@nx/esbuild:esbuild does not include assets in watch or build

[paustint]

Current Behavior

Started a brand new node project from scratch with express. When I build the application, the assets directory is not copied into the dist folder. And when serving the application, all the assets return 404 since the assets directory is ignored.

:star: EDIT

I think the string version of the configuration may be broken, I looked at the docs for the "configuration playground" and trie the object format and the assets were handled correctly.

"assets": [
-"apps/nx-test/src/assets", // THIS DOES NOT WORK WITH ESBUILD
+  { // THIS DOES WORK
+    "glob": "**/*",
+    "input": "apps/nx-test/src/assets",
+    "output": "apps/nx-test/src/assets",
+    "ignore": [".gitkeep"]
+  }
],

Expected Behavior

assets are copied over just like they are in all other scenarios.

GitHub Repo

https://github.com/paustint/nx-bug-report-1

Steps to Reproduce

In provided repo: run npm run build and notice assets are not copied over. run npm run start and notice curl http://localhost:3000/assets/test.json does not return file that should be returned.

If you want to try from scratch like I did to create above repo:

npx create-nx-workspace@latest

 >  NX   Let's create a new workspace [https://nx.dev/getting-started/intro]

✔ Where would you like to create your workspace? · nx-test
✔ Which stack do you want to use? · node
✔ What framework should be used? · express
✔ Integrated monorepo, or standalone project? · integrated
✔ Application name · nx-test
✔ Would you like to generate a Dockerfile? [https://docs.docker.com/] · Yes
✔ Set up CI with caching, distribution and test deflaking · github

 >  NX   Creating your v18.0.2 workspace.

✔ Installing dependencies with npm
✔ Successfully created the workspace: nx-test.
✔ CI workflow with Nx Cloud has been generated successfully
✔ CI workflow has been generated successfully

Nx Report

npx nx report

 >  NX   Report complete - copy this into the issue template

   Node   : 18.16.0
   OS     : darwin-arm64
   npm    : 7.6.3

   nx                 : 18.0.2
   @nx/js             : 18.0.2
   @nx/jest           : 18.0.2
   @nx/linter         : 18.0.2
   @nx/eslint         : 18.0.2
   @nx/workspace      : 18.0.2
   @nx/devkit         : 18.0.2
   @nx/esbuild        : 18.0.2
   @nx/eslint-plugin  : 18.0.2
   @nx/node           : 18.0.2
   @nrwl/tao          : 18.0.2
   typescript         : 5.3.3

Failure Logs

N/A

Package Manager Version

No response

Operating System

• [X] macOS
• [ ] Linux
• [ ] Windows
• [ ] Other (Please specify)

Additional Information

I first encountered this on my existing project, and created a new project from scratch to see what I might be doing wrong.... but the default configuration out of the box is broken.

[Christop406]

Thanks for the workaround here, I am also seeing this issue but switching to the glob object fixed it for now 👍🏻

[ronnetzer]

I'm also experiencing this issue with latest nx (19.3.1), also glob pattern isn't working for md files

[cereum]

any updates on this?

[gi]

You can change the string from "apps/nx-test/src/assets" to "apps/nx-test/src/assets/**/*". This fixed it for me without using the object syntax:

In project.json, targets.build.options:

"assets": ["apps/server/src/assets/**/*"],

The assets are copied to the dist/apps/{app-name]/src/assets directory.