gitignore Generator

Pick your stack and download a .gitignore that already covers the usual junk.

How gitignore Generator works

Build a .gitignore from Node, Python, PHP, WordPress, macOS and VS Code presets. Pick your stack and download a .gitignore that already covers the usual junk. Everything happens inside this page: the tool reads your input, runs the calculation or conversion locally, and hands the result back to you. Nothing is transmitted, because there is no backend to transmit it to.

That design choice is deliberate. Most free tool sites upload your files to a server, process them there, and quietly keep a copy. Toolcin cannot do that — the site is a set of static files. If your connection dropped the moment the page finished loading, every tool would still work.

Patterns, not a file list

A .gitignore is a set of glob patterns: build/ ignores a directory, *.log ignores every log file, and !important.log re-includes one. The generator writes the patterns for a stack — node_modules/, .env, dist/ — rather than listing individual files.

Patterns are relative to the directory the file sits in, which is why a root .gitignore does not cover a nested package unless the pattern has no leading slash.

The two mistakes that cost people data

Ignoring a file that is already tracked does nothing — Git keeps tracking it. You have to git rm --cached first. And ignoring .env without committing .env.example leaves the next developer guessing which variables are required.

A trailing slash matters: build/ matches directories only, build matches a file or directory named build.

Pattern	Matches
node_modules/	The directory, anywhere
/dist	Only at the repo root
*.log	Any .log file
!keep.log	Exceptions to a previous rule

What should always be ignored

Dependencies, build output, environment files, editor folders, OS files and anything containing credentials. If a secret has already been committed, ignoring it afterwards does not remove it from history — the key must be rotated.

Good to know

Works offline once loaded, including on flights and in locked-down networks.
No file size limit beyond your device's own memory.
Free to use, with no account and no usage counter.
Results are produced locally, so they are not logged or shared with anyone.

Questions

Is anything uploaded when I use gitignore Generator?

No. The calculation runs in your browser with JavaScript, so the values you enter never leave your device.

What should I check before relying on the result?

Pick your stack and download a .gitignore that already covers the usual junk. Treat the output as an estimate and verify anything critical independently.

Does it apply to subfolders?

Yes, a root .gitignore applies to everything below it.

Can I have several .gitignore files?

Yes, one per directory, and they combine.

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