How to Structure a Scalable Angular Project Using Nx Workspace

Prashant KumarPrashant Kumar
3 min read

πŸš€ Introduction

As frontend applications grow in size and complexity, maintaining a clean, scalable, and testable structure becomes crucial β€” especially in enterprise environments.

Over the past few years, I’ve worked on large-scale Angular projects, including a finance platform where performance and maintainability were top priorities. We adopted the Nx Workspace for its modular monorepo approach, and it completely changed the way we structured and managed our Angular codebase.

In this post, I’ll share:

  • Why Nx is ideal for large Angular apps,

  • How to structure your projects using apps and libs,

  • Real examples and folder structure,

  • Tips and pitfalls based on real-world experience.


πŸ›  Why Nx for Angular?

Nx is a powerful build system and monorepo tool by the folks at Nrwl. It extends the Angular CLI and enables:

  • Modular architecture using shared libraries

  • Scoped builds (faster CI)

  • Code sharing between multiple Angular apps

  • Enforceable boundaries and linting between modules

  • Plugin ecosystem (React, NestJS, Storybook, Cypress, etc.)

In enterprise projects, Nx helps teams enforce discipline in folder structure, reuse components wisely, and improve onboarding speed.


🧱 Suggested Architecture Pattern (Feature-Based)

Here’s a folder structure we use in one of my recent Nx Angular projects:

my-workspace/
β”‚
β”œβ”€β”€ apps/
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ admin-app/
β”‚   └── customer-portal/
β”‚
β”œβ”€β”€ libs/
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ core/
β”‚   β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ interceptors/
β”‚   β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ guards/
β”‚   β”‚   └── services/
β”‚   β”‚
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ ui/
β”‚   β”‚   └── components/
β”‚   β”‚       β”œβ”€β”€ button/
β”‚   β”‚       β”œβ”€β”€ table/
β”‚   β”‚       └── modal/
β”‚   β”‚
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ features/
β”‚   β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ orders/
β”‚   β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ payments/
β”‚   β”‚   └── profile/
β”‚   β”‚
β”‚   └── utils/
β”‚       └── pipes/
β”‚       └── validators/

Key Ideas:

  • Apps are shells β€” minimal logic, mostly routing.

  • Libs are categorized as:

    • core: singleton services, auth, http interceptors

    • ui: shared reusable components

    • features: self-contained, domain-specific modules

    • utils: helper functions, pipes, validators


βš™οΈ How to Set Up Nx for Angular

  1. Install Nx and Create a Workspace
npx create-nx-workspace@latest my-workspace --preset=angular
  1. Generate Libraries
nx g @nrwl/angular:library core
nx g @nrwl/angular:library ui-components
nx g @nrwl/angular:library features-orders
  1. Create Components/Modules Inside Libraries
nx g c ui/button --project=ui-components
nx g m features/orders --project=features-orders
  1. Use in Your App
// In admin-app.module.ts
import { OrdersModule } from '@my-workspace/features/orders';
import { ButtonComponent } from '@my-workspace/ui-components';

πŸ§ͺ Real-World Learnings and Tips

βœ… Keep core small β€” avoid bloating it with business logic.
βœ… Use tags in project.json to enforce boundaries.
βœ… Run nx affected in CI for faster builds.
βœ… Document each lib with README.md for new team members.
βœ… Avoid tight coupling across features.


⚠️ Common Pitfalls

❌ Using shared services between unrelated features
❌ Skipping boundaries (Nx can help with enforce-module-boundaries)
❌ Bloated app modules doing too much


βœ… Conclusion

Nx is not just a build tool β€” it’s an architecture enabler.

With clearly separated libraries, predictable folder structures, and better CI integration, you’ll save time and reduce technical debt in the long term. It has helped me lead frontend teams more effectively and made our codebase a lot more manageable.

πŸ’¬ Have you tried Nx with Angular? Drop your structure tips or challenges in the comments!


πŸ”— What’s Next?

  • I’ll publish a full sample repo of this architecture soon.

  • Follow me on LinkedIn or GitHub for updates.

  • Thinking of writing a part 2 on Nx + Angular Micro Frontends β€” interested?

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Prashant Kumar
Prashant Kumar