turbo-config

turbo-config lets you author your Turborepo configuration in TypeScript via turbo.config.ts instead of turbo.json.

It does this by generating turbo.json from turbo.config.ts via npx turbo-config.

Why use turbo.config.ts?

I found that more advanced configuration was tedious and error-prone when editing turbo.json directly.

Install

# npm
npm install --save-dev turbo-config
# pnpm
pnpm add --save-dev turbo-config
# bun
bun add --dev turbo-config
# yarn
yarn add --dev turbo-config

turbo-config searches upward from the current working directory to find your turbo.config.ts, so install it wherever you run your repo tasks.

Create turbo.config.ts

// turbo.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'turbo-config'

export default defineConfig(async () => ({
  globalEnv: ['CI', 'FORCE_COLOR'],
  remoteCache: { enabled: true },
  tasks: {
    build: {
      dependsOn: ['^build'],
      outputs: ['dist/**']
    },
    lint: {
      cache: false,
      dependsOn: ['build']
    }
  }
}))

Keep turbo.json up to date

Add a postinstall script in your root package.json to ensure turbo.json stays up to date:

{
  "scripts": {
    "postinstall": "turbo-config"
  }
}

Commit both turbo.config.ts and the generated turbo.json. turbo.json remains the single source Turborepo consumes, but turbo-config only rewrites it when the config changes, keeping installs fast.

CLI commands

Run the CLI with npx turbo-config, pnpm turbo-config, etc depending on your package manager.

Available commands:

• turbo-config: Generates turbo.json locally, or runs check when the CI environment variable is truthy.
• turbo-config generate: Regenerates turbo.json from turbo.config.ts.
• turbo-config check: Validates that turbo.config.ts matches the existing turbo.json; exits with an error if they differ.

Pair check with CI to guarantee committed turbo.json stays aligned with your source configuration.