Configuration
There are two main types of configuration in every Nx workspace: project configuration and the global Nx CLI configuration.
Many Nx plugins modify these files when generating new code, but you can also modify them manually.
Project Configuration
Project configuration is defined in the package.json
and project.json
files located in each project's folder. Nx
merges the two files to get each project's configuration.
If you don't use any Nx plugins, your project configuration will be defined in its package.json
. If you use Nx
plugins, the relevant configuration will be defined in project.json
.
package json
Every npm script defined in package.json
is a target you can invoke via Nx. For instance, if your project has the
following package.json
:
1{
2 "name": "mylib",
3 "scripts": {
4 "test: "jest",
5 "build": "tsc -p tsconfig.lib.json" // the actual command here is arbitrary
6 }
7}
you can invoke nx clean mylib
or nx test mylib
without any extra configuration.
You can add Nx-specific configuration as follows:
1{
2 "name": "mylib",
3 "scripts": {
4 "test: "jest",
5 "build": "tsc -p tsconfig.lib.json" // the actual command here is arbitrary
6 },
7 "nx": {
8 "targets": {
9 "build": {
10 "outputs": ["dist/libs/mylib"],
11 "dependsOn": [
12 {
13 "target": "build",
14 "projects": "dependencies"
15 }
16 ]
17 }
18 }
19 }
20}
This tells Nx that the build
target of mylib
depends on the same target of all mylib
's dependencies, so they
always have to be built first. It also tells Nx that the build is going to create files in dist/libs/mylib
.
The configuration above is actually not needed. Nx comes with reasonable defaults (imported in nx.json
) which
implement the configuration above.
Another common thing is to define dependencies between targets of the same project:
1{
2 "name": "mylib",
3 "scripts": {
4 "test: "jest",
5 "build": "tsc -p tsconfig.lib.json" // the actual command here is arbitrary
6 },
7 "nx": {
8 "targets": {
9 "test": {
10 "dependsOn": {
11 "target": "build",
12 "projects": "self"
13 }
14 }
15 }
16 }
17}
Adding Tags and Implicit Dependencies
1{
2 "name": "mylib",
3 "nx": {
4 "tags": ["scope:myteam"],
5 "implicitDependencies": ["anotherlib"]
6 }
7}
tags
configures tags used for lintingimplicitDependencies
configure implicit dependencies between projects in the workspace (see below)
Ignoring a project
Nx will add every project with a package.json
file in it to its project graph. If you want to ignore a particular
project, add the following to its package.json
:
1{
2 "name": "mylib",
3 "nx": {
4 "ignore": true
5 }
6}
project json
The project.json
file contains configuration specific to its project. This file is often created when you use Nx
Plugins. Everything you can configure in package.json
you can also configure in project.json
. In addition, you can
configure custom executors, which are used instead of npm scripts. Custom executors are typed, toolable and provide a
lot more flexibility for running long-live processes. They are also more composable.
If you satisfied with npm scripts though, you will never see a project.json
file in your workspace. But we encourage
you to explore Nx Plugins and the power they bring.
Let's look at the following project.json
:
1{
2 "root": "libs/mylib/",
3 "sourceRoot": "libs/mylib/src",
4 "projectType": "library",
5 "targets": {},
6 "tags": [],
7 "implicitDependencies": []
8}
root
tells Nx the location of the library including its sources and configuration files.sourceRoot
tells Nx the location of the library's source files.projectType
is either 'application' or 'library'. The project type is used in dep graph viz and in a few aux commands.targets
configures all the targets which define what tasks you can run against the library.tags
configures tags used for lintingimplicitDependencies
configure implicit dependencies between projects in the workspace (see below)
Targets
Let's look at a sample test target:
1{
2 "test": {
3 "executor": "@nrwl/jest:jest",
4 "options": {
5 "jestConfig": "libs/mylib/jest.config.js",
6 "tsConfig": "libs/mylib/tsconfig.spec.json"
7 }
8 }
9}
Target Name
The name of the target test
means that you can invoke it as follows: nx test mylib
or nx run mylib:test
. The name
isn't significant in any other way. If you rename it to, for example, mytest
, you will be able to run as
follows: nx mytest mylib
or nx run mylib:mytest
.
