Nx Workspace Analyzer

Nx is a build system and monorepo toolkit that makes large-scale JavaScript/TypeScript projects manageable. It provides task scheduling with caching, affected command detection (only test/build what changed), project graph visualization, code generators, and plugins for React, Next.js, Angular, NestJS, and more. Unlike Turborepo which is purely a task runner, Nx is a full-featured development platform with generators, executors, and a rich plugin ecosystem.

cacheableOperations lists the task targets that Nx should cache. When you run `nx run my-app:build`, Nx hashes the inputs (source files, dependencies, config) and checks the local or Nx Cloud cache. On a hit, it replays the cached output in milliseconds. Set cacheableOperations to tasks that are deterministic: build, test, lint, typecheck, storybook:build. Do NOT cache dev servers or tasks with side effects like database migrations.

`nx affected --target=test` runs the test target only for projects that have changed compared to the base branch. Nx traces the project dependency graph to also include any project that depends on a changed project. The base branch is configured via `affected.defaultBase` in nx.json (usually 'main'). In CI, you can override with `--base=origin/main --head=HEAD`. This is the primary way Nx speeds up CI — skipping unchanged projects entirely.

targetDefaults in nx.json applies to all projects in the workspace as a default configuration for each target. For example, setting `targetDefaults.build.dependsOn = ["^build"]` means every project's build waits for its dependencies to build first. Individual projects can override these defaults in their own project.json. targetDefaults is useful for workspace-wide conventions like caching strategy and dependency ordering without repeating config in every project.

namedInputs are reusable sets of file patterns used to define what files affect a task's cache. The 'default' input typically includes all project files plus shared globals. The 'production' input excludes test files and test setup, so changing test files doesn't invalidate production build cache. Reference them in targetDefaults: `inputs: ['production', '^production']` means use 'production' files from this project and all upstream projects. This fine-grained control prevents unnecessary cache misses.

Choose Turborepo if: you want a lightweight task runner that's easy to adopt incrementally, you're mainly focused on build speed, and you don't need code generators. Choose Nx if: you want a full development platform with generators, executors, project graph visualization, and a plugin ecosystem. Nx scales better for large teams and complex projects. Turborepo has a simpler mental model. Both support any framework and can be adopted incrementally. For a new greenfield monorepo with a large team, Nx is generally the stronger choice.