How to Setup Nx in a pnpm Workspace

This article is the third article of my Monorepo in Javascript Series. Combining the power of Nx, a robust toolkit for monorepos, with pnpm, an efficient package manager, creates a powerful solution for managing complex JavaScript codebases. This article guides you through the process of setting up Nx in a pnpm workspace, highlighting the advanced features and benefits of this integration.
Post Series Roadmap
1 — What is a Monorepo
2 — Monorepo using pnpm workspaces
3 — How to Setup Nx in a pnpm Workspace

Nx is a powerful toolkit for managing monorepos, providing features like incremental builds and distributed caching. Combining Nx with pnpm offers a robust solution for managing complex JavaScript codebases. This article guides you through setting up Nx in a pnpm workspace.

Why Use Nx with pnpm?

Nx enhances the monorepo experience by providing advanced tooling for building, testing, and deploying applications. When combined with pnpm, it offers efficient dependency management and powerful workspace capabilities.

Prerequisites

Assuming that you have already read the second article of series. Link of article: https://fazalerabbi.medium.com/monorepo-using-pnpm-workspaces-cb23ed332127

You can clone the github repo.

GitHub - fazalerabbi/pnpm-workspace

Add Nx to Your Workspace: Initialize the Nx workspace in your project:

pnpx nx@latest init

Build Projects: Let we have two apps api and ui.

pnpx nx build api
pnpx nx build ui

Run build command on all apps: Following command run all build command on all apps at once.

pnpx nx run-many -t=build

Using Nx with pnpm: Nx provides a rich CLI and graphical interface for managing your projects. You can run build, test, and lint commands for specific projects.

pnpx nx run-many --targets=lint,test,build --projects=api

Or for all projects.

pnpx nx run-many --targets=lint,test,build

Advanced Nx Features

1. Incremental Builds: Nx caches build artifacts, so only changed projects are rebuilt, significantly speeding up the build process.
2. Distributed Caching: Share cache artifacts across different environments, reducing build times for CI pipelines.
3. Code Generation: Nx provides powerful code generation capabilities, ensuring consistent project structure and configuration.

Conclusion

Setting up Nx in a pnpm workspace combines the strengths of both tools, offering an efficient and scalable solution for managing monorepos. With features like incremental builds and distributed caching, Nx enhances the developer experience, making it easier to manage complex projects.