Executor
The executor
property tells Nx what function to invoke when you run the target. "@nrwl/jest:jest"
tells Nx to find
the @nrwl/jest
package, find the executor named jest
and invoke it with the options.
Options
The options
provides a map of values that will be passed to the executor. The provided command line args will be
merged into this map. I.e., nx test mylib --jestConfig=libs/mylib/another-jest.config.js
will pass the following to
the executor:
1{
2 "jestConfig": "libs/mylib/another-jest.config.js",
3 "tsConfig": "libs/mylib/tsconfig.spec.json"
4}
Outputs
The outputs
property lists the folders the executor creates files in. The property is optional. If not provided, Nx
assumes it is dist/app/myapp
or dist/libs/mylib
.
1{
2 "build": {
3 "executor": "@nrwl/js:tsc",
4 "outputs": ["dist/apps/myapp"],
5 "options": {
6 "tsConfig": "apps/myapp/tsconfig.app.json",
7 "main": "apps/myapp/src/main.ts"
8 }
9 }
10}
Configurations
The configurations
property provides extra sets of values that will be merged into the options map.
1{
2 "build": {
3 "executor": "@nrwl/js:tsc",
4 "outputs": ["dist/apps/myapp"],
5 "options": {
6 "tsConfig": "apps/myapp/tsconfig.app.json",
7 "main": "apps/myapp/src/main.ts"
8 },
9 "configurations": {
10 "production": {
11 "tsConfig": "apps/myapp/tsconfig-prod.app.json"
12 }
13 }
14 }
15}
You can select a configuration like this: nx build myapp --configuration=production
or nx run myapp:build:configuration=production
.
The following show how the executor options get constructed:
1require(`@nrwl/jest`).executors['jest']({ ...options, ...selectedConfiguration, ...commandLineArgs }
2}) // Pseudocode
The selected configuration adds/overrides the default options, and the provided command line args add/override the configuration options.
Target Dependencies
Targets can depend on other targets. A common scenario is having to build dependencies of a project first before
building the project. You can specify this using the dependsOn
.
1{
2 "build": {
3 "executor": "@nrwl/js:tsc",
4 "outputs": ["dist/apps/myapp"],
5 "options": {
6 "tsConfig": "apps/myapp/tsconfig.app.json",
7 "main": "apps/myapp/src/main.ts"
8 },
9 "dependsOn": [
10 {
11 "target": "build",
12 "projects": "dependencies"
13 }
14 ]
15 }
16}
In this case, running nx build myapp
builds all the buildable libraries myapp
depends on first. In other
words, nx build myapp
results in multiple tasks executing. The --parallel
flag has the same effect as they would
with run-many
or affected
.
It is also possible to define dependencies between the targets of the same project.
In the following example invoking nx build myapp
builds all the libraries first, then nx build-base myapp
is
executed and only then nx build myapp
is executed.
1{
2 "build-base": {
3 "executor": "@nrwl/js:tsc",
4 "outputs": ["dist/apps/myapp"],
5 "options": {
6 "tsConfig": "apps/myapp/tsconfig.app.json",
7 "main": "apps/myapp/src/main.ts"
8 }
9 },
10 "build": {
11 "executor": "@nrwl/workspace:run-commands",
12 "dependsOn": [
13 {
14 "target": "build",
15 "projects": "dependencies"
16 },
17 {
18 "target": "build-base",
19 "projects": "self"
20 }
21 ],
22 "options": {
23 "command": "./copy-readme-and-license.sh"
24 }
25 }
26}
Often the same dependsOn
configuration has to be defined for every project in the repo. You can define it once
in nx.json
(see below).
workspace json
The workspace.json
is optional. It's used if you want to list the projects in your workspace explicitly instead of Nx
scanning the file tree for all project.json
and package.json
files.
1{
2 "version": 2,
3 "projects": {
4 "myapp": "apps/myapp"
5 }
6}
"version": 2
tells Nx that we are using Nx's format for theworkspace.json
file.projects
is a map of project name to either the project location, or its configuration. ( seeproject.json
)
You could inline project.json
files into workspace.json
. This used to be the default, but it's no longer
recommended. If you have an existing workspace where the configuration is inlined,
run nx g convert-to-nx-project --all
.
If you have an old workspace where the configuration version is set to 1, change the version number to 2 and
run nx format
.
