Monorepo Management

When to use this skill

Use Monorepo Management when an AI agent needs a reusable SKILL.md workflow for this job: Master monorepo management with Turborepo, Nx, and pnpm workspaces to build efficient, scalable multi-package repositories with optimized builds and dependency management. Use when setting up monorepos, optimizing builds, or managing shared dependencies.

When not to use it

Skip Monorepo Management when the task is outside the coding category, or when a more specific skill in this directory already covers the same workflow with clearer triggers.

How to install

1. Personal install: create ~/.claude/skills/monorepo-management/SKILL.md (and any bundled scripts) so Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and compatible agents can load it in every project.
2. Project install: commit the same folder at .claude/skills/monorepo-management/ so teammates get the skill with the repo.
3. Restart the agent session after copying files so it re-scans the skills directory, then ask for the task in words that match the skill description.

Full install guide for Claude, Cursor, and Codex

What this skill does

# Monorepo Management

Build efficient, scalable monorepos that enable code sharing, consistent tooling, and atomic changes across multiple packages and applications.

## When to Use This Skill

- Setting up new monorepo projects - Migrating from multi-repo to monorepo - Optimizing build and test performance - Managing shared dependencies - Implementing code sharing strategies - Setting up CI/CD for monorepos - Versioning and publishing packages - Debugging monorepo-specific issues

## Core Concepts

### 1. Why Monorepos?

**Advantages:**

- Shared code and dependencies - Atomic commits across projects - Consistent tooling and standards - Easier refactoring - Simplified dependency management - Better code visibility

**Challenges:**

- Build performance at scale - CI/CD complexity - Access control - Large Git repository

### 2. Monorepo Tools

**Package Managers:**

- pnpm workspaces (recommended) - npm workspaces - Yarn workspaces

**Build Systems:**

- Turborepo (recommended for most) - Nx (feature-rich, complex) - Lerna (older, maintenance mode)

## Turborepo Setup

### Initial Setup

```bash # Create new monorepo npx create-turbo@latest my-monorepo cd my-monorepo

# Structure: # apps/ # web/ - Next.js app # docs/ - Documentation site # packages/ # ui/ - Shared UI components # config/ - Shared configurations # tsconfig/ - Shared TypeScript configs # turbo.json - Turborepo configuration # package.json - Root package.json ```

### Configuration

```json // turbo.json { "$schema": "https://turbo.build/schema.json", "globalDependencies": ["**/.env.*local"], "pipeline": { "build": { "dependsOn": ["^build"], "outputs": ["dist/**", ".next/**", "!.next/cache/**"] }, "test": { "dependsOn": ["build"], "outputs": ["coverage/**"] }, "lint": { "outputs": [] }, "dev": { "cache": false, "persistent": true }, "type-check": { "dependsOn": ["^build"], "outputs": [] } } } ```

```json // package.json (root) { "name": "my-monorepo", "private": true, "workspaces": ["apps/*", "packages/*"], "scripts": { "build": "turbo run build", "dev": "turbo run dev", "test": "turbo run test", "lint": "turbo run lint", "format": "prettier --write \"**/*.{ts,tsx,md}\"", "clean": "turbo run clean && rm -rf node_modules" }, "devDependencies": { "turbo": "^1.10.0", "prettier": "^3.0.0", "typescript": "^5.0.0" }, "packageManager": "[email protected]" } ```

### Package Structure

```json // packages/ui/package.json { "name": "@repo/ui", "version": "0.0.0", "private": true, "main": "./dist/index.js", "types": "./dist/index.d.ts", "exports": { ".": { "import": "./dist/index.js", "types": "./dist/index.d.ts" }, "./button": { "import": "./dist/button.js", "types": "./dist/button.d.ts" } }, "scripts": { "build": "tsup src/index.ts --format esm,cjs --dts", "dev": "tsup src/index.ts --format esm,cjs --dts --watch", "lint": "eslint src/", "type-check": "tsc --noEmit" }, "devDependencies": { "@repo/tsconfig": "workspace:*", "tsup": "^7.0.0", "typescript": "^5.0.0" }, "dependencies": { "react": "^18.2.0" } } ```

## Detailed patterns and worked examples

Detailed pattern documentation lives in `references/details.md`. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.

## Best Practices

1. **Consistent Versioning**: Lock dependency versions across workspace 2. **Shared Configs**: Centralize ESLint, TypeScript, Prettier configs 3. **Dependency Graph**: Keep it acyclic, avoid circular dependencies 4. **Cache Effectively**: Configure inputs/outputs correctly 5. **Type Safety**: Share types between frontend/backend 6. **Testing Strategy**: Unit tests in packages, E2E in apps 7. **Documentation**: README in each package 8. **Release Strategy**: Use changesets for versioning

## Common Pitfalls

- **Circular Dependencies**: A depends on B, B depends on A - **Phantom Dependencies**: Using deps not in package.json - **Incorrect Cache Inputs**: Missing files in Turborepo inputs - **Over-Sharing**: Sharing code that should be separate - **Under-Sharing**: Duplicating code across packages - **Large Monorepos**: Without proper tooling, builds slow down

## Publishing Packages

```bash # Using Changesets pnpm add -Dw @changesets/cli pnpm changeset init

# Create changeset pnpm changeset

# Version packages pnpm changeset version

# Publish pnpm changeset publish ```

```yaml # .github/workflows/release.yml - name: Create Release Pull Request or Publish uses: changesets/action@v1 with: publish: pnpm release env: GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }} ```

Intended uses

• Setting up new monorepo projects
• Migrating from multi-repo to monorepo
• Optimizing build and test performance
• Managing shared dependencies
• Implementing code sharing strategies
• Setting up CI/CD for monorepos
• Versioning and publishing packages
• Debugging monorepo-specific issues