Nx NestJS Workspace Setup - Complete Guide

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v20 or higher)
• pnpm installed globally (npm install -g pnpm)

Initial Setup

1. Create Workspace

npx create-nx-workspace@latest nestjs-migrate-nx --preset=ts --packageManager=pnpm
cd nestjs-migrate-nx

2. Install Essential Plugins

pnpm install -D @nx/nest @nx/node @nx/eslint @nx/jest @nx/webpack

Library Creation

3. Create Domain Libraries

# Framework library (infrastructure)
nx g @nx/nest:lib --name=framework --directory=libs/framework --buildable

# Core domain library (core logic)
nx g @nx/nest:lib --name=core --directory=libs/core --buildable

# Plugins library (extensibility)
nx g @nx/nest:lib --name=plugins --directory=libs/plugins --buildable

# Shared library (utilities)
nx g @nx/nest:lib --name=shared --directory=libs/shared --buildable

4. Create Applications

# Admin application
nx g @nx/nest:app --name=admin --directory=apps/admin

# API backend application
nx g @nx/nest:app --name=api --directory=apps/api

# Workers application (background jobs)
nx g @nx/nest:app --name=workers --directory=apps/workers

Build and Serve

5. Build All Projects

nx run-many --target=build --all

6. Serve Applications

# Serve individual applications
nx serve api        # http://localhost:3001
nx serve admin      # http://localhost:3000
nx serve workers    # Background process

# Or serve all applications in development mode
nx run-many --target=serve --all

Essential Nx Commands

Development

# Serve with watch mode
nx serve api --watch

# Serve with different port
nx serve api --port=4000

# Serve with production configuration
nx serve api --configuration=production

Testing

# Test specific project
nx test api
nx test core

# Test all projects
nx run-many --target=test --all

# Test with watch mode
nx test api --watch

Linting

# Lint specific project
nx lint api

# Lint all projects
nx run-many --target=lint --all

# Fix lint issues automatically
nx lint api --fix

Building

# Build specific project
nx build api
nx build core

# Build for production
nx build api --configuration=production

# Build all projects
nx run-many --target=build --all

Visualization

# Show project graph
nx graph

# Show project information
nx show project api

# List all projects
nx show projects

Dependency Management

Adding Dependencies

# Add production dependency to specific project
nx g @nx/node:setup-build --project=api
pnpm add class-validator

# Add dev dependency to workspace
pnpm add -D @types/node

# Add dependency to specific library
pnpm add lodash --filter @nestjs-migrate-nx/core

Dependency Graph

Set up dependencies in project.json files:

{
  "dependencies": {
    "@nestjs-migrate-nx/shared": "*",
    "@nestjs-migrate-nx/core": "*"
  }
}

Configurations

Development Environment

export const environment = {
  production: false,
  databaseUrl: 'postgresql://localhost:5432/dev_db',
  port: 3000,
};

Production Environment

export const environment = {
  production: true,
  databaseUrl: process.env.DATABASE_URL,
  port: process.env.PORT || 3000,
};

Issues & Solutions

Port Already in Use

# Kill process on port 3000
npx kill-port 3000

# Or use different port
nx serve api --port=3001

Build Failures

# Clear Nx cache
nx reset

# Delete node_modules and reinstall
rm -rf node_modules
pnpm install

Module Resolution

# Check dependency graph
nx graph

# Verify imports use correct paths
# Use: @nestjs-migrate-nx/core instead of relative paths

Next Steps (optional)

Installing Packages

pnpm add @nestjs/typeorm typeorm pg
pnpm add @nestjs/passport @nestjs/jwt passport-jwt
pnpm add @nestjs/swagger swagger-ui-express
pnpm add nest-winston winston
pnpm add @nestjs/config

Useful Scripts

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev:api": "nx serve api",
    "dev:admin": "nx serve admin",
    "dev:all": "nx run-many --target=serve --all",
    "build:all": "nx run-many --target=build --all",
    "test:all": "nx run-many --target=test --all",
    "lint:all": "nx run-many --target=lint --all",
    "graph": "nx graph"
  }
}

Access Points

• API Application: http://localhost:3001
• Admin Application: http://localhost:3000
• Project Graph: Run nx graph and open browser
• Nx Console: Available as VSCode extension

Support

• Nx Documentation: https://nx.dev/
• NestJS Documentation: https://docs.nestjs.com/
• GitHub Repository: Your workspace Git repo

This setup creates a scalable enterprise-grade NestJS monorepo with proper separation of concerns and buildable libraries.