Install nx with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage

Commands and aliases

• nx
• nx-cloud

Project history

The nrwl/nx repository was created on 2017-08-11. Nx's own Angular guide says the tool evolved from an extension of the Angular CLI into a fully standalone CLI working with multiple frameworks, which explains both its Angular roots and its later React, Node, Java, Gradle, .NET, and general build-system reach.

Nx documentation describes the core model as intelligent caching, task orchestration, and understanding the codebase structure through project and task graphs. The README describes Nx as a monorepo solution built with Rust for performance and extensible via TypeScript.

The public changelog shows the platform continuing to expand: Nx 17 in 2023 emphasized Vue and module federation improvements; Nx 19 in 2024 centered on Project Crystal; Nx 23 on 2026-06-16 added agentic migrations, task sandboxing, .NET GA support, and more platform cleanup.

Adoption history

Nx adoption grew from Angular monorepo tooling into a general monorepo platform. Its GitHub repository has about 29k stars in the GitHub page snapshot, and its ecosystem includes npm packages, Homebrew's `nx` formula, Nx Console integrations, plugin packages, and Nx Cloud.

Homebrew packages `nx` 23.0.1 and lists more than ten thousand installs over the 365-day analytics window shown on the formula page. npm remains the primary distribution path for most JavaScript workspaces, but the Homebrew formula is useful for people who want a global `nx` binary managed with the rest of their CLI tools.

How it is used

Users add Nx to a workspace, then run commands such as `nx build myapp`, `nx run-many -t build test`, `nx graph`, and `nx affected` against projects defined through `nx.json`, `project.json`, and `package.json`. The key package-nerd behavior is that Nx caches task outputs and avoids rerunning work whose inputs have not changed.

Nx is used both as a lightweight task runner on top of existing package scripts and as a full integrated monorepo framework with generators, executors, module-boundary rules, migrations, release tooling, and distributed CI.

Why package nerds care

Nx matters because it made monorepo mechanics installable as a developer CLI: project graph, task graph, cache keys, affected sets, and migration scripts became ordinary package-managed tools rather than custom build-team infrastructure.

It also sits in the package-management tension zone: some users install it globally with Homebrew or npm, but many teams pin Nx versions in the repo so generators, migrations, plugins, and CI behavior remain reproducible.

Timeline

• 2017-08-11: GitHub repository created.
• 2023-10-19: Nx 17.0 listed in the official changelog.
• 2024-05-06: Nx 19.0 listed in the official changelog.
• 2026-06-16: Nx 23.0 listed in the official changelog.
• 2026-06-23: GitHub release 23.0.1 published.

Related projects

• Angular CLI is the historical root Nx evolved beyond.
• Lerna, Turborepo, Bazel, Gradle, pnpm workspaces, npm workspaces, and Yarn workspaces solve adjacent monorepo and task orchestration problems.
• Nx Cloud adds remote caching, task distribution, CI analytics, and hosted workflow features around the open source CLI.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/nrwl/nx
• https://api.github.com/repos/nrwl/nx/releases
• https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/nx
• https://github.com/nrwl/nx
• https://nx.dev/changelog
• https://nx.dev/docs/getting-started/intro
• https://nx.dev/docs/technologies/angular/guides/nx-and-angular
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nrwl/nx/master/README.md