Ignore & Exclude

A tiny VS Code extension that adds two entries to the right-click menu of any file or folder:

• Add to .gitignore — ignore it for everyone (the entry is committed).
• Add to .git/info/exclude — ignore it for you only, without touching a tracked file (nothing to commit).

Why both?

.gitignore is shared with your team through version control. .git/info/exclude is local to your clone — perfect for personal scratch files, editor junk, or local config you don't want to push and don't want to force on anyone else. This extension makes either one a single click away.

Usage

Right-click a file or folder in the Explorer (or a file on an editor tab) and choose:

• Add to .gitignore, or
• Add to .git/info/exclude

The same commands are available from the Command Palette (they act on the active editor's file). You can select several items and add them all at once.

What gets written

Each entry is written as a root-anchored, exactly-matching pattern, so only that file or folder is ignored — never same-named entries elsewhere in the tree. A folder gets a trailing slash, so it matches only the directory and never a same-named file beside it:

/secret.txt
/build/artifact.bin
/logs/                 # a folder, matched with a trailing slash
/logs/today\[1\].txt   # glob metacharacters in the name are escaped

Adding an entry that's already listed is a no-op — the extension won't create duplicate lines. Items outside the open workspace folder are reported with a clear error instead of writing somewhere unexpected. Repositories whose .git is a pointer file (submodules and linked worktrees) are resolved correctly, so the exclude entry lands in the real git directory.

Develop / run from source

npm install
npm run compile
# then press F5 in VS Code to launch an Extension Development Host

Other scripts:

npm test            # compile + pattern unit tests + runtime smoke tests
npm run watch       # recompile on change
npm run check       # pure pattern/escaping unit tests (after compile)
npm run smoke       # drive both commands against a mocked VS Code + temp repo
npm run make:icon   # regenerate icon.png

You can also install the packaged build directly:

npx @vscode/vsce package           # produces ignore-and-exclude-0.2.0.vsix
code --install-extension ignore-and-exclude-0.2.0.vsix

Tagged releases (v*) are built and published automatically by CI, which attaches the packaged .vsix to the corresponding GitHub Release.

License

AGPL-3.0-or-later. See LICENSE.

This project is REUSE-compliant.