github

github/gitignore

A collection of useful .gitignore templates

176.1kstars 82kforks 100+contributors

README.md

# A collection of `.gitignore` templates

This is GitHub’s collection of [`.gitignore`][man] file templates.
We use this list to populate the `.gitignore` template choosers available
in the GitHub.com interface when creating new repositories and files.

For more information about how `.gitignore` files work, and how to use them,
the following resources are a great place to start:

- The [Ignoring Files chapter][chapter] of the [Pro Git][progit] book.
- The [Ignoring Files article][help] on the GitHub Help site.
- The [gitignore(5)][man] manual page.

[man]: https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore
[help]: https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/git-basics/ignoring-files
[chapter]: https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Basics-Recording-Changes-to-the-Repository#_ignoring
[progit]: https://git-scm.com/book

## Folder structure

We support a collection of templates, organized in this way:

- The root folder contains templates in common use, to help people get started
  with popular programming languages and technologies. These define a meaningful
  set of rules to help get started, and ensure you are not committing
  unimportant files into your repository.
- [`Global`](./Global) contains templates for various editors, tools and
  operating systems that can be used in different situations. It is recommended
  that you either [add these to your global template](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/getting-started-with-git/ignoring-files#configuring-ignored-files-for-all-repositories-on-your-computer)
  or merge these rules into your project-specific templates if you want to use
  them permanently.
- [`community`](./community) contains specialized templates for other popular
  languages, tools, and projects that don't currently belong in the mainstream
  templates. These should be added to your project-specific templates when you
  decide to adopt the framework or tool.

## What makes a good template?

First and foremost, a template contribution must adhere to our
[Contributing Guidelines](CONTRIBUTING.md).

A template should contain a set of rules to help Git repositories work with a
specific programming language, framework, tool or environment.

If it's not possible to curate a small set of useful rules for this situation,
then the template is not a good fit for this collection.

If a template is mostly a list of files installed by a particular version of
some software (e.g. a PHP framework), it could live under the `community`
directory. See [versioned templates](#versioned-templates) for more details.

If you have a small set of rules, or want to support a technology that is not
widely in use, and still believe this will be helpful to others, please read the
section about [specialized templates](#specialized-templates) for more details.

Include details when opening a pull request if the template is important and visible. We
may not accept it immediately, but we can promote it to the root at a later date
based on interest.

Please also understand that we can’t list every tool that ever existed.
Our aim is to curate a collection of the _most common and helpful_ templates,
not to make sure we cover every project possible. If we choose not to
include your language, tool, or project, it’s not because it’s not awesome.

## Contributing guidelines

Please see our [Contributing Guidelines](CONTRIBUTING.md).

## Versioned templates

Some templates can change greatly between versions, and if you wish to contribute
to this repository we need to follow this specific flow:

- the template at the root should be the current supported version
- the template at the root should not have a version in the filename (i.e.
  "evergreen")
- previous versions of templates should live under `community/`
- previous versions of the template should embed the version in the filename,
  for readability

This helps ensure users get the latest version (because they'll use whatever is
at the root) but helps maintainers support older versions still in the wild.

## Specialized templates

If you have a template that you would like to contribute, but it isn't quite
mainstream, please consider adding this to the `community` directory under a
folder that best suits where it belongs.

The rules in your specialized template should be specific to the framework or
tool, and any additional templates should be mentioned in a comment in the
header of the template.

For example, this template might live at `community/DotNet/InforCRM.gitignore`:

```gitignore
# gitignore template for InforCRM (formerly SalesLogix)
# website: https://www.infor.com/products/customer-experience-suite/crm
#
# Recommended: VisualStudio.gitignore

# Ignore model files that are auto-generated
ModelIndex.xml
ExportedFiles.xml

# Ignore deployment files
[Mm]odel/[Dd]eployment

# Force include portal SupportFiles
!Model/Portal/*/SupportFiles/[Bb]in/
!Model/Portal/PortalTemplates/*/SupportFiles/[Bb]in
```

## Contributing workflow

Here’s how we suggest you go about proposing a change to this project:

1. [Fork this project][fork] to your account.
2. [Create a branch][branch] for the change you intend to make.
3. Make your changes to your fork.
4. [Send a pull request][pr] from your fork’s branch to our `main` branch.

Using the web-based interface to make changes is fine too, and will help you
by automatically forking the project and prompting to send a pull request too.

[fork]: https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart/fork-a-repo
[branch]: https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-and-deleting-branches-within-your-repository
[pr]: https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/about-pull-requests

## License

[CC0-1.0](./LICENSE).

Repository info

Default branch: main
Latest version: —
Created: 09/11/2010
Last activity: 04/11/2026
License: CC0-1.0
Open issues: 53
Watchers: 3.4k

Topics

git gitignore

Contributors

shiftkey

665 contributions

arcresu

334 contributions

wirecat

166 contributions

aroben

123 contributions

dooleydevin

114 contributions