GitGuard - VS Code Extension

An open-source VS Code extension that proactively prevents accidental commits of sensitive files by intelligently managing .gitignore

Never accidentally commit secrets, API keys, or build artifacts again!

✨ Features

• 🔍 Smart Framework Detection: Automatically detects Node.js, Python, Java, React, Vue, Angular, Django, Flask, and more
• 🛡️ Pre-commit Security: Blocks commits with critical security risks (env files, secrets, databases)
• 📁 Intelligent .gitignore: Suggests framework-specific rules with clear explanations
• 👀 Real-time Monitoring: Watches for risky file creation and offers instant fixes
• 🎛️ Developer-Friendly: Always explains why, never acts without permission
• 🚫 Non-Destructive: Append-only .gitignore management, never deletes existing rules

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

Option 1: From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
3. Search for "GitGuard"
4. Click Install

Option 2: Install from .vsix file

1. Download the latest gitguard-x.x.x.vsix from Releases
2. Open VS Code
3. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
4. Run Extensions: Install from VSIX...
5. Select the downloaded .vsix file

Option 3: Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/codewithmishu/GitGuard.git
cd GitGuard
npm install
npm run compile
# Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host

First Use

1. Open any project with package.json, requirements.txt, or pom.xml
2. GitGuard will automatically detect your frameworks
3. If .gitignore patterns are missing, you'll get a friendly notification
4. Choose "Suggest Rules" to review and add recommended patterns

That's it! GitGuard now protects your commits automatically.

🎯 Supported Frameworks

Expanding Soon: PHP (Laravel, Symfony), C# (.NET), Go, Rust, Ruby (Rails)

⚙️ Configuration

GitGuard respects your preferences with these settings:

{
  "gitGuard.enabled": true,
  "gitGuard.autoSuggest": true,
  "gitGuard.preCommitCheck": true,
  "gitGuard.modifyGitignoreAutomatically": false,
  "gitGuard.watchFileCreation": true,
  "gitGuard.suppressedWarnings": []
}

🎛️ Commands

Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and run:

• GitGuard: Scan Workspace - Full security audit of your project
• GitGuard: Show Detected Frameworks - View detected technologies
• GitGuard: Suggest .gitignore Rules - Review and add missing patterns
• GitGuard: Add Pattern to .gitignore - Manually add a custom pattern

🛡️ How It Protects You

1. Framework Detection

Automatically scans your project and detects:

• Node.js projects via package.json
• Python projects via requirements.txt, pyproject.toml
• Java projects via pom.xml, build.gradle
• Framework-specific configurations (Next.js, Django, etc.)

2. Smart Rules Engine

100+ carefully curated rules with three severity levels:

3. Pre-commit Protection

• Scans all staged files before commits
• Shows clear explanations for each risk
• Offers one-click fixes
• Never blocks commits silently

4. Real-time Monitoring

• Watches for creation of risky files
• Debounces notifications to avoid spam
• Remembers your decisions per pattern
• Works with monorepos and multiple frameworks

🏗️ Architecture

GitGuard is built with a modular, extensible architecture:

src/
 ├── extension.ts          # Main coordinator - wires everything together  
 ├── types.ts              # Shared TypeScript interfaces
 ├── detector/
 │   ├── base.ts          # Abstract detector class
 │   ├── node.ts          # JavaScript/TypeScript framework detector
 │   ├── python.ts        # Python framework detector
 │   └── java.ts          # Java build tool detector
 ├── rules/
 │   ├── index.ts         # Rule engine with pattern matching
 │   ├── node.json        # 40+ Node.js/JS rules
 │   ├── python.json      # 35+ Python rules
 │   └── java.json        # 25+ Java rules
 ├── git/
 │   ├── gitignore.ts     # Safe, append-only .gitignore management
 │   └── commitScanner.ts # Pre-commit staged file analysis
 ├── ui/
 │   └── notifications.ts # User-friendly notifications with actions
 └── watcher/
     └── fileWatcher.ts   # Real-time file system monitoring

Key Design Principles

1. 🚫 Non-Destructive: Never deletes or reorders existing .gitignore content
2. 🤝 User-Centric: Always explains why, never acts without permission
3. 🔧 Extensible: Easy to add new frameworks and languages
4. ⚡ Performance: Cached detection, debounced notifications
5. 🛡️ Security-First: Critical patterns always prioritized

🤝 Contributing

GitGuard is open source and welcomes contributions!

Ways to Contribute

• 🐛 Report bugs in Issues
• 💡 Suggest features or new framework support
• 📝 Improve documentation
• 🔧 Add new framework detectors
• 📋 Contribute .gitignore rules
• 🧪 Write tests for better coverage

Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/gitguard/gitguard-vscode.git
cd gitguard-vscode

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile TypeScript
npm run compile

# Launch extension in development mode
# Press F5 in VS Code (opens Extension Development Host)

# Watch mode for continuous compilation
npm run watch

Adding New Framework Support

1. Create detector in src/detector/ extending BaseDetector
2. Add rules in src/rules/[language].json
3. Register detector in src/detector/index.ts
4. Update documentation in README.md
5. Test thoroughly with real projects

Code Style

• Use TypeScript strict mode
• Follow existing patterns and naming conventions
• Add JSDoc comments for public APIs
• Write descriptive commit messages

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file.

GitGuard is built by developers, for developers. It's completely free and open source.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Inspired by gitignore.io and community .gitignore templates
• Built on the excellent VS Code Extension API
• Framework detection patterns sourced from official documentation
• Rule patterns curated from years of developer experience

⭐ If GitGuard helps you, please star the repo and share with your team!

🐛 Found an issue? Report it here

💬 Questions or ideas? Start a discussion