Documentation/gitignore.txt - jrn/git - Git at Google

 gitignore(5)
 ============

 NAME
 ----
 gitignore - Specifies intentionally untracked files to ignore

 SYNOPSIS
 --------
 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/ignore, $GIT_DIR/info/exclude, .gitignore

 DESCRIPTION
 -----------

 A `gitignore` file specifies intentionally untracked files that
 Git should ignore.
 Files already tracked by Git are not affected; see the NOTES
 below for details.

 Each line in a `gitignore` file specifies a pattern.
 When deciding whether to ignore a path, Git normally checks
 `gitignore` patterns from multiple sources, with the following
 order of precedence, from highest to lowest (within one level of
 precedence, the last matching pattern decides the outcome):

  * Patterns read from the command line for those commands that support
    them.

  * Patterns read from a `.gitignore` file in the same directory
    as the path, or in any parent directory, with patterns in the
    higher level files (up to the toplevel of the work tree) being overridden
    by those in lower level files down to the directory containing the file.
    These patterns match relative to the location of the
    `.gitignore` file.  A project normally includes such
    `.gitignore` files in its repository, containing patterns for
    files generated as part of the project build.

  * Patterns read from `$GIT_DIR/info/exclude`.

  * Patterns read from the file specified by the configuration
    variable `core.excludesFile`.

 Which file to place a pattern in depends on how the pattern is meant to
 be used.

  * Patterns which should be version-controlled and distributed to
    other repositories via clone (i.e., files that all developers will want
    to ignore) should go into a `.gitignore` file.

  * Patterns which are
    specific to a particular repository but which do not need to be shared
    with other related repositories (e.g., auxiliary files that live inside
    the repository but are specific to one user's workflow) should go into
    the `$GIT_DIR/info/exclude` file.

  * Patterns which a user wants Git to
    ignore in all situations (e.g., backup or temporary files generated by
    the user's editor of choice) generally go into a file specified by
    `core.excludesFile` in the user's `~/.gitconfig`. Its default value is
    $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/ignore. If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is either not set or
    empty, $HOME/.config/git/ignore is used instead.

 The underlying Git plumbing tools, such as
 'git ls-files' and 'git read-tree', read
 `gitignore` patterns specified by command-line options, or from
 files specified by command-line options.  Higher-level Git
 tools, such as 'git status' and 'git add',
 use patterns from the sources specified above.

 PATTERN FORMAT
 --------------

  - A blank line matches no files, so it can serve as a separator
    for readability.

  - A line starting with # serves as a comment.
    Put a backslash ("`\`") in front of the first hash for patterns
    that begin with a hash.

  - Trailing spaces are ignored unless they are quoted with backslash
    ("`\`").

  - An optional prefix "`!`" which negates the pattern; any
    matching file excluded by a previous pattern will become
    included again. It is not possible to re-include a file if a parent
    directory of that file is excluded. Git doesn't list excluded
    directories for performance reasons, so any patterns on contained
    files have no effect, no matter where they are defined.
    Put a backslash ("`\`") in front of the first "`!`" for patterns
    that begin with a literal "`!`", for example, "`\!important!.txt`".

  - If the pattern ends with a slash, it is removed for the
    purpose of the following description, but it would only find
    a match with a directory.  In other words, `foo/` will match a
    directory `foo` and paths underneath it, but will not match a
    regular file or a symbolic link `foo` (this is consistent
    with the way how pathspec works in general in Git).

  - If the pattern does not contain a slash '/', Git treats it as
    a shell glob pattern and checks for a match against the
    pathname relative to the location of the `.gitignore` file
    (relative to the toplevel of the work tree if not from a
    `.gitignore` file).

  - Otherwise, Git treats the pattern as a shell glob: "`*`" matches
    anything except "`/`", "`?`" matches any one character except "`/`"
    and "`[]`" matches one character in a selected range. See
    fnmatch(3) and the FNM_PATHNAME flag for a more detailed
    description.

  - A leading slash matches the beginning of the pathname.
    For example, "/{asterisk}.c" matches "cat-file.c" but not
    "mozilla-sha1/sha1.c".

 Two consecutive asterisks ("`**`") in patterns matched against
 full pathname may have special meaning:

  - A leading "`**`" followed by a slash means match in all
    directories. For example, "`**/foo`" matches file or directory
    "`foo`" anywhere, the same as pattern "`foo`". "`**/foo/bar`"
    matches file or directory "`bar`" anywhere that is directly
    under directory "`foo`".

