Turborepo Monorepo

Overview

Provides comprehensive guidance for working with Turborepo monorepos in TypeScript/JavaScript projects. Turborepo is a high-performance build system written in Rust that optimizes task execution through intelligent caching, parallelization, and dependency graph analysis. This skill covers workspace creation, task configuration, framework integration (Next.js, NestJS, Vite), testing setup, CI/CD pipelines, and performance optimization.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Creating a new Turborepo workspace or initializing in an existing project
• Configuring turbo.json tasks with proper dependencies and outputs
• Setting up Next.js or NestJS applications in a monorepo
• Configuring Vitest or Jest testing pipelines
• Implementing CI/CD workflows (GitHub Actions, CircleCI, GitLab CI)
• Setting up remote caching or Vercel Remote Cache
• Optimizing build times and cache hit ratios
• Managing package configurations for specific apps/libs
• Debugging task dependency issues
• Migrating from other monorepo tools to Turborepo

Trigger phrases: "create Turborepo workspace", "Turborepo monorepo", "turbo.json config", "Turborepo Next.js", "Turborepo NestJS", "Turborepo CI/CD", "Vitest Turborepo"

Instructions

Workspace Creation

1. Create a new workspace:

   # Using pnpm (recommended)
   pnpm create turbo@latest my-workspace
   
   # Using npm
   npm create turbo@latest my-workspace
   
   # Using yarn
   yarn create turbo my-workspace
   

2. Initialize in an existing project:

   pnpm add -D -w turbo
   

3. Create turbo.json in root:

   {
     "$schema": "https://turborepo.dev/schema.json",
     "pipeline": {
       "build": {
         "dependsOn": ["^build"],
         "outputs": ["dist/**", ".next/**"]
       },
       "lint": {
         "outputs": []
       },
       "test": {
         "dependsOn": ["build"],
         "outputs": ["coverage/**"]
       }
     }
   }
   

4. Add scripts to root package.json:

   {
     "scripts": {
       "build": "turbo run build",
       "dev": "turbo run dev",
       "lint": "turbo run lint",
       "test": "turbo run test",
       "clean": "turbo run clean"
     }
   }
   

Task Configuration

1. Configure task dependencies:

   {
     "pipeline": {
       "build": {
         "dependsOn": ["^build"],
         "outputs": ["dist/**"]
       },
       "test": {
         "dependsOn": ["build"],
         "outputs": ["coverage/**"]
       },
       "lint": {
         "outputs": []
       }
     }
   }
   

2. Run tasks across packages:

   # Run task for all packages
   turbo run build
   
   # Run multiple tasks
   turbo run lint test build
   
   # Run for specific package
   turbo run build --filter=web
   

3. Use transit nodes for parallel type checking:

   {
     "pipeline": {
       "transit": {
         "dependsOn": ["^transit"]
       },
       "typecheck": {
         "dependsOn": ["transit"],
         "outputs": []
       }
     }
   }
   

Framework Integration

1. Next.js app configuration:

   {
     "pipeline": {
       "build": {
         "dependsOn": ["^build"],
         "outputs": [".next/**", "!.next/cache/**"],
         "env": ["NEXT_PUBLIC_*"]
       }
     }
   }
   

   See references/nextjs-config.md for complete Next.js setup.

2. NestJS API configuration:

   {
     "pipeline": {
       "build": {
         "dependsOn": ["^build"],
         "outputs": ["dist/**"]
       },
       "start:dev": {
         "cache": false,
         "persistent": true
       }
     }
   }
   

   See references/nestjs-config.md for complete NestJS setup.

Testing Setup

1. Vitest configuration:

   {
     "pipeline": {
       "test": {
         "outputs": [],
         "inputs": ["$TURBO_DEFAULT$", "vitest.config.ts"]
       },
       "test:watch": {
         "cache": false,
         "persistent": true
       }
     }
   }
   

2. Run affected tests:

   turbo run test --filter=[HEAD^]
   

   See references/testing-config.md for complete testing setup.

Package Configurations

1. Create package-specific turbo.json:

   {
     "extends": ["//"],
     "tasks": {
       "build": {
         "outputs": ["$TURBO_EXTENDS$", ".next/**"]
       }
     }
   }
   

   See references/package-configs.md for detailed package configuration patterns.

CI/CD Setup

1. GitHub Actions basic workflow:

   - name: Install dependencies
     run: pnpm install
   
   - name: Run tests
     run: pnpm run test --filter=[HEAD^]
   
   - name: Build
     run: pnpm run build --filter=[HEAD^]
   

2. Remote cache setup:

   # Login to Vercel
   npx turbo login
   
   # Link repository
   npx turbo link
   

   See references/ci-cd.md for complete CI/CD setup examples.

