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herokunestjsnrwl-nxnrwlnomachine-nx

NX command to build NESTJS api, is not found if I set the NODE_ENV variable to production on Heroku


I am using an NX mono repository for my project. It contains the following three applications:

  • a web app (NextJS),
  • an API service (NestJS)
  • a mobile app (React Native)

I was trying to deploy the backend code to Heroku and I am facing the issue of it not finding the packages when I set the NODE_ENV variable to production. All of the NX packages are stored as the dev dependencies as default. It works fine if I set the NODE_ENV to development.

Question: What is the ideal way of solving the issue? I do not want to set NODE_ENV to development because otherwise, it will slow the deployments by installing useless packages from the devDependencies.

Any help will be appreciated.


This is what my package.json looks like.

"scripts": {
    "api": "nx serve api",
    "build:api": "nx build api",
    "api:prod": "node dist/apps/api/main.js",
},
"dependencies": {
    "@emotion/react": "^11.10.4",
    "@emotion/styled": "^11.10.4",
    "@hookform/resolvers": "^2.9.7",
    "@mui/icons-material": "^5.10.3",
    "@mui/material": "^5.10.4",
    "@nestjs/common": "^9.0.0",
    "@nestjs/config": "^2.2.0",
    "@nestjs/core": "^9.0.0",
    "@nestjs/jwt": "^9.0.0",
    "@nestjs/mongoose": "^9.2.0",
    "@nestjs/passport": "^9.0.0",
    "@nestjs/platform-express": "^9.0.0",
    "@react-native-community/clipboard": "^1.5.1",
    "@react-navigation/bottom-tabs": "^6.3.3",
    "@react-navigation/material-top-tabs": "^6.2.4",
    "@react-navigation/native": "^6.0.11",
    "@react-navigation/native-stack": "^6.7.0",
    "@react-three/drei": "^9.34.3",
    "@react-three/fiber": "^8.8.9",
    "@tanstack/react-query": "^4.2.3",
    "@trycourier/courier": "^3.15.0",
    "@twotalltotems/react-native-otp-input": "^1.3.11",
    "axios": "^0.27.2",
    "bcryptjs": "^2.4.3",
    "class-transformer": "^0.5.1",
    "class-validator": "^0.13.2",
    "cookies": "^0.8.0",
    "core-js": "^3.6.5",
    "http-proxy": "^1.18.1",
    "jwt-decode": "^3.1.2",
    "lodash": "^4.17.21",
    "material-ui-phone-number": "^3.0.0",
    "mongoose": "^6.5.2",
    "mui-tel-input": "^2.0.1",
    "native-base": "^3.4.13",
    "next": "12.2.3",
    "npm": "^8.19.2",
    "passport": "^0.6.0",
    "passport-jwt": "^4.0.0",
    "passport-local": "^1.0.0",
    "patch-package": "^6.4.7",
    "react": "18.2.0",
    "react-dom": "18.2.0",
    "react-hook-form": "^7.34.2",
    "react-is": "18.2.0",
    "react-native": "0.69.3",
    "react-native-gesture-handler": "^2.6.0",
    "react-native-pager-view": "^6.0.1",
    "react-native-phone-number-input": "^2.1.0",
    "react-native-reanimated": "^2.10.0",
    "react-native-safe-area-context": "^4.3.1",
    "react-native-screens": "^3.15.0",
    "react-native-snackbar": "^2.4.0",
    "react-native-tab-view": "^3.2.1",
    "react-native-vector-icons": "^9.2.0",
    "react-native-webview": "^11.23.1",
    "react-otp-input": "^2.4.0",
    "reflect-metadata": "^0.1.13",
    "regenerator-runtime": "0.13.7",
    "rxjs": "^7.0.0",
    "styled-components": "5.3.5",
    "three": "^0.145.0",
    "tslib": "^2.3.0",
    "twilio": "^3.81.0",
    "yup": "^0.32.11"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@commitlint/cli": "^17.0.3",
