Workspace Command Reference & Practical Patterns A compact, intent-driven reference for PowerShell orientation, pnpm workspace scope, dependency installation, recursive scripts, and Git inspection.
Workspace Command Reference and Practical Patterns This reference book keeps the commands you will use most often in one place, but each command is grouped by intent rather than presented as a memorization list. The point is to choose the right scope deliberately.
Repository orientation commands Intent PowerShell command What it proves
Current directory Get-Location Which folder receives relative paths and local config lookup
Visible and hidden items Get-ChildItem -Force Whether .git, dotfiles and root files actually exist
Git repository state git status Tracked/untracked/staged state in the current repository
Workspace inspection commands
pnpm run workspace:list
pnpm list -r --depth -1
pnpm root -wworkspace:list is our repository script. pnpm list -r --depth -1 is the underlying recursive package view. pnpm root -w is useful later when diagnosing where the workspace-level node_modules is located.
Dependency installation patterns Situation Pattern Reasoning
Install in current package pnpm add Use when your shell is already inside the owning package
Install in named package pnpm --filter add Useful from the root when ownership is already clear
Install root dev tool pnpm add -w -D Explicitly states that the workspace root owns the tool
Local workspace dependency workspace:* in package.json Guarantees local workspace resolution instead of registry fallback
Recursive script patterns - for later phases
pnpm -r --if-present run lint
pnpm -r --if-present run typecheck
pnpm -r --if-present run test
pnpm -r --parallel --if-present run devThese become useful after packages define the corresponding scripts. --parallel makes sense for long-running development servers that should run together; build-like tasks often benefit from dependency-aware ordering instead.
git status
git diff
git add <path>
git diff --staged
git restore --staged <path>
git commit -m "message"The sequence matters more than the individual commands. Inspect -> stage intentionally -> inspect the staged snapshot -> commit. This is the workflow that protects the repository from accidental noise and secrets.
next decision status/output
Commands we intentionally postpone • Framework generators - introduced only when the relevant app phase begins. • Turbo task graph commands - postponed until there are several real scripts worth orchestrating. • Prisma commands - database architecture begins in Volume 03, with Prisma 7.9.1 locked. • Docker and deployment commands - postponed until the application works locally and is testable.
Quick reference checklist Before any workspace command, answer three questions: Where am I? Which package owns this change? How will I verify the result? If you cannot answer those questions, the command is premature.
Workspace Command Reference and Practical Patterns matters because it changes a real boundary in TaskFlow. The goal is to understand the inputs, owner, observable output, and failure modes before adding more abstraction.
Restate the goal of “Workspace Command Reference and Practical Patterns” as one observable behavior. Write the success signal before touching code.
Trace the boundary map: repository root → workspace package → dependency graph → task runner → artifact. Mark the one boundary this lesson changes.
Inspect the current repository state and record the exact files, route, table, or runtime involved. Avoid creating an abstraction before you can name the existing owner.
Implement the smallest vertical slice. Add one coherent change, run the narrowest verification command, and read the output before continuing.
Connect the slice to TaskFlow’s phase artifact: TaskFlow repository root with apps/web, apps/api, shared packages, workspace metadata, root scripts, and clean Git hygiene.. Verify behavior from the outside as a user or API client would.
Create one controlled failure that is safe to reproduce. Predict the symptom first, capture evidence, locate the earliest broken boundary, then fix only that cause.
Close the reference and rebuild or explain the core change from memory. Record what you would monitor or test before trusting the same change in production.
Input -> owner -> transformation -> observable output -> failure evidenceDo not copy this as a finished answer. Predict what each boundary does, type the smallest useful slice, run it, then compare the result with your prediction.
Return to the nearest observable boundary: input, network, process log, database, or rendered UI. Compare actual evidence with the predicted path.
Change one variable at a time and reproduce the original failure after the fix; otherwise you have correlation, not diagnosis.
Without copying the final source, create a second small scenario that applies “Workspace Command Reference and Practical Patterns” to a different TaskFlow resource or input. Write the acceptance criteria first, implement it, and provide the evidence that each criterion is satisfied.
Declare workspace globs and explain why apps and packages are separate categories.
Use the smallest change that demonstrates this lesson. Stop after it works and capture evidence.Committing build output, environment files, or node_modules
Predict the symptom before causing the failure. Then locate the earliest boundary where reality diverges from expectation.Why does this responsibility live here, what input does it trust, what output proves success, and what would go wrong if another layer owned it?
If your explanation is vague, repeat the boundary trace before moving on.Close the reference. Reproduce the core idea from memory or explain the exact request/data flow aloud. Then check your diff or notes for accidental shortcuts that bypass validation, authorization, error handling, or verification earned in earlier phases.