.gitignore Generator: combine official GitHub templates
Free .gitignore generator. Pick one or more stacks — Node, Python, Java, Rust, Go, macOS, Windows, VisualStudio, JetBrains — and download a combined .gitignore. Templates are fetched live from the canonical github/gitignore repository.
Pick at least one template and click Generate.
When to generate a .gitignore
New project bootstrap
Generate a clean .gitignore for your stack the second you run git init — Node, Python, Rust, Go, Java, Rails, Laravel, you name it.
Multi-stack repos
Combine Node + Python + Terraform + macOS + JetBrains into one merged file — exactly what gitignore.io is famous for.
Tidy an existing repo
Drop a comprehensive .gitignore into a legacy project that's been accidentally tracking node_modules, .env or build artefacts.
Team alignment
Pin a Global section (macOS, Windows, Linux, VSCode, JetBrains) so editor / OS junk doesn't end up in PRs from teammates on different platforms.
Shareable recipes
The URL updates with your selection (?t=node,python,macos) — send a teammate the exact combo they need.
Secret protection
Every stack template includes the common secret-file patterns (.env, credentials.json, *.pem) so you don't accidentally commit credentials.
How to use this .gitignore generator
Search the catalog
Type the technology name (node, python, java, macos, jetbrains, …) — the list filters live across all 570+ templates from gitignore.io.
Click to select
Picked templates appear as removable chips. Add as many as you need — the result is one merged file with section headers.
Click Generate
The tool calls the toptal / gitignore.io API for a clean merged output, or falls back to fetching templates from github/gitignore if the API is rate-limited.
Copy or download
Click Copy to push to clipboard, or Download .gitignore to save the file. Drop it into the root of your repo and commit.
About .gitignore and how this generator works
The .gitignore file lives at the root of every Git repository and tells Git which files to ignore — build artefacts, dependencies, editor temp files, OS metadata and (most importantly) secrets. Maintaining one by hand for every stack you work with is tedious; this .gitignore generator combines battle-tested templates from gitignore.io (the canonical multi-template service, ~570 templates) with fallback to the github/gitignore repo (the official GitHub-maintained collection).
What goes in a .gitignore
Dependencies: node_modules/, vendor/, __pycache__/, target/. Build output: dist/, build/, out/, *.class, *.o. Editor & IDE: .vscode/, .idea/, *.swp. OS metadata: .DS_Store, Thumbs.db. Secrets: .env, *.pem, credentials.json. Logs & coverage: *.log, coverage/, .nyc_output/.
Stacks vs Global templates
Templates split into two kinds. Stack templates (Node, Python, Rust, Go, Java, Ruby, PHP, .NET, Unity, Unreal, Android, iOS, Rails, Laravel, Symfony, Django, Flask, React, Vue, Svelte, Next, Nuxt…) cover one language or framework. Global templates (macOS, Windows, Linux, VSCode, JetBrains, Vim, Emacs, SublimeText, Xcode, VirtualEnv, Vagrant…) cover the OS / editor / tool noise that pollutes any repo regardless of stack. Always combine at least one of each — Node + macOS, or Python + Windows + VSCode.
Why two backends?
The toptal / gitignore.io API at /api/{templates,comma,separated} returns a single, properly merged file with named section headers — exactly what you'd download from gitignore.io itself. Occasionally Cloudflare bot protection blocks the API; in that case we fall back to fetching each template individually from github/gitignore on raw.githubusercontent.com and merging them client-side. Either way, you get the same canonical output.
Shareable URLs
Your selection is stored in the URL as ?t=node,python,macos — paste the link in Slack or a doc and the recipient lands on the page with the same combo pre-loaded.
Tips
If you accidentally committed something you should have ignored (like node_modules), adding it to .gitignore is not enough — Git still tracks already-committed files. Run git rm -r --cached node_modules first, then commit the new .gitignore. For force-checking whether a path is ignored, use git check-ignore -v path/to/file.
Templates not in the list?
Both gitignore.io and github/gitignore accept community contributions. If a tool you use isn't here, open a PR on the upstream repository — once merged it appears in the catalog within minutes.
.gitignore Generator — frequently asked questions
Pick one or more templates, then click Generate. The selected templates are fetched from the official github/gitignore repo and combined into one file with section headers.
The canonical collection maintained by GitHub at github.com/github/gitignore. Templates are fetched live from raw.githubusercontent.com so they're always up to date.
No. The only outbound request is to fetch each template file from GitHub. Your selection and the combined output never leave your browser.