Storybook 7 is here - and Nx is ready

Storybook 7 is in beta

Storybook version 7 is still in beta. Things are evolving dynamically, so it would be better to avoid using in production. If you want to use the stable, 6.5 version, please go to the Storybook plugin overview guide to get started.

Storybook 7 is a major release that brings a lot of new features and improvements. You can read more about it in the Storybook 7 beta announcement blog post. Apart from the new features and improvements it introduces, it also brings some breaking changes. You can read more about them in the Storybook 7 migration docs and the Storybook 7 migration guide. Do note that version 7 is still in beta, and things are evolving dynamically, so it would be better to avoid using in production.

Nx provides new generators that allow you to generate Storybook 7 configuration for your projects, by installing the correct dependencies, and creating the corresponding version 7 configuration files.

So, let's see how to get started with Storybook 7 and Nx.

Setting Up Storybook 7 in a new Nx Workspace

In this guide we will see how to set up Storybook version 7 in a new Nx workspace, or a workspace that does NOT already have Storybook configured.

Migrating existing Storybook configuration

For migrating your existing Nx workspace with existing Storybook configuration to use Storybook version 7, please refer to our Storybook 7 migration guide.

Add the Storybook plugin

yarn add -D @nrwl/storybook

Using Storybook

Generating Storybook Configuration

You can generate Storybook configuration for an individual project with this command:

nx g @nrwl/storybook:configuration project-name --storybook7betaConfiguration --storybook7UiFramework=@storybook/react-webpack5

In the field storybook7UiFramework you must choose one of the following Storybook frameworks:

  • @storybook/angular
  • @storybook/html-webpack5
  • @storybook/nextjs
  • @storybook/preact-webpack5
  • @storybook/react-webpack5
  • @storybook/react-vite
  • @storybook/server-webpack5
  • @storybook/svelte-webpack5
  • @storybook/svelte-vite
  • @storybook/sveltekit
  • @storybook/vue-webpack5
  • @storybook/vue-vite
  • @storybook/vue3-webpack5
  • @storybook/vue3-vite
  • @storybook/web-components-webpack5
  • @storybook/web-components-vite

In Storybook 7, the framework field in .storybook/main.js|ts is mandatory. You must choose one of the above frameworks when setting up your application.

If you are using one of the framework-specific generators (e.g. @nrwl/angular:storybook-configuration, or @nrwl/react:storybook-configuration for React and Nextjs projects, or @nrwl/react-native:storybook-configuration), the generator will automatically choose the correct framework for you.

Choosing one of these frameworks will have the following effects on your workspace:

  1. Nx will install all the required Storybook packages that go with it.

  2. Nx will generate a root .storybook folder and a project-level .storybook folder (located under libs/your-project/.storybook or apps/your-project/.storybook) containing the essential configuration files for Storybook.

  3. If you are working on an Angular, a React or a React Native project (and you choose @storybook/angular, @storybook/react or @storybook/react-native) the Nx generator will also generate stories for all the components in your project.

  4. Nx will create new targets in your project's project.json, called storybook and build-storybook, containing all the necessary configuration to serve and build Storybook.

  5. Nx will generate a new Cypress e2e app for your project (if there isn't one already) to run against the Storybook instance.

Changes from the v6.5 Storybook configuration

The Storybook configuration generated by Nx for Storybook 7 is very similar to the one generated for Storybook 6.5. Here are the new things that you should expect to see:

Changes in .storybook/main.js|ts file

  • No longer set the core field which contains the builder option.
  • The framework field is now mandatory, and it "replaces" the builder configuration. You can read more in the Storybook docs.
  • Nx no longer adds the webpackFinal field to the .storybook/main.js|ts files. This is just for the sake of simplicity. You can still edit your webpack configuration by using the webpackFinal field, just as you can edit your Vite configuration by using the viteFinal field. You can read more about how to customize your webpack configuration in the Storybook webpack docs, and you can read more about how to customize your Vite configuration in the Storybook Vite docs.

Changes in the storybook and build-storybook targets

  • The uiFramework field is not needed any more, thus it is not set. Nx was using the uiFramework field to load any framework specific options for the Storybook builder. This is no longer needed, since the framework set in .storybook/main.js|ts takes care of that.
  • More options from the Storybook CLI are now exposed in the executors. You can see these in the @nrwl/storybook:storybook and @nrwl/storybook:build executor schemas. You can read more about these options in the Storybook 7 CLI docs. If there's an option you need to pass but it's not in the executor schema, you can always pass it, since the executors are just passing the options to the Storybook CLI.

Use Storybook 7 beta

You can now use Storybook 7 beta! 🎉

npx nx build-storybook PROJECT_NAME

and

npx nx storybook PROJECT_NAME

Report any issues and bugs

Since this is a beta version, there are bound to be some issues and bugs. Please report any issues and bugs you find on the Nx GitHub page or on the Storybook GitHub page.