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Production patterns with next-forge

You've built GeniusGarage from scratch - created shared packages, configured pipelines, added testing, set up CI/CD, and implemented enterprise patterns. But how do these patterns scale to a full production application with authentication, databases, monitoring, and edge functions?

next-forge is Vercel's production-ready Turborepo starter that demonstrates all the patterns you've learned, plus advanced features needed for real applications. It's maintained by the team at Vercel and serves as both a learning resource and a foundation for serious projects.

Outcome

Understand how next-forge applies monorepo patterns at production scale and explore it as a reference for your own projects.

What is next-forge?

next-forge is a comprehensive Turborepo starter that showcases advanced monorepo patterns and modern development practices. It's not just a template - it's a showcase of best practices learned from building and scaling monorepos at Vercel.

next-forge provides:

  • Production-ready architecture with TypeScript, Next.js, and Turborepo
  • Enterprise-grade tooling including authentication, database, and monitoring
  • Best practices for monorepo development and deployment
  • Real-world patterns used by companies scaling with Turborepo

Key features

Modern tech stack

next-forge uses cutting-edge technologies:

  • Framework: Turborepo with multiple Next.js apps and Storybook
  • Language: TypeScript with strict configuration
  • Styling: Tailwind CSS with shadcn/ui design system
  • Database: Neon (PostgreSQL) with Drizzle ORM
  • Authentication: Clerk components and middleware
  • Linting: Biome for fast linting and formatting
  • Deployment: Vercel with edge functions

Monorepo architecture

next-forge has a handful of apps and many packages, each with clear responsibilities:

  next-forge/
  ├── apps/                 # Multiple Next.js applications
  │   ├── web/              # Main web app
  │   ├── app/              # Core application
  │   └── docs/             # Documentation site
  ├── packages/             # Shared packages
  │   ├── ui/               # Design system components
  │   ├── auth/             # Authentication utilities
  │   ├── database/         # Database schema and queries
  │   ├── email/            # Email templates and sending
  │   └── ...               # Many more specialized packages
  ├── biome.json            # Biome configuration
  ├── package.json          # Root package configuration
  ├── pnpm-workspace.yaml   # Workspace configuration
  ├── tsconfig.json         # Root TypeScript config
  └── turbo.json            # Turborepo pipeline configuration

What makes next-forge special?

Unlike basic templates, next-forge includes patterns you've learned in this course, taken further:

1. Advanced package organization

Where GeniusGarage has ui, config, and utils, next-forge breaks packages down by responsibility:

  • @repo/design-system - Complete design system with tokens
  • @repo/database - Database schema, migrations, and client
  • @repo/auth - Authentication logic and utilities
  • @repo/email - Transactional email templates
  • @repo/monitoring - Logging and analytics

Why it matters: Clear package boundaries prevent coupling and enable teams to own specific domains.

2. Production-grade tooling

next-forge uses Biome instead of ESLint + Prettier for:

  • 10x faster linting and formatting (Rust vs Node.js)
  • Unified configuration - one tool for all code quality
  • Import sorting built-in

3. Advanced Turborepo configuration

turbo.json (simplified)
{
  "tasks": {
    "build": {
      "dependsOn": ["^build"],
      "outputs": [".next/**", "dist/**"]
    },
    "dev": {
      "cache": false,
      "persistent": true
    },
    "test": {
      "dependsOn": ["^build"],
      "outputs": ["coverage/**"]
    }
  }
}

Notice the patterns you learned:

  • ^build dependency notation (build dependencies first)
  • Cache disabling for dev servers
  • Output definitions for precise caching
  • Persistent tasks for watch modes

4. Security and performance

next-forge includes:

  • Content Security Policy headers
  • Rate limiting for API routes
  • Edge middleware for auth
  • Image optimization pipeline
  • Bundle analysis in CI

Comparing GeniusGarage to next-forge

What you built (GeniusGarage):

  • 3 apps (web, snippet-manager, docs)
  • 3 packages (ui, config, utils)
  • Basic CI/CD with caching
  • Fundamental patterns

What next-forge adds:

  • Multiple apps with different deployment targets
  • 15+ specialized packages
  • Advanced authentication and database patterns
  • Monitoring, analytics, and observability
  • Edge computing patterns
  • Advanced TypeScript patterns

The progression: GeniusGarage teaches fundamentals. next-forge shows how to scale them.

Use cases for next-forge

next-forge is ideal for:

  • Startups building scalable products from day one
  • Enterprises needing robust monorepo patterns
  • Teams wanting to learn production best practices
  • Developers building serious side projects
  • Agencies creating client applications

However, it's probably not the best fit for:

  • Simple landing pages (too much infrastructure)
  • Learning basic React (assumes advanced knowledge)
  • Rapid prototypes (setup overhead)
  • Non-TypeScript projects

Exploring next-forge

Visit next-forge.com to:

  1. Browse the live demo - See the template in action
  2. Read the documentation - Learn about specific patterns
  3. Clone the repository - Explore the code locally
  4. Use as a starter - Build your next project on it
# Clone and explore next-forge
git clone https://github.com/haydenbleasel/next-forge.git
cd next-forge
pnpm install
pnpm dev

Patterns to study

When exploring next-forge, pay attention to:

  1. Package boundaries - How packages are split by domain
  2. Turborepo configuration - Advanced pipeline patterns
  3. Shared configurations - TypeScript, Biome, Tailwind
  4. Build optimization - Caching strategies and outputs
  5. Testing strategy - Unit, integration, and E2E tests
  6. CI/CD pipelines - GitHub Actions with remote caching
  7. Deployment patterns - Multiple apps to Vercel
  8. Type safety - Strict TypeScript across packages

Key takeaways

  • next-forge demonstrates production patterns you've learned, scaled to enterprise needs
  • All your GeniusGarage patterns apply - shared packages, configs, caching, CI/CD
  • Additional patterns emerge at scale - package boundaries, security, monitoring
  • It's a learning resource - study it to see how patterns combine
  • It's a starter template - use it for your next serious project

Summary

You've completed the Production Monorepos course by building GeniusGarage from scratch. You now understand:

  • ✅ Monorepo fundamentals and when to use them
  • ✅ Creating and managing shared packages
  • ✅ Turborepo caching and task orchestration
  • ✅ Testing strategies with cache optimization
  • ✅ Environment variable management
  • ✅ CI/CD with GitHub Actions and remote caching
  • ✅ Scaling to multiple apps
  • ✅ Enterprise patterns (generators, changesets, governance)

next-forge shows how these patterns combine in a production application. Use it as:

  • A reference when implementing similar features
  • A starter for your next project
  • A learning tool to see advanced patterns
  • Inspiration for organizing your own monorepo

What's Next

Continue your monorepo journey by:

  1. Finishing GeniusGarage - Deploy your apps and share with others
  2. Exploring next-forge - Study how patterns scale
  3. Building your own - Apply patterns to real projects
  4. Contributing - Improve next-forge or create your own patterns
  5. Sharing knowledge - Teach others what you've learned

You're now equipped to build, scale, and maintain production monorepos. Ship it! 🚀