    "@commitlint/config-conventional": "^17.0.3",
    "@nestjs/schematics": "^9.0.0",
    "@nestjs/testing": "^9.0.0",
    "@nrwl/cli": "14.5.4",
    "@nrwl/cypress": "14.5.4",
    "@nrwl/detox": "14.5.6",
    "@nrwl/eslint-plugin-nx": "14.5.4",
    "@nrwl/jest": "14.5.4",
    "@nrwl/linter": "14.5.4",
    "@nrwl/nest": "14.5.4",
    "@nrwl/next": "^14.5.4",
    "@nrwl/node": "14.5.4",
    "@nrwl/react": "14.5.4",
    "@nrwl/react-native": "^14.5.6",
    "@nrwl/web": "14.5.4",
    "@nrwl/workspace": "14.5.4",
    "@react-native-async-storage/async-storage": "1.17.7",
    "@react-native-community/cli": "8.0.4",
    "@react-native-community/cli-platform-android": "8.0.4",
    "@react-native-community/cli-platform-ios": "8.0.4",
    "@testing-library/dom": "^8.18.1",
    "@testing-library/jest-dom": "5.16.4",
    "@testing-library/jest-native": "4.0.5",
    "@testing-library/react": "13.3.0",
    "@testing-library/react-native": "11.0.0",
    "@testing-library/user-event": "^14.4.3",
    "@types/bcryptjs": "^2.4.2",
    "@types/cookies": "^0.7.7",
    "@types/jest": "27.4.1",
    "@types/lodash": "^4.14.182",
    "@types/node": "16.11.7",
    "@types/passport-jwt": "^3.0.6",
    "@types/passport-local": "^1.0.34",
    "@types/react": "18.0.15",
    "@types/react-dom": "18.0.6",
    "@types/react-is": "17.0.3",
    "@types/react-native": "0.69.3",
    "@types/react-native-vector-icons": "^6.4.12",
    "@types/styled-components": "5.1.25",
    "@types/three": "^0.144.0",
    "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^5.29.0",
    "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^5.29.0",
    "babel-jest": "27.5.1",
    "babel-plugin-styled-components": "1.10.7",
    "cypress": "^10.2.0",
    "detox": "19.7.1",
    "eslint": "~8.15.0",
    "eslint-config-next": "12.2.3",
    "eslint-config-prettier": "8.1.0",
    "eslint-plugin-cypress": "^2.10.3",
    "eslint-plugin-import": "2.26.0",
    "eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y": "6.6.1",
    "eslint-plugin-react": "7.30.1",
    "eslint-plugin-react-hooks": "4.6.0",
    "husky": "^8.0.0",
    "jest": "27.5.1",
    "jest-circus": "27.5.1",
    "jest-react-native": "18.0.0",
    "lint-staged": "^13.0.3",
    "metro": "0.71.3",
    "metro-babel-register": "0.71.3",
    "metro-react-native-babel-preset": "0.71.3",
    "metro-resolver": "0.71.3",
    "msw": "^0.47.2",
    "nx": "14.5.4",
    "prettier": "^2.6.2",
    "prettier-plugin-organize-imports": "^3.1.0",
    "react-devtools": "^4.26.0",
    "react-native-config": "1.4.6",
    "react-native-svg": "12.4.3",
    "react-native-svg-transformer": "1.0.0",
    "react-test-renderer": "18.2.0",
    "ts-jest": "27.1.4",
    "ts-node": "~10.8.0",
    "typescript": "~4.7.2"
  },

And this is my Procfile:

web: yarn build:api && yarn api:prod

Solution

  • Nx is installed as a devDependency. Heroku scrubs devDependencies after thebuild step so that you don't have extra dependencies for your final environment. What you should do is have a build script in your package.json that builds everything your server will need to start, and then have a start script that starts the application, or set the web property in the Procfile as you currently have done for the build:api && api:prod. However, this start script should not rely on any devDependencies. It should be able to run with just the production dependencies.