Generating a gitignore file

Here is a simple but usable .gitignore file:

# Python
*.py[cod]
__pycache__
venv/
htmlcov/
.tox/
.coverage
.coverage.*
.mypy_cache/

# Node/npm
node_modules

# Editors
*.sublime-workspace
*.sublime-project # unless most use Sublime
.vscode
*.code-workspace
.idea
*.swp
*~

# Misc
.DS_Store

This is simply a list of files, or rather a list of file patterns that should be excluded from version control. The file is named .gitignore and I usually place just one in the root of my project directory.

The patterns themselves can get rather complex. One can learn from the docs, of course. It is worth a look, at the least.

Thankfully, however, a few resources exist to more easily guide the generation of .gitignore files.

GitHub starter examples

GitHub provides numerous examples to get you started, available in the github/gitignore repo. You may select your language and build from there.

gitignore.io

The online generator gitignore.io provides a place to select the desired languages and editors, and have a custom .gitignore built for you.

If you know your team well, you can select the editors you know they use, along with the language/platform the project uses. This offers peace of mind, knowing you are not hindering your fellow devs, or spawning needless Emacs vs Vim wars.

gig, a cli for gitignore.io

To install gig, first install go (your package manager may call it golang), then install gig:

go get github.com/shihanng/gig

Once installed, gig list will show you all templates available. gig search allows you to search if fzf is installed.

Then, pass in a series of templates to use, and your .gitignore will be printed:

gig gen python vim

Customize and trim the .gitignore

Once you have a .gitignore, take a look if there are lines that are irrelevant, given the tools you use. For instance, if you are using Python but not Mypy, you can eliminate the .mypy_cache/ line. If you are using Node but not Grunt, you can eliminate the .grunt line.

While removing extraneous lines is not truly necessary, a simpler file is usually an easier file to maintain.

Once you have a .gitignore you like, you will very likely simply copy it into new projects. But it is nice to know there are tools available when you need them.