CLI Configuration
nx json
The nx.json
file contains extra configuration options mostly related to the project graph.
The following is an expanded version showing all options. Your nx.json
will likely be much shorter.
1{
2 "npmScope": "happyorg",
3 "affected": {
4 "defaultBase": "main"
5 },
6 "tasksRunnerOptions": {
7 "default": {
8 "runner": "@nrwl/workspace/tasks-runners/default",
9 "options": {
10 "cacheableOperations": ["build", "lint", "test", "e2e"]
11 }
12 }
13 },
14 "implicitDependencies": {
15 "workspace.json": "*",
16 "package.json": {
17 "dependencies": "*",
18 "devDependencies": "*"
19 },
20 "tsconfig.base.json": "*",
21 "nx.json": "*"
22 },
23 "targetDependencies": {
24 "build": [
25 {
26 "target": "build",
27 "projects": "dependencies"
28 }
29 ]
30 },
31 "workspaceLayout": {
32 "appsDir": "demos",
33 "libsDir": "packages"
34 },
35 "cli": {
36 "defaultCollection": "@nrwl/js"
37 }
38}
NPM Scope
Tells Nx what prefix to use when generating library imports.
Affected
Tells Nx which branch and HEAD to use when calculating affected projects.
defaultBase
defines the default base branch, defaulted tomain
.
Tasks Runner Options
Tasks runners are invoked when you run nx test
, nx build
, nx run-many
, nx affected
, and so on. The tasks runner
named "default" is used by default. Specify a different one by passing --runner
.
A task is an invocation of a target.
Tasks runners can accept different options. The following are the options supported
by "@nrwl/workspace/tasks-runners/default"
and "@nrwl/nx-cloud"
.
cacheableOperations
defines the list of targets/operations that are cached by Nx.parallel
defines the max number of targets ran in parallel (in older versions of Nx you had to pass--parallel --maxParallel=3
instead of--parallel=3
)captureStderr
defines whether the cache captures stderr or just stdoutskipNxCache
defines whether the Nx Cache should be skipped. Defaults tofalse
cacheDirectory
defines where the local cache is stored, which isnode_modules/.cache/nx
by default.encryptionKey
(when using"@nrwl/nx-cloud"
only) defines an encryption key to support end-to-end encryption of your cloud cache. You may also provide an environment variable with the keyNX_CLOUD_ENCRYPTION_KEY
that contains an encryption key as its value. The Nx Cloud task runner normalizes the key length, so any length of key is acceptable.runtimeCacheInputs
defines the list of commands that are run by the runner to include into the computation hash value.selectivelyHashTsConfig
only hash the path mapping of the active project in thetsconfig.base.json
(e.g., adding/removing projects doesn't affect the hash of existing projects). Defaults tofalse
runtimeCacheInputs
are set as follows:
1{
2 "tasksRunnerOptions": {
3 "default": {
4 "runner": "@nrwl/workspace/tasks-runners/default",
5 "options": {
6 "cacheableOperations": ["build", "lint", "test", "e2e"],
7 "runtimeCacheInputs": ["node -v"]
8 }
9 }
10 }
11}
You can configure parallel
in nx.json
, but you can also pass them in the
terminal nx run-many --target=test --parallel=5
.
Workspace Layout
You can add a workspaceLayout
property to modify where libraries and apps are located.
1{
2 "workspaceLayout": {
3 "appsDir": "demos",
4 "libsDir": "packages"
5 }
6}
These settings would store apps in /demos/
and libraries in /packages/
. The paths specified are relative to the
workspace root.
Implicit Dependencies
Nx performs advanced source-code analysis to figure out the project graph of the workspace. So when you make a change,
Nx can deduce what can be broken by this change. Some dependencies between projects and dependencies between shared
files and projects cannot be inferred statically. You can configure those using implicitDependencies
.
1{
2 "implicitDependencies": {
3 "workspace.json": "*",
4 "package.json": {
5 "dependencies": "*",
6 "devDependencies": {
7 "mypackage": ["mylib"]
8 },
9 "scripts": {
10 "check:*": "*"
11 }
12 },
13 "globalFile": ["myapp"],
14 "styles/**/*.css": ["myapp"]
15 }
16}
In the example above:
- Changing
workspace.json
affects every project. - Changing the
dependencies
property inpackage.json
affects every project. - Changing the
devDependencies
property inpackage.json
only affectsmylib
. - Changing any of the custom check
scripts
inpackage.json
affects every project. - Changing
globalFile
only affectsmyapp
. - Changing any CSS file inside the
styles
directory only affectsmyapp
.
