run-many --parallel option not honored when one (or more) targets depend on continuous task

Current Behavior

When executing npx nx run-many -t target1 target2 --parallel=1, the targets are not serialized and instead run concurrently if one (or more) of the targets depends on a continuous target.

Expected Behavior

Only one target should execute at a time given --parallel=1 regardless of whether of whether or not continuous is involved in the target dependency chain.

GitHub Repo

https://github.com/techfg/nx-21-continuous-tasks-repros

Steps to Reproduce

git clone https://github.com/techfg/nx-21-continuous-tasks-repros.git
npx nx run-many -t first second third --parallel=1

Actual Behavior: first and second execute and then third executes after first and second are complete

npx nx run-many -t third fourth --parallel=1

Actual Behavior: third and fourth execute concurrently

Nx Report

Node           : 22.16.0
OS             : linux-x64
Native Target  : x86_64-linux
npm            : 10.9.2

nx             : 21.1.3
@nx/js         : 21.1.3
@nx/workspace  : 21.1.3
@nx/devkit     : 21.1.3
typescript     : 5.7.3
---------------------------------------
Registered Plugins:
@nx/js/typescript
---------------------------------------
Cache Usage: 0.00 B / 100.69 GB

Failure Logs

Package Manager Version

npm 10.9.2

Operating System

macOS
Linux
Windows
Other (Please specify)

Additional Information

--parallel=1 is properly honored when none of the targets depend on a continuous task. For example, executing npx nx run-many -t first second will serialize the execution of the targets as expected

add targets for issue [#31494](nrwl/nx#31494)

Hey, we are facing the same issue. We have to run our e2e test with --parallel=1, but after migrating to Nx 21 and continuous tasks, the parallel option is not honored anymore. We've tried using affected instead, but same result. However, dropping the continuous property seems to fix the issue. This issue will prevent us from running a lot of (continuous) tasks in the DTE.

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This issue is still occurring. #34117 was created as a duplicate and #34721 is aimed at addressing.

fix(core): respect --parallel limit for discrete task concurrency (nr…

fix(core): respect --parallel limit for discrete task concurrency (#3…

Update all non-major dependencies (#181)

This issue has been closed for more than 30 days. If this issue is still occuring, please open a new issue with more recent context.

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`run-many --parallel` option not honored when one (or more) targets depend on continuous task #31494

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run-many --parallel option not honored when one (or more) targets depend on continuous task #31494

Description

Current Behavior

Expected Behavior

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Steps to Reproduce

Nx Report

Failure Logs

Package Manager Version

Operating System

Additional Information

Activity

edbzn commented on Sep 11, 2025

github-actions commented on Mar 12, 2026

techfg commented on Mar 12, 2026

github-actions commented on Apr 21, 2026

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`run-many --parallel` option not honored when one (or more) targets depend on continuous task #31494