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Monorepo Setup Guide: Turborepo + pnpm + TypeScript in 30 Minutes

A monorepo lets you share code between apps (web, mobile, docs) and packages (shared utils, configs, UI components) in a single repository. Turborepo + pnpm + TypeScript is the modern stack. Here's how to set it up in 30 minutes.

Why a Monorepo?

Problem	Monorepo Solution
Duplicate tsconfig, ESLint config, etc. in 5 repos	One shared config package. Update once, all apps get it.
Copy-pasting UI components between apps	Shared UI package. One component, used everywhere.
Can't refactor across apps safely	TypeScript validates ALL consumers when you change a shared package.
CI runs unrelated changes on every commit	Turborepo caches tasks. Only changed packages rebuild.

Step-by-Step Setup

# 1. Create the monorepo structure

mkdir my-monorepo && cd my-monorepo

pnpm init

  
  
  2. Create pnpm-workspace.yaml


cat > pnpm-workspace.yaml << 'EOF'

packages:


"apps/*"
"packages/*"
EOF


  
  
  3. Create directory structure


mkdir -p apps/web apps/docs packages/ui packages/config

  
  
  4. Create root package.json with Turborepo


cat > package.json << 'EOF'

{

  "private": true,

  "scripts": {

    "dev": "turbo dev",

    "build": "turbo build",

    "lint": "turbo lint",

    "test": "turbo test"

  },

  "devDependencies": {

    "turbo": "^2.0.0",

    "typescript": "^5.5.0"

  }

}

EOF

  
  
  5. Install Turborepo


pnpm install

  
  
  6. Create turbo.json


cat > turbo.json << 'EOF'

{

  "$schema": "https://turbo.build/schema.json",

  "tasks": {

    "build": {

      "dependsOn": ["^build"],

      "outputs": [".next/", "dist/"]

    },

    "dev": { "cache": false, "persistent": true },

    "lint": { "dependsOn": ["^build"] },

    "test": { "dependsOn": ["^build"] }

  }

}

EOF

Shared Config Package

# packages/config/package.json

{

  "name": "@repo/config",

  "version": "0.0.0",

  "private": true,

  "exports": {

    "./typescript": "./tsconfig.base.json",

    "./eslint": "./eslint.base.js"

  }

}

  
  
  packages/config/tsconfig.base.json


{

  "compilerOptions": {

    "target": "ES2022",

    "module": "ESNext",

    "moduleResolution": "bundler",

    "strict": true,

    "esModuleInterop": true,

    "skipLibCheck": true,

    "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true

  }

}

App Configuration

# apps/web/tsconfig.json — each app extends the shared base

{

  "extends": "@repo/config/typescript",

  "compilerOptions": {

    "baseUrl": ".",

    "paths": {

      "@/": ["./src/"],

      "@repo/ui/": ["../../packages/ui/src/"]

    }

  },

  "include": ["src", "next-env.d.ts"]

}

Best Practices

• One package = one purpose. @repo/ui for components, @repo/config for shared configs, @repo/utils for shared utilities. Don't create a "misc" package.
• Use workspace protocol: In package.json dependencies, use "@repo/ui": "workspace:*" instead of version numbers.
• Parallel builds: Turborepo runs independent tasks in parallel. A build across 5 packages finishes in the time of the slowest one, not the sum.
• Remote caching: Turborepo can cache builds remotely (Vercel). CI builds reuse cache from previous CI runs.
• Don't go monorepo for <3 packages. The overhead isn't worth it for tiny projects. Start with a single repo, extract when you have sharing pain.

Bottom line: Monorepos shine when you have 3+ apps/packages that share code. pnpm workspaces + Turborepo is the best stack in 2026. The shared config package alone saves hours of boilerplate setup per new project. See also: Package Manager Comparison and Build Tools Comparison.

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