Nx Workspace

# Nx Workspace Exploration

This skill provides read-only exploration of Nx workspaces. Use it to understand workspace structure, project configuration, available targets, and dependencies.

Keep in mind that you might have to prefix commands with `npx`/`pnpx`/`yarn` if nx isn't installed globally. Check the lockfile to determine the package manager in use.

## Listing Projects

Use `nx show projects` to list projects in the workspace.

The project filtering syntax (`-p`/`--projects`) works across many Nx commands including `nx run-many`, `nx release`, `nx show projects`, and more. Filters support explicit names, glob patterns, tag references (e.g. `tag:name`), directories, and negation (e.g. `!project-name`).

```bash # List all projects nx show projects

# Filter by pattern (glob) nx show projects --projects "apps/*" nx show projects --projects "shared-*"

# Filter by tag nx show projects --projects "tag:publishable" nx show projects -p 'tag:publishable,!tag:internal'

# Filter by target (projects that have a specific target) nx show projects --withTarget build

# Combine filters nx show projects --type lib --withTarget test nx show projects --affected --exclude="*-e2e" nx show projects -p "tag:scope:client,packages/*"

# Negate patterns nx show projects -p '!tag:private' nx show projects -p '!*-e2e'

# Output as JSON nx show projects --json ```

## Project Configuration

Use `nx show project <name> --json` to get the full resolved configuration for a project.

**Important**: Do NOT read `project.json` directly - it only contains partial configuration. The `nx show project --json` command returns the full resolved config including inferred targets from plugins.

You can read the full project schema at `node_modules/nx/schemas/project-schema.json` to understand nx project configuration options.

```bash # Get full project configuration nx show project my-app --json

# Extract specific parts from the JSON nx show project my-app --json | jq '.targets' nx show project my-app --json | jq '.targets.build' nx show project my-app --json | jq '.targets | keys'

# Check project metadata nx show project my-app --json | jq '{name, root, sourceRoot, projectType, tags}' ```

## Target Information

Targets define what tasks can be run on a project.

```bash # List all targets for a project nx show project my-app --json | jq '.targets | keys'

# Get full target configuration nx show project my-app --json | jq '.targets.build'

# Check target executor/command nx show project my-app --json | jq '.targets.build.executor' nx show project my-app --json | jq '.targets.build.command'

# View target options nx show project my-app --json | jq '.targets.build.options'

# Check target inputs/outputs (for caching) nx show project my-app --json | jq '.targets.build.inputs' nx show project my-app --json | jq '.targets.build.outputs'

# Find projects with a specific target nx show projects --withTarget serve nx show projects --withTarget e2e ```

## Workspace Configuration

Read `nx.json` directly for workspace-level configuration. You can read the full project schema at `node_modules/nx/schemas/nx-schema.json` to understand nx project configuration options.

```bash # Read the full nx.json cat nx.json

# Or use jq for specific sections cat nx.json | jq '.targetDefaults' cat nx.json | jq '.namedInputs' cat nx.json | jq '.plugins' cat nx.json | jq '.generators' ```

Key nx.json sections:

- `targetDefaults` - Default configuration applied to all targets of a given name - `namedInputs` - Reusable input definitions for caching - `plugins` - Nx plugins and their configuration - ...and much more, read the schema or nx.json for details

## Affected Projects

If the user is asking about affected projects, read the [affected projects reference](references/AFFECTED.md) for detailed commands and examples.

## Common Exploration Patterns

### "What's in this workspace?"

```bash nx show projects nx show projects --type app nx show projects --type lib ```

### "How do I build/test/lint project X?"

```bash nx show project X --json | jq '.targets | keys' nx show project X --json | jq '.targets.build' ```

### "What depends on library Y?"

```bash # Use the project graph to find dependents nx graph --print | jq '.graph.dependencies | to_entries[] | select(.value[].target == "Y") | .key' ```

## Programmatic Answers

When processing nx CLI results, use command-line tools to compute the answer programmatically rather than counting or parsing output manually. Always use `--json` flags to get structured output that can be processed with `jq`, `grep`, or other tools you have installed locally.

### Listing Projects

```bash nx show projects --json ```

Example output:

```json ["my-app", "my-app-e2e", "shared-ui", "shared-utils", "api"] ```

Common operations:

```bash # Count projects nx show projects --json | jq 'length'

# Filter by pattern nx show projects --json | jq '.[] | select(startswith("shared-"))'

# Get affected projects as array nx show pr