "type:util"] }, { "sourceTag": "type:data-access", "onlyDependOnLibsWithTags": ["type:data-access", "type:util"] }, { "sourceTag": "type:util", "onlyDependOnLibsWithTags": ["type:util"] }, { "sourceTag": "scope:web", "onlyDependOnLibsWithTags": ["scope:web", "scope:shared"] }, { "sourceTag": "scope:api", "onlyDependOnLibsWithTags": ["scope:api", "scope:shared"] }, { "sourceTag": "scope:shared", "onlyDependOnLibsWithTags": ["scope:shared"] } ] } ] } } ] }
Template 4: Custom Generator // tools/generators/feature-lib/index.ts import { Tree, formatFiles, generateFiles, joinPathFragments, names, readProjectConfiguration, } from "@nx/devkit"; import { libraryGenerator } from "@nx/react";
interface FeatureLibraryGeneratorSchema { name: string; scope: string; directory?: string; }
export default async function featureLibraryGenerator(
tree: Tree,
options: FeatureLibraryGeneratorSchema,
) {
const { name, scope, directory } = options;
const projectDirectory = directory
? ${directory}/${name}
: libs/${scope}/feature-${name};
// Generate base library
await libraryGenerator(tree, {
name: feature-${name},
directory: projectDirectory,
tags: type:feature,scope:${scope},
style: "css",
skipTsConfig: false,
skipFormat: true,
unitTestRunner: "jest",
linter: "eslint",
});
// Add custom files
const projectConfig = readProjectConfiguration(
tree,
${scope}-feature-${name},
);
const projectNames = names(name);
generateFiles( tree, joinPathFragments(__dirname, "files"), projectConfig.sourceRoot, { ...projectNames, scope, tmpl: "", }, );
await formatFiles(tree); }
Template 5: CI Configuration with Affected
.github/workflows/ci.yml
name: CI
on: push: branches: [main] pull_request: branches: [main]
env: NX_CLOUD_ACCESS_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NX_CLOUD_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
jobs: main: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 with: fetch-depth: 0
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: 20
cache: "npm"
- name: Install dependencies
run: npm ci
- name: Derive SHAs for affected commands
uses: nrwl/nx-set-shas@v4
- name: Run affected lint
run: npx nx affected -t lint --parallel=3
- name: Run affected test
run: npx nx affected -t test --parallel=3 --configuration=ci
- name: Run affected build
run: npx nx affected -t build --parallel=3
- name: Run affected e2e
run: npx nx affected -t e2e --parallel=1
Template 6: Remote Caching Setup // nx.json with Nx Cloud { "tasksRunnerOptions": { "default": { "runner": "nx-cloud", "options": { "cacheableOperations": ["build", "lint", "test", "e2e"], "accessToken": "your-nx-cloud-token", "parallel": 3, "cacheDirectory": ".nx/cache" } } }, "nxCloudAccessToken": "your-nx-cloud-token" }
// Self-hosted cache with S3 { "tasksRunnerOptions": { "default": { "runner": "@nx-aws-cache/nx-aws-cache", "options": { "cacheableOperations": ["build", "lint", "test"], "awsRegion": "us-east-1", "awsBucket": "my-nx-cache-bucket", "awsProfile": "default" } } } }
Common Commands
Generate new library
nx g @nx/react:lib feature-auth --directory=libs/web --tags=type:feature,scope:web
Run affected tests
nx affected -t test --base=main
View dependency graph
nx graph
Run specific project
nx build web --configuration=production
Reset cache
nx reset
Run migrations
nx migrate latest nx migrate --run-migrations
Best Practices Do's Use tags consistently - Enforce with module boundaries Enable caching early - Significant CI savings Keep libs focused - Single responsibility Use generators - Ensure consistency Document boundaries - Help new developers Don'ts Don't create circular deps - Graph should be acyclic Don't skip affected - Test only what changed Don't ignore boundaries - Tech debt accumulates Don't over-granularize - Balance lib count Resources Nx Documentation Module Boundaries Nx Cloud