My Gitignore Boilerplate

This repository holds a robust, general-purpose `.gitignore` file that I use as a starter for new projects. It is designed to be a "batteries-included" template for **Node.js, Python, and general web development**, while handling common files from various operating systems and editors.

Why This Exists

Instead of starting from scratch with every new project, this boilerplate provides a solid foundation that ignores:

• Operating System files: .DS_Store, Thumbs.db, and other system artifacts.
• Logs & Temp files: Common log formats and temporary directories.
• Editor & IDE configs: VS Code, JetBrains (IntelliJ/PyCharm), Sublime Text, and others.
• Node.js: node_modules/, build outputs, and dependency caches.
• Python: __pycache__, virtual environments (venv/, .env), and build artifacts.

How to Use

There are a few easy ways to grab this file for a new project.

Option 1: Using curl (Recommended)

This is the quickest way. Navigate to your project's root directory in the terminal and run the following command.

curl -L -o .gitignore https://raw.githubusercontent.com/KnowOneActual/gitignore-boilerplate/main/.gitignore

Option 2: Clone and Copy

You can clone this repository to your local machine and copy the file from there.

• First, clone the repository. This creates a new folder named "gitignore-boilerplate".

git clone https://github.com/KnowOneActual/gitignore-boilerplate.git

• Then, copy the file from the new folder to your project's location.

cp gitignore-boilerplate/.gitignore /path/to/your/new-project/

Option 3: Manual Download

You can also just view the .gitignore file on GitHub, click the "Raw" button, and save the page's contents into a .gitignore file in your project.

Customization

This file is a great starting point, but feel free to edit it to fit the specific needs of your project. You can add project-specific ignores at the bottom or remove sections you don't need (like the Python section if you are only working in Node).

Refreshing the Repository

Sometimes you might add a file to .gitignore after it has already been committed to your repository. Git will continue to track that file even though it matches a rule in your ignore file.

To fix this, you need to remove the files from the Git index (the cache) and then re-add them.

Be sure to commit any pending changes before running these commands.

# 1. Remove everything from the index (your actual files are safe)
git rm -r --cached .

# 2. Re-add everything. This time, Git will respect the .gitignore rules.
git add .

# 3. Commit the "refresh"
git commit -m "Refresh .gitignore to apply new rules"

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.