Template .gitignore e pattern comuni

A well-crafted .gitignore file keeps your repository clean by excluding build artifacts, dependencies, secrets, and OS-specific files. This comprehensive guide covers gitignore syntax, templates for every major language and framework, IDE patterns, common mistakes, and our generator tool.

What is .gitignore — Syntax Rules

A .gitignore file tells Git which files and directories to exclude from version control. It uses a simple pattern-matching syntax:

• # — Comments — Lines starting with # are comments and ignored by Git.
• ! — Negation — Prefix a pattern with ! to re-include a previously excluded file.
• / — Directories — Append / to match only directories, not files with the same name.
• * ** ? — Globbing — Use * to match any characters (except /), ** to match nested directories, and ? to match a single character.
• Anchoring — A pattern without / matches anywhere in the tree. A leading / anchors to the repo root.

Syntax Examples

# Ignore all .log files
*.log

# Ignore the build directory
build/

# Ignore all files in temp/ recursively
temp/**

# But keep .gitkeep files
!temp/.gitkeep

# Ignore .env in root only
/.env

# Ignore all .txt files in doc/ and subdirectories
doc/**/*.txt

# Ignore any file named "secret" anywhere
secret

Global vs Local .gitignore

Git supports three levels of ignore rules, each serving a different purpose:

Set up your global gitignore:

# Create a global gitignore file
touch ~/.gitignore_global

# Tell Git to use it
git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore_global

# Add common patterns
echo ".DS_Store" >> ~/.gitignore_global
echo "Thumbs.db" >> ~/.gitignore_global
echo ".idea/" >> ~/.gitignore_global
echo ".vscode/" >> ~/.gitignore_global
echo "*.swp" >> ~/.gitignore_global

Node.js .gitignore Template

The essential .gitignore for Node.js projects. Covers npm/yarn/pnpm dependency folders, build output, environment files, and caches:

# Dependencies
node_modules/
.pnp
.pnp.js

# Build output
dist/
build/
out/

# Environment files
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

# Testing
coverage/

# Cache
.cache/
.parcel-cache/
.next/
.nuxt/
.turbo/

# Debug logs
npm-debug.log*
yarn-debug.log*
yarn-error.log*
pnpm-debug.log*

# Editor directories and files
*.tsbuildinfo

• node_modules/ — Dependencies installed by npm/yarn/pnpm. Always regenerated from package.json.
• dist/ and build/ — Compiled output. Regenerated by your build tool.
• .env files — Contains API keys, database passwords, and other secrets. Never commit these.
• coverage/ — Test coverage reports generated by Jest, Istanbul, or c8.
• .cache/ — Build caches from Babel, Parcel, Webpack, etc.
• Debug logs — npm-debug.log, yarn-debug.log, yarn-error.log files.

Python .gitignore Template

Python projects generate many bytecode and build artifacts. This template covers all common patterns:

# Byte-compiled / optimized
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*$py.class

# Virtual environments
venv/
.venv/
env/
ENV/

# Distribution / packaging
dist/
build/
*.egg-info/
*.egg
.eggs/
*.whl

# Testing
.pytest_cache/
.coverage
htmlcov/
.tox/
.nox/

# Type checking
.mypy_cache/
.pytype/
.pyre/

# IDE
.spyderproject
.spyproject

# Jupyter
.ipynb_checkpoints/

# Environment
.env
.env.local

• __pycache__/ and *.pyc — Python bytecode files. Regenerated automatically on import.
• venv/ and .venv/ — Virtual environment directories. Each developer creates their own.
• *.egg-info/ and dist/ — Package distribution artifacts from setuptools/pip.
• .mypy_cache/ — Type checking cache from mypy.
• .pytest_cache/ — Pytest session cache.
• .tox/ — Tox testing environment directories.

Java / Kotlin .gitignore Template

Java and Kotlin projects using Maven or Gradle produce compiled classes and build directories:

# Compiled class files
*.class

# Maven
target/
pom.xml.tag
pom.xml.releaseBackup
pom.xml.versionsBackup
pom.xml.next
release.properties

# Gradle
build/
.gradle/
gradle-app.setting
!gradle-wrapper.jar
!gradle-wrapper.properties

# Package files
*.jar
*.war
*.nar
*.ear
*.zip
*.tar.gz
*.rar

# IDE - IntelliJ
.idea/
*.iws
*.iml
*.ipr
out/

# IDE - Eclipse
.classpath
.project
.settings/
bin/

• *.class — Compiled Java bytecode files.
• target/ — Maven build output directory.
• build/ — Gradle build output directory.
• .gradle/ — Gradle wrapper cache and configuration.
• *.jar, *.war, *.ear — Compiled archive files. Use dependency management instead.
• .idea/ — IntelliJ IDEA project files (also covered in IDE section).

