Deploying Azure Functions from a Monorepo with Shared Packages

Below are instructions on how to deploy an Azure Function when the project is stored as a monorepo and relies on shared packages.

To deploy a function to Azure Functions it needs to be built with npm so that all the node modules are in a single file with no symlinks. The script below installs all packages first using npm and builds any shared packages (the list of share packages needs to be updated on line 42). It then builds the backend using pnpm, including the shared packages.

The node modules folder for the backend is deleted before the modules are re-installed and re-built using npm.

The Azure Functions action is run which copies the entire backend directory to Azure.

package.json

Dependencies in the package.json file for shared packages need to use file referencing

"dependencies": {
    "shared-package": "file:../../path-to/shared-package"
}

azure-functions-deploy.yml

name: PRODUCTION - Deploy Node.js project to Azure Function App

on: workflow_dispatch

# CONFIGURATION
# For help, go to https://github.com/Azure/Actions
#
# 1. Set up the following secrets in your repository:
#   AZURE_FUNCTIONAPP_PUBLISH_PROFILE
#
# 2. Change these variables for your configuration:
#
# See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-functions/functions-how-to-github-actions?tabs=windows%2Cjavascript&pivots=method-template#parameters
#

env:
  AZURE_FUNCTIONAPP_NAME: "name" # set this to your function app name on Azure
  AZURE_FUNCTIONAPP_SLOT_NAME: "main" # set this to your function app name on Azure
  AZURE_FUNCTIONAPP_PACKAGE_PATH: "./apps/backend" # set this to the path to your function app project, defaults to the repository root
  NODE_VERSION: "20.x" # set this to the node version to use (e.g. '8.x', '10.x', '12.x')

jobs:
  build-and-deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: prod
    steps:
      - name: "Checkout GitHub Action"
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4

      - name: Setup Node ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }} Environment
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: "pnpm"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: pnpm install

      - name: Build - Shared packages
        run: pnpm build -F # Update with any backend packages that need to be built first

      - name: Install dependencies with Core built
        run: pnpm install

      - name: Build
        run: pnpm build -F backend # Update if the backend package is not called backend
      - name: "Resolve Project Dependencies Using Npm"
        shell: bash
        run: |
          pushd './${{ env.AZURE_FUNCTIONAPP_PACKAGE_PATH }}'
          rm -rf node_modules
          ls
          sed -i '/eslint-config/,/tsconfig/d' package.json
          npm install --install-links
          npm run build --if-present
          popd

      - name: "Run Azure Functions Action"
        uses: Azure/functions-action@v1
        id: fa
        with:
          app-name: ${{ env.AZURE_FUNCTIONAPP_NAME }}
          package: ${{ env.AZURE_FUNCTIONAPP_PACKAGE_PATH }}
          publish-profile: ${{ secrets.AZURE_FUNCTIONAPP_PUBLISH_PROFILE_PROD }}
# For more samples to get started with GitHub Action workflows to deploy to Azure, refer to https://github.com/Azure/actions-workflow-samples