You can also add dependencies between projects in project configuration. For instance, the example
below defines a dependency from myapp-e2e
to myapp
, such that every time myapp
is affected, myapp-e2e
is
affected as well.
1{
2 //... other project config
3 "tags": [],
4 "implicitDependencies": ["myapp"]
5}
Finally, you can remove dependencies between projects. The following say even though the project imports 'mylib', it's not a dependency Nx should be concerned with.
1{
2 //... other project config
3 "tags": [],
4 "implicitDependencies": ["!mylib"]
5}
Target Dependencies
Targets can depend on other targets. A common scenario is having to build dependencies of a project first before
building the project. The dependsOn
property in workspace.json
can be used to define the list of dependencies of an
individual target.
Often the same dependsOn
configuration has to be defined for every project in the repo, and that's when
defining targetDependencies
in nx.json
is helpful.
1{
2 "targetDependencies": {
3 "build": [
4 {
5 "target": "build",
6 "projects": "dependencies"
7 }
8 ]
9 }
10}
The configuration above is identical to adding {"dependsOn": [{"target": "build", "projects": "dependencies"]}
to
every build target in workspace.json
.
The dependsOn
property in workspace.json
takes precedence over the targetDependencies
in nx.json
.
CLI Options
The following command generates a new library: nx g @nrwl/js:lib mylib
. After setting the defaultCollection
property,
the lib is generated without mentioning the collection name: nx g lib mylib
.
1{
2 "cli": {
3 "defaultCollection": "@nrwl/js"
4 }
5}
Generators
Default generator options are configured in nx.json
as well. For instance, the following tells Nx to always
pass --buildable=true
when creating new libraries.
1{
2 "generators": {
3 "@nrwl/js:library": {
4 "buildable": true
5 }
6 }
7}
nxignore
You may optionally add an .nxignore
file to the root. This file is used to specify files in your workspace that should
be completely ignored by Nx.
The syntax is the same as
a .gitignore
file.
When a file is specified in the .nxignore
file:
- Changes to that file are not taken into account in the
affected
calculations. - Even if the file is outside an app or library,
nx workspace-lint
won't warn about it.
Keeping the configuration in sync
When creating projects, the Nx generators make sure these configuration files are updated accordingly for the new projects. While development continues and the workspace grows, you might need to refactor projects by renaming them, moving them to a different folder, removing them, etc. When this is done manually, you need to ensure your configuration files are kept in sync and that's a cumbersome task. Fortunately, Nx provides some generators and executors to help you with these tasks.
Moving projects
Projects can be moved or renamed using the @nrwl/workspace:move generator.
For instance, if a library under the booking folder is now being shared by multiple apps, you can move it to the shared folder like this:
nx g @nrwl/workspace:move --project booking-some-library shared/some-library
Removing projects
Projects can be removed using the @nrwl/workspace:remove generator.
nx g @nrwl/workspace:remove booking-some-library
Validating the configuration
If at any point in time you want to check if your configuration is in sync, you can use the workspace-lint executor:
nx workspace-lint
This will identify any projects with no files in the configured project root folder, as well as any file that's not part of any project configured in the workspace.
Recent Changes
v13-3-0
workspace.json
is now optional- projects can be inferred completely from
package.json
ifworkspace.json
not present
- projects can be inferred completely from
- Targets are now merged from
package.json
instead of only being used if the project has no targets defined. - Targets inferred from
package.json
can now have an extended configuration. See above
v13-0-0
Some settings were moved between workspace.json
/project.json
and nx.json
.
- tags / implicit dependencies are no longer in
nx.json
were moved fromnx.json
to project configuration. cli
anddefaultProject
moved tonx.json
fromworkspace.json
- Non-project specific generator defaults in
workspace.json
via thegenerators
/schematics
property moved tonx.json
v12-4-0
Standalone configuration and project.json
introduced. See above
- tags / implicit dependencies are no longer in
nx.json
for projects usingproject.json
.