Nx Monorepo Tools Cheat Sheet

Updated 2026-05-16

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Nx is a smart monorepo build system that amplifies developer productivity through intelligent caching, distributed task execution, and code generation. Built for managing large-scale codebases with multiple applications and libraries, Nx provides robust tooling for React, Angular, Node.js, and other frameworks. What sets Nx apart is its computation caching and affected command analysis — features that drastically reduce build times by only rebuilding what changed, making it indispensable for teams working with interconnected projects where one change shouldn't trigger a full workspace rebuild.

What This Cheat Sheet Covers

This topic spans 12 focused tables and 84 indexed concepts. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.

Table 1: Core CLI CommandsTable 2: Workspace GeneratorsTable 3: Task Execution and CachingTable 4: Configuration FilesTable 5: Nx Cloud and Remote CachingTable 6: Module Boundaries and ArchitectureTable 7: Plugins and ExecutorsTable 8: Project Graph and DependenciesTable 9: CI/CD OptimizationTable 10: Workspace OrganizationTable 11: Advanced FeaturesTable 12: Common Commands and Workflows

Table 1: Core CLI Commands

These are the commands you'll type every day. The standouts are nx affected and nx run-many — they're how you run tasks across a sprawling workspace without touching projects that didn't change — while nx graph, nx reset, and nx migrate cover visualizing dependencies, clearing a misbehaving cache, and staying current with breaking changes.

Command	Example	Description
nx run	`nx run my-app:build` `nx run my-lib:test`	• Executes a specific target for a project • targets include build, test, serve, lint, and custom executors defined in project configuration
nx affected	`nx affected -t build test` `nx affected -t lint --base=main`	• Runs tasks only on projects affected by code changes • compares current branch against a base to determine dependency impact and minimize CI time
nx run-many	`nx run-many -t build --all` `nx run-many -t test --projects=tag:api`	• Executes tasks across multiple projects in parallel • supports filtering by tags, project names, or glob patterns with configurable parallelism limits
nx graph	`nx graph` `nx graph --affected`	Opens interactive dependency graph visualization showing relationships between projects, tasks, and affected scope after code changes.
nx migrate	`nx migrate latest` `nx migrate --run-migrations`	Generates migration plan for updating Nx and workspace dependencies, then applies automated code transformations to adapt to breaking changes.

Table 1: Core CLI Commands

Command	Example	Description
nx run	`nx run my-app:build` `nx run my-lib:test`	• Executes a specific target for a project • targets include build, test, serve, lint, and custom executors defined in project configuration
nx affected	`nx affected -t build test` `nx affected -t lint --base=main`	• Runs tasks only on projects affected by code changes • compares current branch against a base to determine dependency impact and minimize CI time
nx run-many	`nx run-many -t build --all` `nx run-many -t test --projects=tag:api`	• Executes tasks across multiple projects in parallel • supports filtering by tags, project names, or glob patterns with configurable parallelism limits
nx graph	`nx graph` `nx graph --affected`	Opens interactive dependency graph visualization showing relationships between projects, tasks, and affected scope after code changes.
nx migrate	`nx migrate latest` `nx migrate --run-migrations`	Generates migration plan for updating Nx and workspace dependencies, then applies automated code transformations to adapt to breaking changes.

Nx Monorepo Tools and Build System Cheat Sheet

Table 1: Core CLI Commands

Nx Monorepo Tools and Build System Cheat Sheet

Table 1: Core CLI Commands