gitignore

Professional .gitignore file generator with 17+ built-in templates, smart merging, and automatic duplicate removal.

✨ Features

• 🚀 17+ Built-in Templates - Python, Node, Rust, C, C++, Java, Go, Swift, Ruby, PHP, TypeScript, VS Code, Vim, IntelliJ, macOS, Linux, Windows
• 🔄 Smart Merging - Automatically appends to existing .gitignore and removes duplicates
• 📝 Multiple Patterns - Add multiple files/paths at once: gitignore node_modules/ *.log .env
• 🎯 Auto-detection - Scans your project and suggests appropriate templates
• 🎨 Interactive Mode - User-friendly template selection with -t or -I flags
• 🌐 GitHub Sync - Download official templates from GitHub's repository
• 💾 Backup & Restore - Automatic backups with easy restoration
• 🔧 Template Generator - Easy-to-add custom templates (just drop .gitignore files)
• 🎯 Smart PREFIX - Install anywhere: PREFIX=~/.local make install
• ⚡ Fast - Templates compiled into binary, no external files needed
• 🎨 Colored Output - Beautiful terminal display
• 🪟 Cross-platform - Linux, macOS, and Windows support

📥 Installation

Quick Install (Recommended)

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mahbubhs/gitignore/main/install.sh | bash

Install to Custom Location

# Install to ~/.local (no sudo required)
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mahbubhs/gitignore/main/install.sh | bash -s ~/.local

# Or use environment variable
export PREFIX=~/.local
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mahbubhs/gitignore/main/install.sh | bash

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/mahbubhs/gitignore.git
cd gitignore
make
sudo make install

Custom Installation Path

# Install to custom location
make PREFIX=~/.local install

# Or set environment variable
export PREFIX=/opt/gitignore
make install

# Check installation path
make show-prefix

Requirements

• GCC or Clang compiler
• libcurl (for GitHub sync)
• Make

Install dependencies:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install build-essential libcurl4-openssl-dev

# macOS
brew install curl

# Fedora/RHEL
sudo dnf install gcc make libcurl-devel

🚀 Quick Start

# Auto-detect project type
gitignore auto

# Create with specific templates
gitignore init python node

# Add multiple patterns at once
gitignore node_modules/ *.log .env dist/

# Interactive mode (quick)
gitignore -t

📚 Usage

Adding Patterns (Most Common)

Single pattern:

gitignore node_modules/
gitignore *.log
gitignore .env

Multiple patterns at once:

# Add several patterns in one command
gitignore node_modules/ *.log .env dist/

# Add temporary files
gitignore *.tmp *.swp *~ *.bak

✨ Smart Features:

• ✅ Checks for duplicates before adding
• ✅ Appends to existing .gitignore
• ✅ Skips patterns that already exist
• ✅ Works even if .gitignore doesn't exist

Initialize with Templates

Using built-in templates:

# Single language
gitignore init python

# Multiple languages
gitignore init python node rust

# Language + Editor + OS
gitignore init python vscode macos

✨ Smart Features:

• ✅ Works even if .gitignore exists (appends, doesn't overwrite)
• ✅ Removes duplicate patterns automatically
• ✅ Preserves existing patterns
• ✅ No external template files needed (compiled into binary)

Auto-Detection

gitignore auto

Automatically detects:

• package.json → Node.js
• requirements.txt / setup.py → Python
• Cargo.toml → Rust
• go.mod → Go
• pom.xml / build.gradle → Java
• And more...

Interactive Mode

# Three ways to start
gitignore interactive
gitignore -t      # Quick shortcut
gitignore -I      # Alternative shortcut

Shows a numbered menu of available templates for easy selection.

GitHub Sync

Download official templates directly from GitHub:

# Single language
gitignore sync python

# Multiple languages
gitignore sync rust c cpp go

Features:

• ✅ Downloads from GitHub's official repository
• ✅ Merges with existing .gitignore
• ✅ Removes duplicates automatically
• ✅ Caches for 24 hours (faster repeated operations)

List & Preview Templates

# Show all available templates
gitignore list

# Filter templates
gitignore list python

# Show built-in only
gitignore list --builtin

# Show custom only
gitignore list --local

# Preview template contents
gitignore show python
gitignore cat rust

🎯 Pattern vs Command Detection

The tool intelligently distinguishes between patterns and commands:

Automatically Detected as Pattern:

• Contains / (slash): node_modules/, dist/
• Contains * (asterisk): *.log, *.tmp
• Contains . (dot): .env, .DS_Store
• File/directory exists: myfile.txt

Requires --add Flag (Conflicts with Commands):

Command names: init, sync, list, show, cat, auto, interactive, append, update, global, backup, restore, backups, history, cache

# These run commands
gitignore init        # Runs init command
gitignore sync        # Runs sync command

# To add as patterns, use --add
gitignore --add init      # Adds 'init' as pattern
gitignore --add sync list # Adds 'sync' and 'list' as patterns

Clear error messages:

$ gitignore sync
✗ Error: Ambiguous argument - did you mean a command or pattern?

If you want to use the 'sync' command, check: gitignore --help
If you want to add 'sync' as a pattern, use: gitignore --add sync

🎨 Built-in Templates (17+)

Languages (11)

• python - Python projects
• node - Node.js / JavaScript
• rust - Rust projects
• c - C projects
• cpp - C++ projects
• java - Java projects
• go - Go projects
• swift - Swift / iOS projects
• ruby - Ruby projects
• php - PHP projects
• typescript - TypeScript projects

Editors (3)

• vscode - Visual Studio Code
• vim - Vim editor
• intellij - IntelliJ IDEA / JetBrains IDEs

Operating Systems (3)

• macos - macOS specific patterns
• linux - Linux specific patterns
• windows - Windows specific patterns

✨ All templates are compiled into the binary - no external files needed!

🔧 Advanced Features

Global gitignore

# Create global .gitignore
gitignore global init

# Add templates to global .gitignore
gitignore global add macos vscode

# Enable in git
git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore_global

Backup & Restore

# Create backup
gitignore backup

# List available backups
gitignore backups
gitignore history

# Restore from backup
gitignore restore <backup_name>

Append/Update Modes

# Append templates (simple append)
gitignore append python

# Smart update (removes duplicates)
gitignore update node vscode

Dry Run

Preview what would happen without making changes:

gitignore --dry-run init python node
gitignore --dry-run auto
gitignore --dry-run sync rust

Cache Management

# Clear template cache (GitHub synced templates)
gitignore cache clear

🎨 Custom Templates

Using Custom Templates

Create your own templates in ~/.config/gitignore/templates/:

# Create custom template
mkdir -p ~/.config/gitignore/templates
cat > ~/.config/gitignore/templates/myproject.gitignore << 'EOF'
# My custom project patterns
.myconfig
secrets/
*.secret
temp/
EOF

# Use it
gitignore init myproject

Template Priority: Custom templates override built-in templates with the same name.

Adding Built-in Templates (For Developers)

Want to add a new built-in template? It's easy!

# 1. Create template file
cat > templates/django.gitignore << 'EOF'
# Django
*.log
*.pot
*.pyc
__pycache__/
db.sqlite3
media/
staticfiles/
EOF

# 2. Regenerate templates.c
make regen-templates

# 3. Build
make

# Done! Your template is now built-in
gitignore init django

See docs/ADDING_TEMPLATES.md for complete guide.

⚙️ Configuration

Configuration file: ~/.config/gitignore/config.conf

# gitignore configuration file

auto_backup=true         # Auto-backup before changes
cache_enabled=true       # Enable template caching
cache_duration=86400     # Cache duration (24 hours)
verbose=false            # Verbose output
use_color=true          # Colored terminal output

📖 Examples

Example 1: New Python Project

cd my-python-project
gitignore init python vscode

Example 2: Existing Project

cd existing-project
# .gitignore already exists with some patterns
gitignore init rust
# ✅ Rust patterns added
# ✅ Existing patterns preserved
# ✅ Duplicates removed

Example 3: Quick Pattern Addition

gitignore node_modules/ .env *.log dist/
# ✅ All 4 patterns added at once
# ✅ Duplicates automatically skipped

Example 4: Multi-language Project

gitignore init python node rust go
# ✅ All 4 languages merged
# ✅ Duplicates removed
# ✅ Works even if .gitignore exists

Example 5: Full Workflow

# Start a new project
mkdir my-app && cd my-app
git init

# Auto-detect and create .gitignore
gitignore auto

# Add custom patterns
gitignore secrets/ *.key

# Backup before major changes
gitignore backup

# Update with more templates
gitignore init docker nginx

🚀 How It Works

Smart Merging

# Existing .gitignore:
node_modules/
.env

# Run: gitignore init python

# Result:
node_modules/     # ✅ Kept (from existing)
.env              # ✅ Kept (from existing)
__pycache__/      # ✅ Added (from Python template)
*.py[cod]         # ✅ Added (from Python template)
# No duplicates!

Template Priority

1. Custom templates (~/.config/gitignore/templates/)  ← Highest priority
2. Built-in templates (compiled in binary)            ← Fallback

Duplicate Detection

# Add pattern
gitignore node_modules/

# Try to add again
gitignore node_modules/
# Output: ⚠ All patterns already exist in .gitignore

🛠️ Development

Build with Debug

make dev

Run Tests

make test

Add New Template

# 1. Create template file in templates/
echo "*.myext" > templates/mytemplate.gitignore

# 2. Regenerate
make regen-templates

# 3. Build
make

# 4. Test
./gitignore init mytemplate

Makefile Targets

make                    # Build project
make templates          # Generate templates.c
make regen-templates    # Force regenerate templates
make clean              # Clean build artifacts
make distclean          # Clean including generated files
make install            # Install to PREFIX
make uninstall          # Remove installation
make test               # Run tests
make package            # Create distribution tarball
make show-prefix        # Show installation prefix
make help               # Show all targets

📊 Performance

• ✅ Templates compiled into binary (no file I/O)
• ✅ Fast pattern matching and deduplication
• ✅ Efficient duplicate detection algorithm
• ✅ Template caching for GitHub sync (24h TTL)

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md

Quick Contribution Guide

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
3. Add your template to templates/ directory
4. Run make regen-templates
5. Test: make && make test
6. Commit: git commit -m 'feat: add amazing-feature template'
7. Push: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
8. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

🙏 Acknowledgments

• GitHub's gitignore repository for inspiration
• All contributors who help improve this tool

📬 Links

• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/mahbubhs/gitignore
• Issue Tracker: https://github.com/mahbubhs/gitignore/issues
• Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
• Documentation: docs/

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