.gitignore Generator

A .gitignore file is a plain-text list of file and directory patterns that Git should ignore when detecting untracked changes. It commonly excludes dependencies, build output, IDE settings, operating-system metadata, local environment files, caches, and generated artifacts from a repository.

A .gitignore Generator combines reusable rules for the technologies and environments in your project, removes duplicate patterns, preserves useful section headers, and returns an editable .gitignore file. This workspace also accepts project-specific rules and reports review items before you copy or download the result.

Choose a stack profile or select templates for languages, frameworks, IDEs, operating systems, and CI. Add custom patterns when needed, choose whether to keep section headers or common secret rules, and select Generate .gitignore. The output remains editable in the browser.

The current browser-only templates include Node.js, Python, Java, PHP, .NET/C#, Go, Rust, Ruby, React/Vite, Next.js, Django, Laravel, Ruby on Rails, and Flutter/Dart. The template list is intentionally visible and editable so you can add project-specific rules when a framework is not listed.

Yes. Select Node.js and React/Vite, or use the Node web app or React + Vite profile. Shared patterns such as node_modules, build output, local environment variants, and logs are deduplicated while the selected template sections remain understandable.

Yes. Select Python, Django, and Visual Studio Code, or use the Django + Python profile. The generated file combines Python caches and environments, Django local database and media patterns, and editor workspace rules without repeating identical entries.

Yes. Templates include Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs such as IntelliJ, WebStorm, and PyCharm, Eclipse, and Sublime Text. These rules help keep workspace metadata and editor-specific project files out of the repository when they are not team-wide source files.

Yes. Operating-system templates cover common macOS Finder files, Windows Explorer and installer artifacts, and Linux temporary or desktop metadata. You can select more than one operating system when a team works across different machines.

Yes. The builder includes Docker, GitHub Actions local files, and Kubernetes local or secret-manifest patterns. These are conservative starter rules; review your deployment workflow so that intentionally versioned manifests, lock files, and shared configuration are not ignored accidentally.

Yes. Enter one pattern or comment per line in Project-specific rules. You can add folders such as secrets/, extensions such as *.local.json, exact files, comments, and negation patterns such as !config.example.json. Custom content is merged locally and remains editable in the output.

Yes. Template rules are merged in a stable category order and duplicate non-comment patterns are removed case-insensitively. The statistics panel reports how many duplicates were removed, while comments and section headers remain available for readability.

Diagnostics identify the number of selected templates, unique rules, removed duplicates, and review warnings. Negation rules receive a review note because their result depends on rule order and parent-directory matching. Secret-file patterns also receive guidance because ignoring a file does not replace secret management.

No. .gitignore affects untracked paths; it does not remove a file that is already in the Git index. If a tracked file should stop being tracked, review it carefully and use a command such as `git rm --cached path/to/file`, then commit the change. Do not use that command blindly on important project files.

Many projects should ignore local environment files, private keys, certificates, credentials, and secret directories. Keep a safe example such as .env.example when the team needs a documented template, and use a dedicated secret manager rather than relying on .gitignore as the only protection.

Yes. The output panel is an editable text area. You can refine patterns, add comments, remove rules that do not apply, normalize spacing, copy the edited content, or download it as a .gitignore file. Review the final file as you would review any source configuration.

Yes. Copy .gitignore, Copy report, and Download .gitignore are available in the workspace. Downloads are generated locally by the browser and the output can be edited before the action is used.

No for the rule set. The generator uses stable category order and deduplicates patterns, so selecting the same templates in a different order produces the same rule content. Section order follows the defined category order rather than click order.

Yes. Template composition, deduplication, diagnostics, editing, copying, and download preparation run in browser memory. The workspace does not upload your source tree, call a remote template API, require an account, write persistent storage, or save the generated file on a server.

No. Templates are practical starting points, not a substitute for repository review. Build tools, deployment systems, generated assets, monorepos, language-specific packaging, and team conventions can require additions or exceptions. Inspect the final output and test Git status before committing.

Yes. The workspace uses responsive category grids, stacked output panels, keyboard-accessible controls, and touch-friendly buttons. For large files, a desktop editor may still be more comfortable for reviewing every rule before committing.

The five most common reasons are: (1) The file is already tracked by Git — .gitignore only affects untracked files, so run `git rm --cached path` and commit. (2) The parent directory is already ignored — Git cannot un-ignore a file inside an ignored directory, so un-ignore the parent first with `!parent/`. (3) The .gitignore is in the wrong directory — rules only apply to the directory and subdirectories where the file lives. (4) The pattern does not match the actual path — use `git check-ignore -v path` to test. (5) A negation rule appears in the wrong order — the last matching rule wins.

Use the Validate tab in ToolsSonic's .gitignore Generator. Paste the contents of your existing .gitignore and click Audit. The auditor checks every rule for duplicate patterns, bare wildcards, negation ordering risks, lock files that should be tracked, potential secret file patterns, and patterns without a trailing slash. Results include line numbers so issues can be fixed immediately. All analysis runs locally in your browser.

Yes. The expanded template library includes Kotlin, Scala, Swift/Xcode, C/C++, R, Elixir, Julia, Dart, and Terraform under Languages, and frameworks including Vue/Nuxt, Angular, Svelte/SvelteKit, NestJS, Astro, FastAPI/Flask, Spring Boot, React Native/Expo, Tauri/Electron, Unity, and WordPress under Frameworks. Use the search box to find any template quickly.

Yes. The Unity template covers Library/, Temp/, Obj/, Build/, Builds/, Logs/, UserSettings/, and related Unity-specific artifacts. Select Unity under Frameworks, combine with your operating system template, and add any CI rules for your build pipeline.

Yes. The Terraform template covers .terraform/, *.tfstate, *.tfstate.*, *.tfvars, crash.log, override files, and .terraformrc. For a full DevOps stack, use the DevOps/K8s profile which combines Docker, Kubernetes, Ansible, and Terraform in one click.

Yes. Angular and Svelte/SvelteKit templates are included under Frameworks. Angular covers /dist/, /out-tsc/, /bazel-out/, .angular/, and coverage/. SvelteKit covers .svelte-kit/, /build/, /package/, and Vite timestamp files. Both can be combined with your IDE and OS templates.

Yes. Vercel and Netlify templates are available under CI & Infrastructure. Vercel covers .vercel/ and deployment artifacts. Netlify covers .netlify/ and functions/node_modules/. These are typically combined with a framework template such as Next.js or SvelteKit.

The Validate mode checks: duplicate rules (case-insensitive), bare `*` wildcards that ignore everything, broad extension patterns like `*.log`, negation rules that depend on rule order, lock files (package-lock.json, Cargo.lock, etc.) that most projects should track, leading-slash root-anchored patterns, patterns that match possible secret files (keys, credentials, tokens), and patterns without a trailing slash that may match both files and directories unexpectedly.

Run `git rm --cached path/to/file` to remove the file from Git's index without deleting it from disk. For a directory, use `git rm -r --cached directory/`. Then add the pattern to .gitignore, stage the .gitignore change, and commit. From that point on, Git will ignore matching untracked files.

Yes. Run `git check-ignore -v path/to/file` to see which .gitignore rule (if any) is matching a specific path. The output shows the file, line number, and pattern that matched. If the command returns nothing, no rule is currently ignoring the path. This is the most reliable way to diagnose why a pattern is not working as expected.