smart-gitignore

Smart .gitignore generator based on automatic detection of your project's technology stack.

🎯 Purpose

smart-gitignore automatically analyzes your project directory, detects the technologies used (Java, Node.js, Docker, Ruby, IDEs, etc.) and generates or updates an appropriate .gitignore file using templates from GitHub/gitignore (primary source), with fallback to gitignore.io and local templates.

Why use it?

• ✅ Automatic detection: No need to know which stacks to add manually
• ✅ Smart merge: Preserves existing comments and rules
• ✅ No duplicates: Automatically removes duplicate entries
• ✅ Robust fallback: GitHub → gitignore.io → local templates
• ✅ Updated templates: Uses official GitHub/gitignore templates
• ✅ Extensible: Easy to add new detections

🚀 How to Use

Global Installation (Optional)

npm install -g smart-gitignore

Usage via npx (Recommended)

npx smart-gitignore

Options

npx smart-gitignore [options]

Options:
  -d, --dir <path>    Directory to scan (default: current directory)
  -f, --force         Overwrite existing .gitignore without merging
  -v, --verbose       Verbose mode
  -h, --help          Display help
  -V, --version       Display version

Examples

# Generate .gitignore in current directory
npx smart-gitignore

# Scan specific directory
npx smart-gitignore --dir /path/to/project

# Overwrite existing .gitignore
npx smart-gitignore --force

# Verbose mode for debugging
npx smart-gitignore --verbose

🔍 Stack Detection

smart-gitignore automatically detects the following technologies:

Languages & Frameworks

• Java: pom.xml, build.gradle, .java files
• Node.js: package.json, yarn.lock, pnpm-lock.yaml, package-lock.json
• Ruby: Gemfile, Rakefile, .ruby-version
• Python: requirements.txt, Pipfile, pyproject.toml, manage.py
• Go: go.mod, go.sum
• Rust: Cargo.toml, Cargo.lock
• PHP: composer.json, composer.lock
• .NET: .csproj, .sln, project.json

Tools & Environments

• Maven: pom.xml
• Gradle: build.gradle, settings.gradle
• Docker: Dockerfile, docker-compose.yml
• Yarn: yarn.lock
• pnpm: pnpm-lock.yaml
• npm: package-lock.json

IDEs

• IntelliJ IDEA: .idea/
• VS Code: .vscode/
• Eclipse: .eclipse/, .settings/, .project, .classpath

Others

• dotenv: .env, .env.local, .env.development, .env.production

📁 Project Structure

smart-gitignore/
├── src/
│   ├── scanner.ts        # File detection in directory
│   ├── detector.ts       # File → stack mapping
│   ├── generator.ts      # API call + fallback
│   ├── merger.ts         # Safe .gitignore merge
│   └── index.ts          # CLI entrypoint
├── templates/            # Local fallback templates
│   ├── default.gitignore
│   ├── node.gitignore
│   └── java.gitignore
├── dist/                 # Compiled code (generated)
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── README.md
└── LICENSE

🔧 Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 18.0.0
• npm or yarn

Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Otto-Schmitz/smart-gitignore.git
cd smart-gitignore

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile TypeScript
npm run build

# Run locally
npm run dev

Available Scripts

npm run build      # Compile TypeScript to JavaScript
npm run start      # Run compiled version
npm run dev        # Run with ts-node (development)

🗺️ Roadmap

Version 1.0 (MVP) ✅

• [x] Automatic stack detection
• [x] Integration with gitignore.io API
• [x] Fallback to local templates
• [x] Smart merge of existing .gitignore
• [x] Duplicate removal
• [x] User comment preservation

Version 1.1 (Planned)

• [ ] Support for more languages (Kotlin, Swift, Dart, etc.)
• [ ] API template caching
• [ ] Interactive mode for stack selection
• [ ] Existing .gitignore validation

Version 2.0 (Future)

• [ ] VS Code extension
• [ ] IntelliJ IDEA plugin
• [ ] Git hooks integration
• [ ] REST API for CI/CD usage
• [ ] Support for multiple .gitignore files (subdirectories)

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

1. Report bugs: Open an issue describing the problem
2. Suggest features: Share your ideas in an issue
3. Submit PRs:
   • Fork the project
   • Create a branch for your feature (git checkout -b feature/new-feature)
   • Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add new feature')
   • Push to the branch (git push origin feature/new-feature)
   • Open a Pull Request

Adding New Detections

To add a new stack detection, edit src/detector.ts:

private readonly detectionMap: Map<string, string[]> = new Map([
  // ... existing detections
  ['your-file.ext', ['your-stack']],
]);

Adding Local Templates

Add .gitignore files in the templates/ folder with the stack name:

templates/
  └── your-stack.gitignore

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• GitHub/gitignore for the official templates
• gitignore.io for the API and templates
• Open-source community for inspiration and feedback

📧 Contact

For questions, suggestions, or issues, open an issue on GitHub.

Made with ❤️ by the open-source community