End the Pain: Rethinking CI for Large Monorepos - Juri Strumpflohner, DevOps.js Conference 2024

Rethinking CI for large monorepos by distributing tasks dynamically, caching results, and rerunning flaky tasks, and improving local developer experience with Annex replay and Nx Cloud.

Key takeaways
  • In large monorepos, CI can be slow and inefficient due to machine-oriented configurations.
  • Distributing tasks across machines dynamically can reduce CI time.
  • Annex replay caches computation results and reuses them when possible, reducing CI time.
  • NX Cloud provides a managed infrastructure for Annex replay and other features.
  • Distribution can be done based on the number of tasks, machine availability, and task running time.
  • Flaky tasks can be detected and automatically rerun on CI.
  • Complex scripts can be replaced with a simple flag for distribution.
  • Local developer experience can be improved with Annex replay and Nx console.
  • Maintaining monorepos can be complex and requires a tool like Annex replay.
  • A dynamic distribution system can balance task running times and machine availability.
  • Nx console allows for monitoring and configuration of Annex replay.
  • Annex replay can cache results of computation and reuse them when possible.
  • Dynamic distribution can improve CI efficiency and reduce running time.
  • Annex replay can detect and rerun flaky tasks.
  • Local developer experience can be improved with Annex replay.
  • Maintaining monorepos requires a tool like Annex replay.