NativeScript Plugin for Nx

Requires at least NativeScript CLI v8.x.x or higher. You can confirm your CLI version by running ns --version.

Table of Contents

• Getting started
  • Create a new Nx workspace
  • Install NativeScript plugin
  • Create an app
    • --framework [angular]
    • --groupByName
    • Develop on simulators and devices
    • Configuration options
    • Clean
• Create NativeScript library
  • --groupByName

Getting started

Create a new Nx workspace

npx create-nx-workspace@latest --cli=nx --preset=empty

// If you run into any issue with latest Nx workspace version you may want to try the last known stable version with the following:
npx [email protected] --cli=nx --preset=empty

Install NativeScript plugin

# Using npm
npm install --save-dev @nativescript/nx

# Using yarn
yarn add -D @nativescript/nx

Create an app

npx nx g @nativescript/nx:app <app-name> [...options]

This will generate:

apps/nativescript-<app-name>

The NativeScript Nx plugin will prefix apps by default to help distinguish them against other apps in your workspace for clarity.

--framework [angular]

You will be prompted to choose a framework when this flag is ommitted.

Use this option to explicitly choose a specific frontend framework integration app.

This setting will be saved with plugin settings the first time it's used to automatically choose this frontend framework integration for subsequent usages and with other generators without having to specify the flag again.

--groupByName

If you prefer you can also provide a flag to suffix instead:

npx nx g @nativescript/nx:app <app-name> --groupByName

This will generate:

apps/<app-name>-nativescript

Develop on simulators and devices

Android:

npx nx run <app-name>:android

iOS: (Mac only)

npx nx run <app-name>:ios

Configuration options

A custom builder is provided via @nativescript/nx:build with the following options:

"debug": {
  "type": "boolean",
  "default": true,
  "description": "Use 'ns debug' instead of 'ns run'. Defaults to true"
},
"device": {
  "type": "string",
  "description": "Device identifier to run app on.",
  "alias": "d"
},
"emulator": {
  "type": "boolean",
  "default": false,
  "description": "Explicitly run with an emulator or simulator"
},
"noHmr": {
  "type": "boolean",
  "default": false,
  "description": "Disable HMR"
},
"uglify": {
  "type": "boolean",
  "default": false,
  "description": "Enable uglify during the webpack build"
},
"verbose": {
  "type": "boolean",
  "default": false,
  "description": "Enable verbose logging"
},
"release": {
  "type": "boolean",
  "default": false,
  "description": "Enable release mode during build using the --release flag"
},
"forDevice": {
  "type": "boolean",
  "default": false,
  "description": "Build in device mode using the --for-device flag"
},
"production": {
  "type": "boolean",
  "default": false,
  "description": "Build in production mode using the --env.production flag"
}

The options follow the NativeScript command line options.

Here's an example app config:

"nativescript-mobile": {
  "projectType": "application",
  "root": "apps/nativescript-mobile/",
  "sourceRoot": "apps/nativescript-mobile/src",
  "prefix": "",
  "targets": {
    "build": {
      "builder": "@nativescript/nx:build",
      "options": {
        "noHmr": true,
        "production": true,
        "uglify": true,
        "release": true,
        "forDevice": true
      },
      "configurations": {
        "prod": {
          "fileReplacements": [
            {
              "replace": "./src/environments/environment.ts",
              "with": "./src/environments/environment.prod.ts"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    },
    "ios": {
      "builder": "@nativescript/nx:build",
      "options": {
        "platform": "ios"
      },
      "configurations": {
        "prod": {
          "combineWithConfig": "build:prod"
        }
      }
    },
    "android": {
      "builder": "@nativescript/nx:build",
      "options": {
        "platform": "android"
      },
      "configurations": {
        "prod": {
          "combineWithConfig": "build:prod"
        }
      }
    },
    "clean": {
      "builder": "@nativescript/nx:build",
      "options": {
        "clean": true
      }
    }
  }
}

Create a build

Build with an environment configuration enabled (for example, with prod):

Android:

npx nx run <app-name>:android:prod

iOS: (Mac only)

npx nx run <app-name>:ios:prod

Clean

It can be helpful to clean the app at times. This will clear out old dependencies plus iOS/Android platform files to give your app a nice reset.

npx nx run <app-name>:clean

Create NativeScript library

You can create a library of NativeScript components or plugins or whatever you'd like.

npx nx g @nativescript/nx:lib buttons

This will generate a nativescript-buttons library where you could build out an entire suite of button behaviors and styles for your NativeScript apps.

import { PrimaryButton } from '@myorg/nativescript-buttons';

The NativeScript Nx plugin will prefix libraries by default to help distinguish them against other apps and libraries in your workspace for clarity.

--groupByName

If you prefer you can also provide a flag to suffix instead:

npx nx g @nativescript/nx:lib buttons --groupByName

Which would generate a buttons-nativescript library.

import { PrimaryButton } from '@myorg/buttons-nativescript';

Using NativeScript plugins

NativeScript plugins can be used in Nx workspaces in one of the two following methods:

Installing NativeScript plugins at app-level

If the plugin is needed by one app only, and not others, you can install it for the specific app:

cd apps/<app-name>
ns plugin add <plugin-name>

Installing NativeScript plugins at workspace-level

Alternatively, you can install the plugins at the workspace (root), so it is accesible to all your workspace apps:

npm install --save <plugin-name>

Known issues

If a plugin contains platforms folder with native includes, the plugin must be added to app package.json at moment. NativeScript#17 (comment)