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Nx

Nx is a monorepo task orchestrator with an affected-build model and a deep plugin ecosystem. repo-tooling scaffolds a minimal nx.json with a targetDefaults pipeline covering build/lint/typecheck/test — a peer to Turborepo. Plugin generators are deferred; start from the minimal pnpm-workspace shape and add plugins as you need them.

Like Turborepo, it only makes sense in a monorepo, so the setup wizard offers a Monorepo task orchestrator? choice — Turborepo (default), Nx, or none — only when the target directory contains pnpm-workspace.yaml. Pick one; doctor flags a repo running both.

Usage​

Scaffold it into an existing monorepo:

npx @rtorcato/repo-tooling fix nx

The fixer is safe-add — it never overwrites an existing nx.json.

Generated nx.json​

{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nrwl/nx/master/packages/nx/schemas/nx-schema.json",
  "namedInputs": {
    "default": ["{projectRoot}/**/*", "sharedGlobals"],
    "production": ["default"],
    "sharedGlobals": []
  },
  "targetDefaults": {
    "build": { "dependsOn": ["^build"], "outputs": ["{projectRoot}/dist"], "cache": true },
    "lint": { "cache": true },
    "typecheck": { "dependsOn": ["^build"], "cache": true },
    "test": { "dependsOn": ["^build"], "cache": true }
  }
}
  • dependsOn: ["^build"] — a target waits for the same target in upstream workspace dependencies (the ^ means "dependencies first").
  • outputs — the files Nx caches per target. Adjust {projectRoot}/dist to what each package emits.
  • cache: true — enables Nx's local (and, if configured, remote) task cache.

Peer dependency​

Add nx to the workspace root devDependencies and run tasks through it:

pnpm add -Dw nx
pnpm nx run-many -t build
pnpm nx affected -t test   # only projects touched by your changes

Choosing between Nx and Turborepo​

  • Nx — affected-graph builds, a large plugin/generator ecosystem, and distributed task execution for big monorepos.
  • Turborepo — a lighter, config-first pipeline when you mainly want caching and parallelism without the plugin surface.

Doctor behaviour​

  • In a pnpm workspace, doctor reports the orchestrator check ok when either turbo.json or nx.json is present — no preference.
  • If both are present, it flags drift — pick one and remove the other.