.gitignore Generator
Use this free .gitignore Generator to quickly get accurate results in seconds, free and instantly offline with no signup required ever, trusted by professionals in Austin, Chicago, Miami, Denver, Seattle, and New York for reliable daily use without accounts, subscriptions, limits, or delays on any device for everyday personal and business workflows daily.
Generate .gitignore files for Node, Python, Java, React, and many frameworks with this free gitignore generator for projects.
Calculator Inputs
About .gitignore
Use this free .gitignore Generator to quickly get accurate results in seconds, free and instantly offline with no signup required ever, trusted by professionals in Austin, Chicago, Miami, Denver, Seattle, and New York for reliable daily use without accounts, subscriptions, limits, or delays on any device for everyday personal and business workflows daily.
Stack Coverage: Choose a primary stack (Node.js, Python, Java/Maven, Go, React/Vite) and optionally a second for polyglot repos. Each template includes battle-tested patterns: node_modules/, dist/, build/, __pycache__/, *.pyc, .venv/, target/, *.class, bin/, *.exe, coverage/, .pytest_cache/, *.egg-info/, .DS_Store, and more.
The .env Rule Is Critical: Every template includes .env and .env.local. Secrets committed once live forever in git history — rotation costs $0 but breach costs average $4.45M (IBM 2024). This generator makes the right default effortless.
Monorepo Merging: Selecting a second stack merges rules intelligently: section headers stay, duplicates are removed. A Node + Python repo gets both dependency folders and both bytecode patterns without conflicts. Order respects your primary stack first.
What Gets Committed: The output is plain text — copy into a new .gitignore at repo root. One file at root covers all subdirectories. Nested .gitignore files only when subprojects genuinely need different rules (e.g., docs/ allowing built HTML while root ignores it).
Zero Network, Zero Risk: Rules are embedded in the tool. No API calls, no telemetry, no external fetches. Works on air-gapped machines, in secure enclaves, or on a plane. Generated content never leaves your browser.
Where it is used
A Node developer in Austin initializing a new repo; a Python data scientist in Chicago starting a notebook project; a full-stack engineer in Miami setting up a monorepo; a Go backend dev in Denver adding a service; a React frontend lead in Seattle scaffolding a Vite app; a DevOps engineer in New York standardizing team templates.
How to use the .gitignore
- Primary Stack — enter the value.
- Extra Stack (optional) — enter the value.
- Calculate — press the Calculate button to see the result instantly above.
Formula
Stack template(s) merged, duplicates removed, commented by section.
Examples
Node.js Project
Python + Node Monorepo
React/Vite App
Frequently Asked Questions
- I already committed node_modules — now what?
- Add the rule, then run: git rm -r --cached node_modules && git commit -m "Stop tracking node_modules". The rule only stops future tracking; history remains unless you rewrite it.
- One .gitignore per repo or per folder?
- One at the repository root covers everything recursively. Nested files only when a subdirectory genuinely needs different rules (rare).
- Should .env.example be ignored too?
- No — commit .env.example (keys without values) so teammates know what to configure. Ignore only real secret files: .env, .env.local, .env.*.local.
- Does this cover IDE folders like .idea/ and .vscode/?
- Yes — Java template includes .idea/ and *.iml. Add .vscode/ manually if your team uses VS Code with workspace settings you don't want shared.
- Can I customize the templates?
- This tool covers the 5 most common stacks. For custom rules, generate the base, copy it, and edit. The output is plain text — yours to modify.
- What about Docker, Terraform, or Rust?
- Not included in this version. The 5 templates cover ~80% of new repos. For other stacks, start with the closest match and add your tool-specific patterns manually.