diff --git a/benchmarks/basic/tsconfig.json b/benchmarks/basic/tsconfig.json
index 546bce5..e116aae 100644
--- a/benchmarks/basic/tsconfig.json
+++ b/benchmarks/basic/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 {
-  "extends": ["../../tsconfig.json"],
+  "extends": "../../tsconfig.base.json",
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "rootDir": ".",
     "outDir": "dist"
   },
   "include": ["**/*.ts"],
diff --git a/examples/basic/tsconfig.json b/examples/basic/tsconfig.json
index 546bce5..e116aae 100644
--- a/examples/basic/tsconfig.json
+++ b/examples/basic/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 {
-  "extends": ["../../tsconfig.json"],
+  "extends": "../../tsconfig.base.json",
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "rootDir": ".",
     "outDir": "dist"
   },
   "include": ["**/*.ts"],
diff --git a/examples/declare-workflow/tsconfig.json b/examples/declare-workflow/tsconfig.json
index 546bce5..e116aae 100644
--- a/examples/declare-workflow/tsconfig.json
+++ b/examples/declare-workflow/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 {
-  "extends": ["../../tsconfig.json"],
+  "extends": "../../tsconfig.base.json",
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "rootDir": ".",
     "outDir": "dist"
   },
   "include": ["**/*.ts"],
diff --git a/examples/with-schema-validation/tsconfig.json b/examples/with-schema-validation/tsconfig.json
index 546bce5..e116aae 100644
--- a/examples/with-schema-validation/tsconfig.json
+++ b/examples/with-schema-validation/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 {
-  "extends": ["../../tsconfig.json"],
+  "extends": "../../tsconfig.base.json",
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "rootDir": ".",
     "outDir": "dist"
   },
   "include": ["**/*.ts"],
diff --git a/examples/workflow-discovery/tsconfig.json b/examples/workflow-discovery/tsconfig.json
index 9950aca..e116aae 100644
--- a/examples/workflow-discovery/tsconfig.json
+++ b/examples/workflow-discovery/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
-  "extends": "../../tsconfig.json",
+  "extends": "../../tsconfig.base.json",
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "noEmit": true
+    "outDir": "dist"
   },
   "include": ["**/*.ts"],
   "exclude": ["dist"]
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 9b596d0..3e7a61a 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
   ],
   "scripts": {
     "build": "turbo build",
-    "ci": "npm run format && npm run lint && npm run typecheck && npm run build && npm run test:coverage",
+    "ci": "npm run format && npm run build && npm run lint && npm run typecheck && npm run test:coverage",
     "format": "prettier --check . --ignore-path .gitignore --ignore-path .prettierignore",
     "format:fix": "prettier --write . --ignore-path .gitignore --ignore-path .prettierignore",
     "knip": "knip",
diff --git a/packages/backend-postgres/package.json b/packages/backend-postgres/package.json
index b814094..b42e762 100644
--- a/packages/backend-postgres/package.json
+++ b/packages/backend-postgres/package.json
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
   "exports": {
     ".": {
       "types": "./dist/index.d.ts",
-      "development": "./index.ts",
       "default": "./dist/index.js"
     }
   },
diff --git a/packages/backend-postgres/tsconfig.json b/packages/backend-postgres/tsconfig.json
index 546bce5..b3db5ed 100644
--- a/packages/backend-postgres/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/backend-postgres/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 {
-  "extends": ["../../tsconfig.json"],
+  "extends": ["../../tsconfig.base.json"],
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "rootDir": ".",
     "outDir": "dist"
   },
+  "references": [{ "path": "../openworkflow" }],
   "include": ["**/*.ts"],
   "exclude": ["dist"]
 }
diff --git a/packages/backend-sqlite/package.json b/packages/backend-sqlite/package.json
index 35fc7ce..c028fe0 100644
--- a/packages/backend-sqlite/package.json
+++ b/packages/backend-sqlite/package.json
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
   "exports": {
     ".": {
       "types": "./dist/index.d.ts",
-      "development": "./index.ts",
       "default": "./dist/index.js"
     }
   },
diff --git a/packages/backend-sqlite/tsconfig.json b/packages/backend-sqlite/tsconfig.json
index 546bce5..1f06722 100644
--- a/packages/backend-sqlite/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/backend-sqlite/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 {
-  "extends": ["../../tsconfig.json"],
+  "extends": "../../tsconfig.base.json",
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "rootDir": ".",
     "outDir": "dist"
   },
+  "references": [{ "path": "../openworkflow" }],
   "include": ["**/*.ts"],
   "exclude": ["dist"]
 }
diff --git a/packages/backend-test/package.json b/packages/backend-test/package.json
index e840b83..379dd0e 100644
--- a/packages/backend-test/package.json
+++ b/packages/backend-test/package.json
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
   "exports": {
     ".": {
       "types": "./dist/index.d.ts",
-      "development": "./index.ts",
       "default": "./dist/index.js"
     }
   },
diff --git a/packages/backend-test/tsconfig.json b/packages/backend-test/tsconfig.json
index 546bce5..1f06722 100644
--- a/packages/backend-test/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/backend-test/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 {
-  "extends": ["../../tsconfig.json"],
+  "extends": "../../tsconfig.base.json",
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "rootDir": ".",
     "outDir": "dist"
   },
+  "references": [{ "path": "../openworkflow" }],
   "include": ["**/*.ts"],
   "exclude": ["dist"]
 }
diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
index 538d132..653e393 100644
--- a/packages/cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -5,12 +5,10 @@
   "exports": {
     ".": {
       "types": "./dist/index.d.ts",
-      "development": "./index.ts",