Task Properties Reference

Property	Description	Example
dependsOn	Tasks that must complete first	["^build"] - dependencies first
outputs	Files/folders to cache	["dist/**"]
inputs	Files for cache hash	["src/**/*.ts"]
env	Environment variables affecting hash	["DATABASE_URL"]
cache	Enable/disable caching	true or false
persistent	Long-running task	true for dev servers
outputLogs	Log verbosity	"full", "new-only", "errors-only"

Dependency Patterns

• ^task - Run task in dependencies first (topological order)
• task - Run task in same package first
• package#task - Run specific package's task

Filter Syntax

Filter	Description
web	Only web package
web...	web + all dependencies
...web	web + all dependents
...web...	web + deps + dependents
[HEAD^]	Packages changed since last commit
./apps/*	All packages in apps/

Best Practices

Performance Optimization

1. Use specific outputs - Only cache what's needed
2. Fine-tune inputs - Exclude files that don't affect output
3. Transit nodes - Enable parallel type checking
4. Remote cache - Share cache across team/CI
5. Package configurations - Customize per-package behavior

Caching Strategy

{
  "pipeline": {
    "build": {
      "outputs": ["dist/**"],
      "inputs": ["$TURBO_DEFAULT$", "!README.md", "!**/*.md"]
    }
  }
}

Task Organization

• Independent tasks - No dependsOn: lint, format, spellcheck
• Build tasks - dependsOn: ["^build"]: build, compile
• Test tasks - dependsOn: ["build"]: test, e2e
• Dev tasks - cache: false, persistent: true: dev, watch

Workspace Structure

my-workspace/
├── apps/
│   ├── web/           # Next.js app
│   └── api/           # NestJS backend
├── packages/
│   ├── ui/            # React component library
│   └── config/        # Shared configs
├── turbo.json
├── package.json
└── pnpm-workspace.yaml

Common Issues

Tasks not running in order

Problem: Tasks execute in wrong order

Solution: Check dependsOn configuration

{
  "build": {
    "dependsOn": ["^build"]
  }
}

Cache misses on unchanged files

Problem: Cache invalidating unexpectedly

Solution: Review globalDependencies and inputs

{
  "globalDependencies": ["tsconfig.json"],
  "pipeline": {
    "build": {
      "inputs": ["$TURBO_DEFAULT$", "!*.md"]
    }
  }
}

Type errors after cache hit

Problem: TypeScript errors not caught due to cache

Solution: Use transit nodes for type checking

{
  "transit": { "dependsOn": ["^transit"] },
  "typecheck": { "dependsOn": ["transit"] }
}

Examples

Example 1: Create New Workspace

Input: "Create a Turborepo with Next.js and NestJS"

pnpm create turbo@latest my-workspace
cd my-workspace

# Add Next.js app
pnpm add next react react-dom -F apps/web

# Add NestJS API
pnpm add @nestjs/core @nestjs/common -F apps/api

Example 2: Configure Testing Pipeline

Input: "Set up Vitest for all packages"

{
  "pipeline": {
    "test": {
      "dependsOn": ["build"],
      "outputs": ["coverage/**"],
      "inputs": ["$TURBO_DEFAULT$", "vitest.config.ts"]
    },
    "test:watch": {
      "cache": false,
      "persistent": true
    }
  }
}

Example 3: Run Affected Tests in CI

Input: "Only test changed packages in CI"

pnpm run test --filter=[HEAD^]

Example 4: Debug Cache Issues

Input: "Why is my cache missing?"

# Dry run to see what would be executed
turbo run build --dry-run --filter=web

# Show hash inputs
turbo run build --force --filter=web

Constraints and Warnings

• Node.js 18+ is required for Turborepo
• Package manager field required in root package.json
• Outputs must be specified for caching to work
• Persistent tasks cannot have dependents
• Windows: WSL or Git Bash recommended
• Remote cache requires Vercel account or self-hosted solution
• Large monorepos may need increased concurrency settings

Reference Files

For detailed guidance on specific topics, consult:

Topic	Reference File
turbo.json template	references/turbo.json
Next.js integration	references/nextjs-config.md
NestJS integration	references/nestjs-config.md
Vitest/Jest/Playwright	references/testing-config.md
GitHub/CircleCI/GitLab CI	references/ci-cd.md
Package configurations	references/package-configs.md