Python Monorepo with uv Workspaces

Modern Python monorepo architecture using uv for workspace management and mise for Python version and task orchestration.

Core Concepts

Monorepo: Single repository containing multiple related packages and applications

uv workspace: Python’s answer to npm/pnpm workspaces

• Single lock file for entire repo
• Shared virtual environment
• Cross-package dependency resolution

Directory Structure

my-monorepo/
├── .mise.toml           # Python version + task runner
├── pyproject.toml       # Root workspace config
├── uv.lock              # Unified lock file
├── apps/                # Deployable applications
│   ├── api/
│   └── worker/
└── packages/            # Shared libraries
    ├── core/
    └── utils/

Workspace Configuration

Root pyproject.toml:

[project]
name = "my-monorepo"
version = "0.1.0"
requires-python = ">=3.12"

[tool.uv.workspace]
members = ["apps/*", "packages/*"]

[tool.uv]
dev-dependencies = [
    "pytest>=8.0.0",
    "ruff>=0.8.0",
    "basedpyright>=1.0.0",
]

See references/workspace-config.md for detailed configurations.

Package Linking

Workspace packages reference each other by distribution name:

packages/utils/pyproject.toml:

[project]
name = "my-utils"
dependencies = ["my-core"]

apps/api/pyproject.toml:

[project]
name = "my-api"
dependencies = ["my-core", "my-utils", "fastapi>=0.100.0"]

Cross-Package Import

packages/core/src/my_core/entities.py:

class User:
    def __init__(self, email: str):
        self.email = email

apps/api/src/my_api/main.py:

from my_core.entities import User  # Import from workspace package

def run():
    # App code...

Dependency Direction (Critical)

apps/ → packages/  (Apps depend on packages)
packages/ ⇏ apps/  (Never the reverse)

Rules:

• Apps can depend on packages
• Packages can depend on other packages
• Packages NEVER depend on apps
• Avoid circular dependencies

mise Task Runner

.mise.toml:

[tools]
python = "3.12"

[tasks.check]
depends = ["lint", "typecheck", "test"]

[tasks.lint]
run = "uv run ruff check ."

Usage: mise run check

Core uv Commands

uv sync                           # Install all packages
uv add fastapi --package my-api   # Add to specific package
uv add my-core --package my-api   # Add workspace package
uv run pytest                      # Run tests
uv lock --upgrade                 # Update dependencies

Best Practices

1. Single lock file at root
2. Shared dev tools (ruff, pytest) in root dev-dependencies
3. Pin Python version with mise
4. Apps depend on packages only
5. Use namespace packages for logical grouping (optional)

References

For detailed patterns:

• references/workspace-config.md – pyproject.toml patterns, dependencies, versions
• references/docker.md – Multi-stage Docker builds
• references/namespace-packages.md – PEP 420 namespace packages