  - A trailing "`/**`" matches everything inside. For example,
    "`abc/**`" matches all files inside directory "`abc`", relative
    to the location of the `.gitignore` file, with infinite depth.

  - A slash followed by two consecutive asterisks then a slash
    matches zero or more directories. For example, "`a/**/b`"
    matches "`a/b`", "`a/x/b`", "`a/x/y/b`" and so on.

  - Other consecutive asterisks are considered regular asterisks and
    will match according to the previous rules.

 NOTES
 -----

 The purpose of gitignore files is to ensure that certain files
 not tracked by Git remain untracked.

 To stop tracking a file that is currently tracked, use
 'git rm --cached'.

 EXAMPLES
 --------

 --------------------------------------------------------------
     $ git status
     [...]
     # Untracked files:
     [...]
     #       Documentation/foo.html
     #       Documentation/gitignore.html
     #       file.o
     #       lib.a
     #       src/internal.o
     [...]
     $ cat .git/info/exclude
     # ignore objects and archives, anywhere in the tree.
     *.[oa]
     $ cat Documentation/.gitignore
     # ignore generated html files,
     *.html
     # except foo.html which is maintained by hand
     !foo.html
     $ git status
     [...]
     # Untracked files:
     [...]
     #       Documentation/foo.html
     [...]
 --------------------------------------------------------------

 Another example:

 --------------------------------------------------------------
     $ cat .gitignore
     vmlinux*
     $ ls arch/foo/kernel/vm*
     arch/foo/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
     $ echo '!/vmlinux*' >arch/foo/kernel/.gitignore
 --------------------------------------------------------------

 The second .gitignore prevents Git from ignoring
 `arch/foo/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S`.

 Example to exclude everything except a specific directory `foo/bar`
 (note the `/*` - without the slash, the wildcard would also exclude
 everything within `foo/bar`):

 --------------------------------------------------------------
     $ cat .gitignore
     # exclude everything except directory foo/bar
     /*
     !/foo
     /foo/*
     !/foo/bar
 --------------------------------------------------------------

 SEE ALSO
 --------
 linkgit:git-rm[1],
 linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5],
 linkgit:git-check-ignore[1]

 GIT
 ---
 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
	gitignore(5)
	============

	NAME
	----
	gitignore - Specifies intentionally untracked files to ignore

	SYNOPSIS
	--------
	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/ignore, $GIT_DIR/info/exclude, .gitignore

	DESCRIPTION
	-----------

	A `gitignore` file specifies intentionally untracked files that
	Git should ignore.
	Files already tracked by Git are not affected; see the NOTES
	below for details.

	Each line in a `gitignore` file specifies a pattern.
	When deciding whether to ignore a path, Git normally checks
	`gitignore` patterns from multiple sources, with the following
	order of precedence, from highest to lowest (within one level of
	precedence, the last matching pattern decides the outcome):

	* Patterns read from the command line for those commands that support
	them.

	* Patterns read from a `.gitignore` file in the same directory
	as the path, or in any parent directory, with patterns in the
	higher level files (up to the toplevel of the work tree) being overridden
	by those in lower level files down to the directory containing the file.
	These patterns match relative to the location of the
	`.gitignore` file. A project normally includes such
	`.gitignore` files in its repository, containing patterns for
	files generated as part of the project build.

	* Patterns read from `$GIT_DIR/info/exclude`.

	* Patterns read from the file specified by the configuration
	variable `core.excludesFile`.

	Which file to place a pattern in depends on how the pattern is meant to
	be used.

	* Patterns which should be version-controlled and distributed to
	other repositories via clone (i.e., files that all developers will want
	to ignore) should go into a `.gitignore` file.

	* Patterns which are
	specific to a particular repository but which do not need to be shared
	with other related repositories (e.g., auxiliary files that live inside
	the repository but are specific to one user's workflow) should go into
	the `$GIT_DIR/info/exclude` file.

	* Patterns which a user wants Git to
	ignore in all situations (e.g., backup or temporary files generated by
	the user's editor of choice) generally go into a file specified by
	`core.excludesFile` in the user's `~/.gitconfig`. Its default value is
	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/ignore. If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is either not set or
	empty, $HOME/.config/git/ignore is used instead.

	The underlying Git plumbing tools, such as
	'git ls-files' and 'git read-tree', read
	`gitignore` patterns specified by command-line options, or from
	files specified by command-line options. Higher-level Git
	tools, such as 'git status' and 'git add',
	use patterns from the sources specified above.

