📄 .gitignore Reference

A .gitignore file tells Git which files and folders to never track. Put it in the root of your repository. Copy the section that matches your stack — or combine multiple sections for mixed projects.

💡

Already committed a file by mistake? Adding it to .gitignore won't remove it from tracking. Run git rm --cached <file> to untrack it without deleting it from disk, then commit.

Quick Starter — Most Projects

A minimal baseline that works for almost any project. Start here, then add stack-specific rules below.

.gitignore

# ── Build output ──────────────────────────────────
bin/
obj/
dist/
out/
build/
target/

# ── Dependencies ──────────────────────────────────
node_modules/
.pnp/
.pnp.js
vendor/

# ── Environment & secrets ─────────────────────────
.env
.env.*
!.env.example
*.local
secrets.*
appsettings.local.*

# ── OS files ──────────────────────────────────────
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db
desktop.ini

# ── Editor / IDE ──────────────────────────────────
.vscode/
.idea/
*.suo
*.user

.NET / Visual Studio

Covers C#, VB.NET, F# projects created with Visual Studio or dotnet new. Includes ASP.NET Core and desktop apps.

.gitignore

# ── Build output ──────────────────────────────────
[Bb]in/
[Oo]bj/
[Oo]ut/
[Ll]og/
[Ll]ogs/

# ── Visual Studio files ───────────────────────────
.vs/
*.suo
*.user
*.userosscache
*.sln.docstates
*.rsuser
.vscode/

# ── NuGet ─────────────────────────────────────────
*.nupkg
*.snupkg
.nuget/
packages/
!packages/repositories.config
project.lock.json
project.fragment.lock.json
artifacts/

# ── MSBuild / Roslyn ──────────────────────────────
*.pidb
*.svclog
*.scc
_Codegeneration*

# ── ASP.NET Core ──────────────────────────────────
wwwroot/lib/
appsettings.local.json
appsettings.*.local.json

# ── Test results ──────────────────────────────────
[Tt]est[Rr]esult*/
[Bb]uild[Ll]og.*
TestResult.xml
*.trx
*.coverage
*.coveragexml
OpenCover/

# ── Publish profiles ──────────────────────────────
*.[Pp]ublish.xml
*.azurePubxml
*.pubxml
!*[Pp]ublish[Pp]rofile.pubxml.user
PublishScripts/

# ── Docker (local only) ───────────────────────────
.dockerignore.local

# ── Environment / secrets ─────────────────────────
.env
.env.*
!.env.example
*.pfx
*.p12

Node.js / Angular / React / Vue

Works for any JavaScript or TypeScript project using npm, yarn, or pnpm. Includes Angular CLI, Create React App, and Vite setups.

.gitignore

# ── Dependencies ──────────────────────────────────
node_modules/
.pnp/
.pnp.js
.yarn/cache
.yarn/unplugged
.yarn/build-state.yml
.yarn/install-state.gz

# ── Build output ──────────────────────────────────
dist/
dist-ssr/
build/
out/
.next/
.nuxt/
.output/
.svelte-kit/

# ── Angular specific ──────────────────────────────
.angular/
.angular/cache/

# ── Environment files ─────────────────────────────
.env
.env.*
!.env.example
!.env.test
src/environments/environment.local.ts

# ── Testing & coverage ────────────────────────────
coverage/
.nyc_output/
*.lcov
/cypress/videos/
/cypress/screenshots/

# ── Logs ──────────────────────────────────────────
logs/
*.log
npm-debug.log*
yarn-debug.log*
yarn-error.log*
pnpm-debug.log*

# ── Cache & misc ──────────────────────────────────
.cache/
.parcel-cache/
.eslintcache
.stylelintcache
*.tsbuildinfo

Secrets & Environment Files

The most important section. These patterns protect credentials, API keys, and local config from ever being committed.

.gitignore

# ── Environment files ─────────────────────────────
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local
.env.development
.env.production
.env.staging
!.env.example          # DO commit this — it's the template with no real values

# ── App-specific secrets ──────────────────────────
appsettings.local.json
appsettings.Production.json
secrets.json
config/secrets.yml

🚨

Always commit an .env.example file with all the keys listed but no real values. This documents what secrets the project needs without exposing them.

Tips & Syntax

Pattern	What it ignores
`bin/`	The `bin` folder anywhere in the repo
`/bin/`	Only the `bin` folder at the repo root
`*.log`	Any file ending in `.log`
`debug*.log`	Files matching `debug` + anything + `.log`
`!important.log`	Exception — do NOT ignore this specific file
`**/temp`	A folder named `temp` at any depth
`doc/*.txt`	`.txt` files directly inside `doc/` (not subdirs)
`doc/*/.txt`	`.txt` files inside `doc/` at any depth

Useful commands

# Check if a file is being ignored (and why)
git check-ignore -v path/to/file

# List all currently ignored files
git status --ignored

# Stop tracking a file that's already committed (keep it on disk)
git rm --cached path/to/file
git commit -m "chore: untrack file"

# Stop tracking an entire folder
git rm -r --cached path/to/folder/
git commit -m "chore: untrack folder"