       "default": "./dist/index.js"
     },
     "./internal": {
       "types": "./dist/internal.d.ts",
-      "development": "./internal.ts",
       "default": "./dist/internal.js"
     }
   },
diff --git a/packages/cli/tsconfig.json b/packages/cli/tsconfig.json
index 546bce5..1f06722 100644
--- a/packages/cli/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/cli/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 {
-  "extends": ["../../tsconfig.json"],
+  "extends": "../../tsconfig.base.json",
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "rootDir": ".",
     "outDir": "dist"
   },
+  "references": [{ "path": "../openworkflow" }],
   "include": ["**/*.ts"],
   "exclude": ["dist"]
 }
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/tsconfig.json b/packages/dashboard/tsconfig.json
index d7a8b1f..682e11d 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/dashboard/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 {
   "extends": [
-    "../../tsconfig.json",
+    "../../tsconfig.base.json",
     "@tsconfig/vite-react/tsconfig.json" // https://www.npmjs.com/package/@tsconfig/vite-react
   ],
   "compilerOptions": {
+    "noEmit": false, // TS6310
+    "allowImportingTsExtensions": false, // TS5096, caused by disabling noEmit
     "types": ["vite/client"],
     "paths": {
       "@/*": ["./src/*"]
     }
   },
+  "references": [{ "path": "../cli" }, { "path": "../openworkflow" }],
   "include": ["**/*.ts", "**/*.tsx"],
   "exclude": ["dist"]
 }
diff --git a/packages/openworkflow/package.json b/packages/openworkflow/package.json
index d24634a..a73617a 100644
--- a/packages/openworkflow/package.json
+++ b/packages/openworkflow/package.json
@@ -28,12 +28,10 @@
   "exports": {
     ".": {
       "types": "./dist/index.d.ts",
-      "development": "./index.ts",
       "default": "./dist/index.js"
     },
     "./internal": {
       "types": "./dist/internal.d.ts",
-      "development": "./internal.ts",
       "default": "./dist/internal.js"
     }
   },
diff --git a/packages/openworkflow/tsconfig.json b/packages/openworkflow/tsconfig.json
index 4e97c9a..4219e97 100644
--- a/packages/openworkflow/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/openworkflow/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 {
-  "extends": ["../../tsconfig.json"],
+  "extends": ["../../tsconfig.base.json"],
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "rootDir": ".",
     "outDir": "dist"
   },
   "include": ["**/*.ts"],
-  "exclude": ["**/*.test.ts", "dist"]
+  "exclude": [
+    "dist",
+    "**/*.test.ts" // see note in ./tsconfig.test.json
+  ]
 }
diff --git a/packages/openworkflow/tsconfig.test.json b/packages/openworkflow/tsconfig.test.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae2805c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/openworkflow/tsconfig.test.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// this config is a workaround to add backend-postgres as a reference for our
+// test files without a circular reference in the main tsconfig.json
+{
+  "extends": ["./tsconfig.json"],
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "outDir": "dist"
+  },
+  "references": [{ "path": "." }, { "path": "../backend-postgres" }],
+  "include": ["**/*.test.ts"],
+  "exclude": ["dist"]
+}
diff --git a/tsconfig.base.json b/tsconfig.base.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eb5c04e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tsconfig.base.json
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{
+  "extends": [
+    "@tsconfig/strictest/tsconfig.json", // https://www.npmjs.com/package/@tsconfig/strictest
+    "@tsconfig/node22/tsconfig.json" // https://www.npmjs.com/package/@tsconfig/node22
+  ],
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "composite": true,
+    "declaration": true,
+    "sourceMap": true,
+    "declarationMap": true
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index 53b9727..6f7a6af 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,21 +1,29 @@
 {
-  "extends": [
-    "@tsconfig/strictest/tsconfig.json", // https://www.npmjs.com/package/@tsconfig/strictest
-    "@tsconfig/node22/tsconfig.json" // https://www.npmjs.com/package/@tsconfig/node22
+  // https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/project-references.html#overall-structure
+  "files": [],
+  "references": [
+    { "path": "./benchmarks/basic" },
+    { "path": "./examples/basic" },
+    { "path": "./examples/declare-workflow" },
+    { "path": "./examples/with-schema-validation" },
+    { "path": "./examples/workflow-discovery" },
+    { "path": "./packages/openworkflow" },
+    { "path": "./packages/backend-postgres" },
+    { "path": "./packages/backend-sqlite" },
+    { "path": "./packages/backend-test" },
+    { "path": "./packages/cli" },
+    { "path": "./packages/dashboard" }
   ],
-  "compilerOptions": {
-    "rootDir": ".",
-    "outDir": "dist",
-    "customConditions": ["development"],
 
-    "composite": true,
-    "declaration": true,
-    "sourceMap": true,
-    "declarationMap": true
+  // project-wide settings for configs, workflows, etc.
+  "extends": "./tsconfig.base.json",
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "outDir": "dist"
   },
-  "include": ["**/*.ts"],
-
-  // temporary - run `npm run typecheck` from the package root until we migrate
-  // our typechecks over to turbo
-  "exclude": ["packages/dashboard", "dist"]
+  "include": [
+    "openworkflow/**/*.ts",
+    "*.config.ts",
+    "packages/openworkflow/**/*.test.ts" // needed to work with packages/openworkflow/tsconfig.test.json
+  ],
+  "exclude": ["dist"]
 }
diff --git a/vitest.config.ts b/vitest.config.ts
index 52be040..f1ae95b 100644
--- a/vitest.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.config.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
     coverage: {
       include: ["packages/**/*.ts"],
       exclude: [
+        "**/*.testsuite.ts",
         "**/dist/**",
         "**/scripts/*.ts",
         "vitest.global-setup.ts",