	PATTERN FORMAT
	--------------

	- A blank line matches no files, so it can serve as a separator
	for readability.

	- A line starting with # serves as a comment.
	Put a backslash ("`\`") in front of the first hash for patterns
	that begin with a hash.

	- Trailing spaces are ignored unless they are quoted with backslash
	("`\`").

	- An optional prefix "`!`" which negates the pattern; any
	matching file excluded by a previous pattern will become
	included again. It is not possible to re-include a file if a parent
	directory of that file is excluded. Git doesn't list excluded
	directories for performance reasons, so any patterns on contained
	files have no effect, no matter where they are defined.
	Put a backslash ("`\`") in front of the first "`!`" for patterns
	that begin with a literal "`!`", for example, "`\!important!.txt`".

	- If the pattern ends with a slash, it is removed for the
	purpose of the following description, but it would only find
	a match with a directory. In other words, `foo/` will match a
	directory `foo` and paths underneath it, but will not match a
	regular file or a symbolic link `foo` (this is consistent
	with the way how pathspec works in general in Git).

	- If the pattern does not contain a slash '/', Git treats it as
	a shell glob pattern and checks for a match against the
	pathname relative to the location of the `.gitignore` file
	(relative to the toplevel of the work tree if not from a
	`.gitignore` file).

	- Otherwise, Git treats the pattern as a shell glob: "`*`" matches
	anything except "`/`", "`?`" matches any one character except "`/`"
	and "`[]`" matches one character in a selected range. See
	fnmatch(3) and the FNM_PATHNAME flag for a more detailed
	description.

	- A leading slash matches the beginning of the pathname.
	For example, "/{asterisk}.c" matches "cat-file.c" but not
	"mozilla-sha1/sha1.c".

	Two consecutive asterisks ("`**`") in patterns matched against
	full pathname may have special meaning:

	- A leading "`**`" followed by a slash means match in all
	directories. For example, "`**/foo`" matches file or directory
	"`foo`" anywhere, the same as pattern "`foo`". "`**/foo/bar`"
	matches file or directory "`bar`" anywhere that is directly
	under directory "`foo`".

	- A trailing "`/**`" matches everything inside. For example,
	"`abc/**`" matches all files inside directory "`abc`", relative
	to the location of the `.gitignore` file, with infinite depth.

	- A slash followed by two consecutive asterisks then a slash
	matches zero or more directories. For example, "`a/**/b`"
	matches "`a/b`", "`a/x/b`", "`a/x/y/b`" and so on.

	- Other consecutive asterisks are considered regular asterisks and
	will match according to the previous rules.

	NOTES
	-----

	The purpose of gitignore files is to ensure that certain files
	not tracked by Git remain untracked.

	To stop tracking a file that is currently tracked, use
	'git rm --cached'.

	EXAMPLES
	--------

	--------------------------------------------------------------
	$ git status
	[...]
	# Untracked files:
	[...]
	# Documentation/foo.html
	# Documentation/gitignore.html
	# file.o
	# lib.a
	# src/internal.o
	[...]
	$ cat .git/info/exclude
	# ignore objects and archives, anywhere in the tree.
	*.[oa]
	$ cat Documentation/.gitignore
	# ignore generated html files,
	*.html
	# except foo.html which is maintained by hand
	!foo.html
	$ git status
	[...]
	# Untracked files:
	[...]
	# Documentation/foo.html
	[...]
	--------------------------------------------------------------

	Another example:

	--------------------------------------------------------------
	$ cat .gitignore
	vmlinux*
	$ ls arch/foo/kernel/vm*
	arch/foo/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S
	$ echo '!/vmlinux*' >arch/foo/kernel/.gitignore
	--------------------------------------------------------------

	The second .gitignore prevents Git from ignoring
	`arch/foo/kernel/vmlinux.lds.S`.

	Example to exclude everything except a specific directory `foo/bar`
	(note the `/*` - without the slash, the wildcard would also exclude
	everything within `foo/bar`):

	--------------------------------------------------------------
	$ cat .gitignore
	# exclude everything except directory foo/bar
	/*
	!/foo
	/foo/*
	!/foo/bar
	--------------------------------------------------------------

	SEE ALSO
	--------
	linkgit:git-rm[1],
	linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5],
	linkgit:git-check-ignore[1]

	GIT
	---
	Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite