How do I create a .gitignore file?

Pick your languages, frameworks, IDE and operating system above, then click Download — your browser saves a file literally named “.gitignore”. Place it in the root folder of your repository (next to the .git directory) and commit it before adding the files you want ignored. You can also copy the text and paste it into a new file you create with your editor.

What should I put in a .gitignore for a Python or Node.js project?

For Node, ignore node_modules/, build output (dist/, .next), logs and .env secret files. For Python, ignore __pycache__/, *.py[cod], virtual-env folders (venv/, .venv) and *.egg-info. This tool inserts exactly those rules from GitHub’s official Node and Python templates, plus your IDE and OS rules, so nothing important is missed.

Where do I put the .gitignore file in my repository?

Put it in the repository root — the top-level folder that contains your .git directory. Git reads it from there for the whole project. You can add extra .gitignore files inside subfolders for rules that apply only to that folder; rules are relative to the file’s location. See the Git documentation linked in Sources for the precedence rules.

How do I ignore node_modules, .env or __pycache__ in Git?

Add a line with the folder or file pattern: node_modules/ for the Node dependency folder, .env for environment secrets, and __pycache__/ for Python bytecode. A trailing slash means “directory”. If a file is already tracked, ignoring it isn’t enough — run “git rm -r --cached node_modules” once to stop tracking it, then commit.

Can I combine multiple templates — language plus IDE plus OS?

Yes, that is the point of this tool. Select any mix — for example Python, Node, Visual Studio Code and macOS — and it merges all of them into one file, ordered Languages → Frameworks → IDEs → Operating Systems, with a “### name ###” header before each block so you can see where every rule came from.

What does “remove duplicate lines” do?

When two templates contain the same pattern (say *.log appears in both), the toggle keeps the first occurrence and drops the later identical one, then shows you how many it removed. Comments, blank lines and negation rules (lines starting with !) are never removed, because dropping a later negation could change which files Git ignores.

Are these the same templates GitHub uses?

Yes. Every template is copied verbatim from the official github/gitignore collection — the same set GitHub offers in its “Add .gitignore” dropdown when you create a repo. It is dedicated to the public domain (CC0-1.0), and this build is pinned to commit dcc0fc7 so the output is stable and reproducible.

Does this upload my project anywhere?

No. The generator runs entirely in your browser using a bundled copy of the templates. There are no network calls, no file uploads and no signup — selecting templates and downloading the result never sends anything to a server.

Which templates are included?

This version bundles the 23 most-searched templates across languages (Node, Python, Java, Go, Rust, C++, Ruby, Swift), frameworks and build tools (Rails, Laravel, Symfony, Vue, Flutter, Android, Unity, Maven, Gradle, Composer), IDEs (Visual Studio Code, JetBrains) and operating systems (macOS, Windows, Linux). The long tail of rarer templates is intentionally left out to keep the page fast; email me if you need one added.

Developer · Git

.gitignore Generator

Build a clean, deduplicated .gitignore from 23+ of GitHub's own official templates. Pick your languages, frameworks, editor and OS, then copy or download in one click. Runs entirely in your browser — no signup, no upload, sources cited.

By Induwara Ashinsana— Executive Director, Ryzera TechnologiesUpdated Jun 23, 2026

Build your .gitignore

github/gitignore · CC0 · @dcc0fc7

Quick stacks

Find a template

Selected (3)

NodeVisual Studio CodemacOS

Languages

Frameworks

IDEs & Editors

Operating Systems

Add custom rules (optional)

Each non-empty line is added verbatim under a ### Custom ### section.

216 lines3.3 KB3 templates

.gitignore

### Node ###
# Logs
logs
*.log
npm-debug.log*
yarn-debug.log*
yarn-error.log*
lerna-debug.log*

# Diagnostic reports (https://nodejs.org/api/report.html)
report.[0-9]*.[0-9]*.[0-9]*.[0-9]*.json

# Runtime data
pids
*.pid
*.seed
*.pid.lock

# Directory for instrumented libs generated by jscoverage/JSCover
lib-cov

# Coverage directory used by tools like istanbul
coverage
*.lcov

# nyc test coverage
.nyc_output

# Grunt intermediate storage (https://gruntjs.com/creating-plugins#storing-task-files)
.grunt

# Bower dependency directory (https://bower.io/)
bower_components

# node-waf configuration
.lock-wscript

# Compiled binary addons (https://nodejs.org/api/addons.html)
build/Release

# Dependency directories
node_modules/
jspm_packages/

# Snowpack dependency directory (https://snowpack.dev/)
web_modules/

# TypeScript cache
*.tsbuildinfo

# Optional npm cache directory
.npm

# Optional eslint cache
.eslintcache

# Optional stylelint cache
.stylelintcache

# Optional REPL history
.node_repl_history

# Output of 'npm pack'
*.tgz

# Yarn Integrity file
.yarn-integrity

# dotenv environment variable files
.env
.env.*
!.env.example

# parcel-bundler cache (https://parceljs.org/)
.cache
.parcel-cache

# Next.js build output
.next
out

# Nuxt.js build / generate output
.nuxt
dist
.output

# Gatsby files
.cache/
# Comment in the public line in if your project uses Gatsby and not Next.js
# https://nextjs.org/blog/next-9-1#public-directory-support
# public

