diff --git a/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/README.md b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b5621423c9
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+++ b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# compile-test-app
+
+Used to try out different setups for building packages separately but supporting global watch mode.
diff --git a/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/dev/index.tsx b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/dev/index.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5cde9f6554
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/dev/index.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import React from 'react';
+import ReactDOM from 'react-dom';
+import { ExampleComponent } from '../src';
+
+ReactDOM.render(
+  <main>
+    <h1>This is the dev app</h1>
+    <ExampleComponent />
+  </main>,
+  document.getElementById('root'),
+);
diff --git a/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/jest.config.js b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/jest.config.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6b28dacb3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/jest.config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+module.exports = {
+  ...require('@spotify/web-scripts/config/jest.config.js'),
+  setupFilesAfterEnv: ['../jest.setup.ts'],
+};
diff --git a/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/jest.setup.ts b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/jest.setup.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..666127af39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/jest.setup.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+import '@testing-library/jest-dom/extend-expect';
diff --git a/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/package.json b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/package.json
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index 0000000000..7bf384bc07
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+++ b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+{
+  "name": "compile-test-app",
+  "version": "0.0.0",
+  "main": "dist/cjs/index.js",
+  "license": "Apache-2.0",
+  "private": false,
+  "scripts": {
+    "build": "tsc --outDir dist/cjs --noEmit false --module CommonJS",
+    "build:watch": "yarn run build --watch",
+    "start": "backstage-cli serve-plugin",
+    "lint": "web-scripts lint",
+    "test": "web-scripts test"
+  },
+  "devDependencies": {
+    "@spotify/web-scripts": "^6.0.0",
+    "@spotify-backstage/cli": "^1.2.0"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/src/ExampleComponent.tsx b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/src/ExampleComponent.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a9efc2c14d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/src/ExampleComponent.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import React, { FC } from 'react';
+
+const ExampleComponent: FC<{}> = () => {
+  return <div>This is the ExampleComponent</div>;
+};
+
+export default ExampleComponent;
diff --git a/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/src/index.ts b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/src/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..64df83eea7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/src/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export { default as ExampleComponent } from './ExampleComponent';
diff --git a/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/tsconfig.json b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..54d6092ed9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/packages/compile-test-app/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  "extends": "../../tsconfig.json",
+  "include": ["dev", "src"]
+}