React / Next.js .gitignore Template

React and Next.js projects combine Node.js patterns with framework-specific directories:

# Dependencies
node_modules/

# Next.js
.next/
out/

# Production build
build/
dist/

# Environment files
.env
.env.local
.env.development.local
.env.test.local
.env.production.local

# Testing
coverage/

# Vercel
.vercel/

# TypeScript
*.tsbuildinfo
next-env.d.ts

# Debug
npm-debug.log*
yarn-debug.log*
yarn-error.log*

# Cache
.cache/
.turbo/

• .next/ — Next.js build output and cache. Regenerated on every build.
• out/ — Next.js static export output directory.
• node_modules/ — Same as any Node.js project.
• .env.local and .env*.local — Local environment overrides with secrets.
• .vercel/ — Vercel CLI deployment configuration.

Go .gitignore Template

Go projects are typically lean, but there are still files to exclude:

# Binaries
bin/
*.exe
*.exe~
*.dll
*.so
*.dylib

# Test binary
*.test

# Output of go coverage
*.out

# Vendor (optional — some teams commit vendor/)
vendor/

# Go workspace
go.work

# IDE
.idea/
.vscode/

# OS
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# Environment
.env

• bin/ — Compiled binary output directory.
• vendor/ — Vendored dependencies (if not using Go modules or if you prefer to exclude).
• *.exe, *.exe~, *.dll, *.so, *.dylib — Compiled binary files for various platforms.
• *.test — Compiled test binaries from go test -c.
• *.out — Coverage output files from go test -coverprofile.

Rust .gitignore Template

Rust and Cargo projects have a straightforward ignore setup:

# Build artifacts
/target/

# Cargo.lock — ONLY ignore for libraries
# For binaries (applications), DO commit Cargo.lock
# Cargo.lock

# Debug symbols (Windows)
*.pdb

# IDE
.idea/
.vscode/
*.swp
*.swo

# OS
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# Environment
.env

• target/ — All build artifacts, debug and release builds, incremental compilation cache.
• Cargo.lock — For libraries, Cargo.lock should NOT be committed (it is regenerated for consumers). For binaries/applications, DO commit Cargo.lock.
• *.pdb — Windows debug symbol files.

IDE & OS Patterns

These patterns should ideally go in your global ~/.gitignore_global to keep the repository .gitignore clean. But if your team agrees, add them to the project .gitignore:

# ─── VS Code ───
.vscode/
!.vscode/settings.json
!.vscode/tasks.json
!.vscode/extensions.json

# ─── JetBrains IDEs ───
.idea/
*.iws
*.iml
*.ipr

# ─── Vim ───
*.swp
*.swo
*~
.netrwhist

# ─── Sublime Text ───
*.sublime-workspace
*.sublime-project

# ─── macOS ───
.DS_Store
.AppleDouble
.LSOverride
._*

# ─── Windows ───
Thumbs.db
Thumbs.db:encryptable
ehthumbs.db
Desktop.ini

# ─── Linux ───
*~
.fuse_hidden*
.Trash-*

• .vscode/ — VS Code workspace settings. Alternatively, commit .vscode/settings.json but ignore .vscode/launch.json.
• .idea/ — JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ, WebStorm, PyCharm) project directory.
• .DS_Store — macOS Finder metadata file. Created in every directory you open in Finder.
• Thumbs.db — Windows thumbnail cache file.
• *.swp, *.swo — Vim swap files created during editing.
• *.sublime-workspace — Sublime Text workspace files.

Common Mistakes & Fixes

Even experienced developers make these .gitignore mistakes. Here is how to diagnose and fix each one:

# Remove file from Git tracking (keeps it on disk)
git rm --cached .env

# Remove an entire directory from tracking
git rm -r --cached node_modules/

# Commit the change
git add .gitignore
git commit -m "Stop tracking ignored files"

# Verify it worked
git status

# WRONG — negation before exclusion has no effect
!important.log
*.log

# CORRECT — exclude first, then negate
*.log
!important.log

# Another example: ignore everything in docs/ except PDFs
docs/*
!docs/*.pdf

# 1. Add .env to .gitignore
echo ".env" >> .gitignore

# 2. Remove from Git tracking
git rm --cached .env

# 3. Commit
git add .gitignore
git commit -m "Remove .env from tracking"

# 4. IMPORTANT: Rotate all secrets in that .env file!
# The old values are still in Git history.

# Matches both a FILE named "logs" and a DIRECTORY named "logs"
logs

# Matches ONLY a directory named "logs"
logs/

# Example: you have a file "build" and a directory "build/"
# "build" in .gitignore ignores BOTH
# "build/" in .gitignore ignores only the directory

.gitignore Generators & Tools

Instead of manually crafting .gitignore files, use a generator tool to create a comprehensive template for your project stack:

• Our Gitignore Generator tool lets you select your languages, frameworks, and IDEs to create a complete .gitignore file in seconds.
• GitHub maintains a collection of .gitignore templates at github/gitignore for most languages and frameworks.
• Pro tip: Start with a generated template, then customize it for your specific project needs. Review it periodically as your project evolves.

Frequently Asked Questions