Turborepo Caching
Production patterns for Turborepo build optimization.
When to Use This Skill
- Setting up new Turborepo projects
- Configuring build pipelines
- Implementing remote caching
- Optimizing CI/CD performance
- Migrating from other monorepo tools
- Debugging cache misses
Core Concepts
1. Turborepo Architecture
Workspace Root/ ├── apps/ │ ├── web/ │ │ └── package.json │ └── docs/ │ └── package.json ├── packages/ │ ├── ui/ │ │ └── package.json │ └── config/ │ └── package.json ├── turbo.json └── package.json
2. Pipeline Concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| dependsOn | Tasks that must complete first |
| cache | Whether to cache outputs |
| outputs | Files to cache |
| inputs | Files that affect cache key |
| persistent | Long-running tasks (dev servers) |
Templates
Template 1: turbo.json Configuration
json{ "$schema": "https://turbo.build/schema.json", "globalDependencies": [".env", ".env.local"], "globalEnv": ["NODE_ENV", "VERCEL_URL"], "pipeline": { "build": { "dependsOn": ["^build"], "outputs": ["dist/**", ".next/**", "!.next/cache/**"], "env": ["API_URL", "NEXT_PUBLIC_*"] }, "test": { "dependsOn": ["build"], "outputs": ["coverage/**"], "inputs": ["src/**/*.tsx", "src/**/*.ts", "test/**/*.ts"] }, "lint": { "outputs": [], "cache": true }, "typecheck": { "dependsOn": ["^build"], "outputs": [] }, "dev": { "cache": false, "persistent": true }, "clean": { "cache": false } } }
Template 2: Package-Specific Pipeline
json// apps/web/turbo.json { "$schema": "https://turbo.build/schema.json", "extends": ["//"], "pipeline": { "build": { "outputs": [".next/**", "!.next/cache/**"], "env": ["NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL", "NEXT_PUBLIC_ANALYTICS_ID"] }, "test": { "outputs": ["coverage/**"], "inputs": ["src/**", "tests/**", "jest.config.js"] } } }
Template 3: Remote Caching with Vercel
bash# Login to Vercel npx turbo login # Link to Vercel project npx turbo link # Run with remote cache turbo build --remote-only # CI environment variables TURBO_TOKEN=your-token TURBO_TEAM=your-team
yaml# .github/workflows/ci.yml name: CI on: push: branches: [main] pull_request: env: TURBO_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.TURBO_TOKEN }} TURBO_TEAM: ${{ vars.TURBO_TEAM }} jobs: build: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 - uses: actions/setup-node@v4 with: node-version: 20 cache: "npm" - name: Install dependencies run: npm ci - name: Build run: npx turbo build --filter='...[origin/main]' - name: Test run: npx turbo test --filter='...[origin/main]'
Template 4: Self-Hosted Remote Cache
typescript// Custom remote cache server (Express) import express from "express"; import { createReadStream, createWriteStream } from "fs"; import { mkdir } from "fs/promises"; import { join } from "path"; const app = express(); const CACHE_DIR = "./cache"; // Get artifact app.get("/v8/artifacts/:hash", async (req, res) => { const { hash } = req.params; const team = req.query.teamId || "default"; const filePath = join(CACHE_DIR, team, hash); try { const stream = createReadStream(filePath); stream.pipe(res); } catch { res.status(404).send("Not found"); } }); // Put artifact app.put("/v8/artifacts/:hash", async (req, res) => { const { hash } = req.params; const team = req.query.teamId || "default"; const dir = join(CACHE_DIR, team); const filePath = join(dir, hash); await mkdir(dir, { recursive: true }); const stream = createWriteStream(filePath); req.pipe(stream); stream.on("finish", () => { res.json({ urls: [`${req.protocol}://${req.get("host")}/v8/artifacts/${hash}`], }); }); }); // Check artifact exists app.head("/v8/artifacts/:hash", async (req, res) => { const { hash } = req.params; const team = req.query.teamId || "default"; const filePath = join(CACHE_DIR, team, hash); try { await fs.access(filePath); res.status(200).end(); } catch { res.status(404).end(); } }); app.listen(3000);
json// turbo.json for self-hosted cache { "remoteCache": { "signature": false } }
bash# Use self-hosted cache turbo build --api="http://localhost:3000" --token="my-token" --team="my-team"
Template 5: Filtering and Scoping
bash# Build specific package turbo build --filter=@myorg/web # Build package and its dependencies turbo build --filter=@myorg/web... # Build package and its dependents turbo build --filter=...@myorg/ui # Build changed packages since main turbo build --filter='...[origin/main]' # Build packages in directory turbo build --filter='./apps/*' # Combine filters turbo build --filter=@myorg/web --filter=@myorg/docs # Exclude package turbo build --filter='!@myorg/docs' # Include dependencies of changed turbo build --filter='...[HEAD^1]...'
Template 6: Advanced Pipeline Configuration
json{ "$schema": "https://turbo.build/schema.json", "pipeline": { "build": { "dependsOn": ["^build"], "outputs": ["dist/**"], "inputs": ["$TURBO_DEFAULT$", "!**/*.md", "!**/*.test.*"] }, "test": { "dependsOn": ["^build"], "outputs": ["coverage/**"], "inputs": ["src/**", "tests/**", "*.config.*"], "env": ["CI", "NODE_ENV"] }, "test:e2e": { "dependsOn": ["build"], "outputs": [], "cache": false }, "deploy": { "dependsOn": ["build", "test", "lint"], "outputs": [], "cache": false }, "db:generate": { "cache": false }, "db:push": { "cache": false, "dependsOn": ["db:generate"] }, "@myorg/web#build": { "dependsOn": ["^build", "@myorg/db#db:generate"], "outputs": [".next/**"], "env": ["NEXT_PUBLIC_*"] } } }
Template 7: Root package.json Setup
json{ "name": "my-turborepo", "private": true, "workspaces": ["apps/*", "packages/*"], "scripts": { "build": "turbo build", "dev": "turbo dev", "lint": "turbo lint", "test": "turbo test", "clean": "turbo clean && rm -rf node_modules", "format": "prettier --write \"**/*.{ts,tsx,md}\"", "changeset": "changeset", "version-packages": "changeset version", "release": "turbo build --filter=./packages/* && changeset publish" }, "devDependencies": { "turbo": "^1.10.0", "prettier": "^3.0.0", "@changesets/cli": "^2.26.0" }, "packageManager": "npm@10.0.0" }
Debugging Cache
bash# Dry run to see what would run turbo build --dry-run # Verbose output with hashes turbo build --verbosity=2 # Show task graph turbo build --graph # Force no cache turbo build --force # Show cache status turbo build --summarize # Debug specific task TURBO_LOG_VERBOSITY=debug turbo build --filter=@myorg/web
Best Practices
Do's
- Define explicit inputs - Avoid cache invalidation
- Use workspace protocol -
"@myorg/ui": "workspace:*" - Enable remote caching - Share across CI and local
- Filter in CI - Build only affected packages
- Cache build outputs - Not source files
Don'ts
- Don't cache dev servers - Use
persistent: true - Don't include secrets in env - Use runtime env vars
- Don't ignore dependsOn - Causes race conditions
- Don't over-filter - May miss dependencies
