setup-github-actions produces broken workflows in monorepos

[tannerlinsley]

Problem

npx @tanstack/intent setup-github-actions generates CI workflow files with incorrect template variable substitution when run in a monorepo. There is no documented way to correctly generate workflows for a monorepo, and every approach we tried produced broken output that required manual patching.

Expected behavior

Running setup-github-actions in a monorepo should either:

1. Detect the monorepo and produce workflows that loop over all packages (like validate-skills.yml already does internally), or
2. Clearly document the intended workflow for monorepos, or
3. Accept a --packages flag or similar to specify which packages to cover

What we found

Issue 1: setup-github-actions reads process.cwd()/package.json for template variables

The detectVars() function in setup.mjs reads package.json from process.cwd() to populate {{PACKAGE_NAME}}, {{SRC_PATH}}, etc. In a monorepo:

• Running from repo root: The root package.json typically has no name (or a private workspace name like root), so all template vars resolve to nonsense: npm install root, packages/root/src/**, "package": "root".
• Running from a package directory (e.g. cd packages/react-router && npx @tanstack/intent setup-github-actions): Template vars resolve correctly for that one package (@tanstack/react-router, src/**), but the workflows land in packages/react-router/.github/workflows/ instead of the repo root's .github/workflows/. And they only cover one package.

Issue 2: Workflows are generated per-package but GitHub Actions are per-repo

The three generated workflows have different monorepo-readiness:

Workflow	Monorepo-ready?	Notes
validate-skills.yml	Yes	Has hardcoded packages/*/skills loop — works out of the box
check-skills.yml	No	npm install {{PACKAGE_NAME}} only installs one package; npx @tanstack/intent stale only checks cwd
notify-playbooks.yml	No	paths: '{{SRC_PATH}}' only watches one package's src; client-payload.package is a single package name

Issue 3: validate command has the same cwd confusion

npx @tanstack/intent validate uses args[0] ?? "skills" as the target dir, but collectPackagingWarnings() always reads process.cwd()/package.json. So:

• npx @tanstack/intent validate packages/react-router/skills — skills validate fine, but packaging warnings fire because it checks the root package.json (which has no @tanstack/intent devDep, no bin.intent, etc.)
• cd packages/react-router && npx @tanstack/intent validate skills — everything works correctly

This is confusing in a monorepo where you naturally run commands from the repo root.

Issue 4: stale command doesn't find packages from repo root

Running npx @tanstack/intent stale from the repo root outputs No intent-enabled packages found. You have to cd into each package directory individually.

Steps to reproduce

# 1. Clone a monorepo with intent skills in multiple packages
git clone https://github.com/TanStack/router.git
cd router
pnpm install

# 2. Try setup-github-actions from repo root
npx @tanstack/intent@latest setup-github-actions
# Output: Template variables applied: Package: root, Src: packages/root/src/**
# Generated workflows have "npm install root" and "packages/root/src/**"

# 3. Try from a package directory
cd packages/react-router
npx @tanstack/intent@latest setup-github-actions
# Output: Correct vars, but workflows land in packages/react-router/.github/workflows/

# 4. Try validate from repo root
cd ../..
npx @tanstack/intent@latest validate packages/react-router/skills
# Skills pass, but packaging warnings fire against root package.json

# 5. Try stale from repo root
npx @tanstack/intent@latest stale
# "No intent-enabled packages found."

# 6. Try stale from package dir — works
cd packages/react-router
npx @tanstack/intent@latest stale
# Correctly reports version drift

What we did to work around it

1. Ran setup-github-actions from packages/react-router, then manually moved the generated files from packages/react-router/.github/workflows/ to .github/workflows/
2. validate-skills.yml — left as-is (already monorepo-aware)
3. check-skills.yml — replaced npm install @tanstack/react-router with npm install -g @tanstack/intent, added a shell loop over packages/*/skills directories to run stale per-package, changed the prompt text from package-specific to repo-wide
4. notify-playbooks.yml — changed src/** to packages/*/src/**, changed "package" from @tanstack/react-router to @tanstack/router

Suggested improvements

1. setup-github-actions: Add monorepo detection (check for workspaces in root package.json or packages/ directory). When detected, generate check-skills.yml and notify-playbooks.yml with loops over all packages, similar to how validate-skills.yml already works.
2. validate: Make collectPackagingWarnings() resolve the package.json relative to the skills directory being validated, not always process.cwd().
3. stale: Add monorepo support — when run from a workspace root, discover and check all packages that have skills/ directories.
4. Docs: Add a "Monorepo setup" section to the README covering the intended workflow.

Environment

• @tanstack/intent version: 0.0.14
• Node: v22
• Monorepo: pnpm workspaces, 10+ packages with skills