About .gitignore Builder

Build a .gitignore from curated language/framework templates. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Generators collection.

Use Cases

• Bootstrap a .gitignore for a new project in seconds
• Combine templates for polyglot or monorepo repositories
• Update legacy .gitignore files with modern framework patterns
• Ensure IDE-specific files are excluded across team members

Tips

• Select your language and framework to get a tailored template
• Combine multiple templates for monorepo setups
• Preview the generated .gitignore before downloading

Fun Facts

• GitHub maintains the github/gitignore repository with over 160 language-specific templates, contributed by thousands of developers since 2010.
• Git introduced .gitignore support in version 1.5.0 (February 2007); before that, developers used .git/info/exclude or global excludes.
• The most common .gitignore mistake is adding node_modules/ after it has already been committed — git rm --cached is required to fix it.

FAQ

Where do the templates come from?

Curated from github/gitignore (the canonical community source) plus per-framework additions. Covers Node, Python, Go, Rust, Java, Ruby, .NET, iOS, Android.

Can I combine multiple templates?

Yes — pick Node + Python + macOS + VS Code and the tool merges them, removing duplicates and grouping by source language.

How is it different from the Templates tool?

.gitignore Templates is the quick picker. .gitignore Builder is the interactive version with preview and custom rule additions. Both share the underlying template set.

What about monorepo ignores?

The tool generates workspace-level .gitignore. For per-package overrides, create additional .gitignore files in subdirectories — git respects them independently.