nx sync creates unwanted TypeScript project references between similar applications

[jderboven]

Current Behavior

When running nx sync, Nx automatically adds TypeScript project references between two applications that are structurally similar (95% shared dependencies) but serve different purposes. The sync
generator keeps adding cross-references like:

// apps/app-a/tsconfig.json
"references": [
{
"path": "../app-b" // ← This gets added automatically
},
{
"path": "../../libs/shared-lib"
}
]

Even after manually removing the unwanted reference, running nx sync again re-adds it.

Expected Behavior

nx sync should only add TypeScript project references when there are actual import dependencies between projects, not based on structural similarity alone.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create two applications with nearly identical structure and dependencies
2. Ensure both apps share ~95% of their dependencies but have different purposes
3. Remove any TypeScript project references between the apps
4. Run nx sync
5. Observe that cross-references are automatically added back

Environment

• Nx Version: 21.0.3
• Node Version: [Your Node version]
• Operating System: [Your OS]
• Package Manager: npm

Minimal Repository

workspace/
├── apps/
│ ├── app-a/ (content-focused app)
│ └── app-b/ (form-builder-focused app)
└── libs/
├── shared-ui/
└── form-builder/

Additional Context

• Both applications are legitimate separate apps with different purposes
• They share most dependencies because they're in the same domain
• No actual import statements exist between the apps
• The apps were created independently (not copied from each other)

Proposed Solutions

1. Allow excluding specific project pairs from TypeScript sync
2. Only create references when actual imports are detected
3. Add configuration option to disable cross-app reference generation

Workarounds Attempted

• Manually removing references (temporary fix)
• Adding different dependencies to distinguish the apps (still occurs)
• Excluding projects from sync entirely (works but loses other sync benefits)

Did you already encounter that ?