nx-workspace-patterns

Nx Workspace Patterns

Navigation hub for Nx workspace architecture and operations.

When to Use

• You are structuring or refactoring an Nx monorepo.
• You need dependency boundaries enforced by tags and lint rules.
• You need reliable affected-command CI and caching performance.

When Not to Use

• The repository is single-project with no monorepo coordination needs.
• The task is framework-specific build setup unrelated to Nx graph and task orchestration.

Workflow

1. Structure workspace domains (apps/, libs/, tools/).
2. Define tags and project graph conventions.
3. Configure target pipelines and caching defaults.
4. Enforce module boundaries and verify violations fail with nx lint --skip-nx-cache.
5. Integrate affected commands in CI with explicit base/head strategy.

Constraint Guidelines

Hard Constraints

• MUST tag projects consistently for scope/type-based constraints.
• MUST configure targetDefaults for build/test/lint dependency flow.
• MUST use affected commands in CI for scalable execution.

Flexible Choices

• CAN choose tag vocabulary (scope:*, type:*, platform:*) if consistent.
• CAN choose cache backend (Nx Cloud or self-hosted) by org constraints.
• CAN choose library granularity based on team ownership and release cadence.

Fallback Behaviors

Missing Config	Fallback
no explicit tags	allow broad deps temporarily with warning and migration plan
no target defaults	tasks run independently with reduced optimization
no CI base/head	default to main branch and document tradeoff

Quick Commands

nx graph

nx affected -t lint,test,build --base=origin/main --parallel=3

nx show project my-app --web

nx reset

rg -n "@nx/enforce-module-boundaries|depConstraints" .

Configuration Examples

nx.json targetDefaults

{
  "targetDefaults": {
    "build": {
      "dependsOn": ["^build"],
      "inputs": ["production", "^production"],
      "cache": true
    },
    "test": {
      "dependsOn": ["build"],
      "inputs": ["default", "^production", "{workspaceRoot}/jest.preset.js"],
      "cache": true
    },
    "lint": {
      "inputs": ["default", "{workspaceRoot}/.eslintrc.json"],
      "cache": true
    }
  }
}