# vuepress build output
.vuepress/dist

# vuepress v2.x temp directory
.temp

# Sveltekit cache directory
.svelte-kit/

# vitepress build output
**/.vitepress/dist

# vitepress cache directory
**/.vitepress/cache

# Docusaurus cache and generated files
.docusaurus

# Serverless directories
.serverless/

# FuseBox cache
.fusebox/

# DynamoDB Local files
.dynamodb/

# Firebase cache directory
.firebase/

# TernJS port file
.tern-port

# Stores VSCode versions used for testing VSCode extensions
.vscode-test

# pnpm
.pnpm-store

# yarn v3
.pnp.*
.yarn/*
!.yarn/patches
!.yarn/plugins
!.yarn/releases
!.yarn/sdks
!.yarn/versions

# Vite files
vite.config.js.timestamp-*
vite.config.ts.timestamp-*
.vite/

### Visual Studio Code ###
# Visual Studio Code
.vscode/*
!.vscode/settings.json
!.vscode/tasks.json
!.vscode/launch.json
!.vscode/extensions.json
!.vscode/*.code-snippets
!*.code-workspace

# Built Visual Studio Code Extensions
*.vsix

### macOS ###
# General
.DS_Store
.localized
__MACOSX/
.AppleDouble
.LSOverride
Icon[
]

# Resource forks
._*

# Files and directories that might appear in the root of a volume
.DocumentRevisions-V100
.fseventsd
.Spotlight-V100
.TemporaryItems
.Trashes
.VolumeIcon.icns
.com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent
.com.apple.timemachine.supported
.PKInstallSandboxManager
.PKInstallSandboxManager-SystemSoftware
.hotfiles.btree
.vol
.file
.disk_label*
lost+found
.HFS+ Private Directory Data[
]

# Directories potentially created on remote AFP share
.AppleDB
.AppleDesktop
Network Trash Folder
Temporary Items
.apdisk

# Mac OS 6 to 9
Desktop DB
Desktop DF
TheFindByContentFolder
TheVolumeSettingsFolder
.FBCIndex
.FBCSemaphoreFile
.FBCLockFolder

# Quota system
.quota.group
.quota.user
.quota.ops.group
.quota.ops.user

# TimeMachine
Backups.backupdb
.MobileBackups
.MobileBackups.trash
MobileBackups.trash
tmbootpicker.efi

Templates are copied verbatim from github/gitignore @dcc0fc7, dedicated to the public domain under CC0-1.0. Everything runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded. View the source collection.

How it works

A .gitignorefile tells Git which paths to leave untracked, so generated junk and secrets never reach your history. Each line is a glob pattern matched against paths relative to the file's location. A trailing /means “directory”; * matches anything except a slash; ** matches across directories; a leading ! re-includes a previously ignored path; and lines starting with # are comments. The full grammar and precedence rules are defined in the official Git documentation cited below.

This tool is a deterministic template-merge engine, not a numeric calculator. It ships a version-pinned copy of 23templates taken verbatim from GitHub's public-domain github/gitignore collection — the same set behind the “Add .gitignore” dropdown when you create a repository. The build is pinned to commit dcc0fc7 so output is reproducible. Generation works in four steps:

Order.Whatever order you click, selections are emitted in a stable sequence — Languages, then Frameworks, then IDEs & Editors, then Operating Systems — so the same picks always produce the same file.
Assemble. For each template a ### name ### header (when grouping is on) is followed by that template's exact lines, then a blank separator. Custom rules you type are appended last under a ### Custom ### section.
Deduplicate. When the toggle is on, the engine walks the merged lines top-to-bottom and keeps only the first occurrence of each identical pattern, dropping later copies and reporting the count. Comments, blank lines and negation rules (!pattern) are never treated as duplicates — removing a later negation could change which files Git ignores, so the merge preserves Git's last-matching-pattern semantics.
Measure. The line count comes from content.split("\n") and the byte size from the UTF-8 length of the text, shown live in the badge row. A separate cross-check function recomputes the duplicate count independently, so the “X duplicates removed” figure is verified, not estimated.

Nothing leaves your machine: the templates are bundled, so there are no GitHub API calls, no rate limits and no upload of your selections. Place the resulting file in your repository root and commit it before adding the files you want ignored.

Worked examples

Node web app on VS Code + Windows

Node · Visual Studio Code · Windows

Sections emit in fixed order: Languages → IDEs → OS.
### Node ### block: node_modules/, dist/, .env, *.log …
### Visual Studio Code ### block: .vscode/* with the !.vscode/settings.json negation kept intact.
### Windows ### block: Thumbs.db, Desktop.ini, $RECYCLE.BIN/ …
No pattern is shared across the three files → 0 duplicates removed, 183 lines total.

Python — custom rule that duplicates a template line

Python + custom rule “__pycache__/”

Python’s official template already contains __pycache__/.
Your custom rule repeats it under the ### Custom ### section (added last).
With “remove duplicates” on, the later copy is dropped.
Result: 1 duplicate removed, __pycache__/ appears exactly once.
Turn the toggle off and both copies are kept (0 removed) — your choice.

Full-stack: Python + Node + VS Code + macOS

Python · Node · Visual Studio Code · macOS

Two languages, one IDE, one OS merged into a single file.
Order is deterministic regardless of the click sequence.
Each block keeps its own comments so the file stays readable.
Duplicate patterns across Python/Node (e.g. *.log) are collapsed once.
Copy or Download → drop into your repo root before the first commit.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & references

Bundled templates were last cross-checked against github/gitignore at commit dcc0fc7 on 2026-06-23. The pinned commit is refreshed periodically as GitHub updates the upstream templates.

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Comments & feedback

Spotted a bug or want an improvement? Tell us — our team reviews every comment, and good ideas get built. Comments are public and anonymous.

Found a bug, want another template bundled, or have an edge case?

Email me at [email protected] — most fixes ship within 24 hours.