gitignore-gen

Generate .gitignore files from GitHub's official templates. Supports 155+ languages and frameworks, multi-language projects, auto-detection, and local caching.

Install

npm install -g gitignore-gen

Usage

Generate for a single language

gitignore-gen node
gitignore-gen python
gitignore-gen rust

Combine multiple templates

gitignore-gen node python react

Duplicate rules are automatically deduplicated.

Auto-detect project type

gitignore-gen --init

Scans your project directory for package.json, requirements.txt, go.mod, Cargo.toml, etc. and generates the right .gitignore automatically.

List all available templates

gitignore-gen --list

Write directly to file

# Write to .gitignore
gitignore-gen node --write

# Write to custom path
gitignore-gen node -o .gitignore.backup

# Append to existing .gitignore
gitignore-gen python --write --append

Bypass cache

gitignore-gen node --no-cache

Supported Aliases

Use friendly names instead of exact GitHub template names:

| Alias | Template | |-------|----------| | node, js, javascript, ts, typescript | Node | | python, py, django, flask | Python | | react, vue, angular, nextjs | Node | | go, golang | Go | | rust | Rust | | java | Java | | ruby, rb | Ruby | | swift, ios, macos | Swift | | kotlin | Kotlin | | csharp, c# | VisualStudio | | cpp, c++ | C++ | | dart, flutter | Dart | | php, laravel | Laravel | | tex, latex | TeX | | unity | Unity | | unreal | UnrealEngine | | android | Android | | terraform | Terraform |

...and many more. Partial matching is also supported.

Features

• Fetches from GitHub's official gitignore API (155+ templates)
• Bundled fallback templates for offline use
• 24-hour local cache for speed
• Smart alias resolution (e.g., js -> Node, py -> Python)
• Multi-template merging with deduplication
• Project type auto-detection (--init)
• Stdout by default, --write for file output

License

MIT