Smart GitIgnore

Automatically scan your workspace, detect technologies, and generate or update .gitignore files — instantly.

No more manual editing. No more duplicate entries. No more forgotten secrets accidentally pushed to GitHub.

What Does This Extension Do?

Smart GitIgnore scans your open project, figures out what technologies you are using, and generates a clean, grouped, sorted .gitignore file tailored specifically to your project.

It works for 13+ technologies out of the box, detects secrets, logs, databases, large media files, and generated folders — all automatically.

Supported Technologies

Auto-Detected File Categories

Even if no specific technology is detected, Smart GitIgnore automatically handles these categories:

Secrets & Credentials

Files that should never be committed to any repository:

.env                      .env.local
.env.development          .env.production
.env.test                 .env.staging
*.pem                     *.key
*.crt                     *.p12
*.jks                     firebase-admin.json
google-services.json      GoogleService-Info.plist
serviceAccount.json       auth.json
*secret*                  *credential*

Log Files

*.log       logs/        log/
npm-debug.log*           yarn-debug.log*
yarn-error.log*          pnpm-debug.log*
lerna-debug.log*

Database Files

*.sqlite     *.sqlite3     *.db
*.db3        *.s3db        *.sl3

Cache Directories

.cache/      .parcel-cache/    .turbo/
.vercel/     .firebase/        .netlify/

IDE & Editor Files

.idea/       .vscode/      *.swp     *.swo
.project     .classpath    .settings/
*.suo        *.user        .vs/

OS Generated Files

.DS_Store    .DS_Store?    ._*
Thumbs.db    desktop.ini   ehthumbs.db

Large Media Files (50MB+)

If files larger than 50MB are detected, Smart GitIgnore suggests ignoring:

*.zip    *.rar    *.7z    *.mp4
*.mov    *.avi    *.iso   *.tar.gz

Commands

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Shift+P on Mac) and type Smart GitIgnore:

Status Bar

A status indicator is always visible in the bottom-left of VS Code:

Clicking the status bar item runs Update .gitignore instantly.

Extension Settings

Go to File → Preferences → Settings and search for smartGitIgnore:

Example settings.json

{
  "smartGitIgnore.autoUpdate": true,
  "smartGitIgnore.detectSecrets": true,
  "smartGitIgnore.detectLargeFiles": true,
  "smartGitIgnore.groupRules": true,
  "smartGitIgnore.sortRules": true
}

How It Works — Step by Step

1. You open a workspace (or run a command)
         ↓
2. WorkspaceScanner scans root directory and subdirectories (up to 4 levels deep)
         ↓
3. 13 Technology Detectors run in parallel
   Each checks for marker files (package.json, pubspec.yaml, pom.xml, etc.)
         ↓
4. RuleBuilder maps each detected technology to its template rules
   Common rules (secrets, logs, IDE, OS) are always included
         ↓
5. GitignoreUpdater merges new rules with existing .gitignore
   Existing custom rules and comments are preserved
   Only missing rules are appended
         ↓
6. DuplicateCleaner runs a final dedup pass
         ↓
7. You confirm → file is written to disk

Generated .gitignore Example

For a Next.js + TypeScript + Docker project, Smart GitIgnore generates:

# Generated by Smart GitIgnore

# OS generated files
.DS_Store
.DS_Store?
Thumbs.db
desktop.ini

# IDE and Editor files
.idea/
.vscode/
*.swp
*.swo

# Secrets and credentials
.env
.env.local
.env.development
.env.production
.env.test
*.pem
*.key
firebase-admin.json
google-services.json

# Logs
*.log
logs/
npm-debug.log*
yarn-error.log*

# Database files
*.db
*.sqlite
*.sqlite3

# Cache directories
.cache/
.turbo/
.vercel/

# Node.js
node_modules/
.npm
.yarn-integrity

# Build output
dist/
build/
out/
*.tsbuildinfo

# Next.js
.next/
next-env.d.ts

# Docker
docker-compose.override.yml

Smart Merge — Existing .gitignore is Safe

If you already have a .gitignore with custom rules:

# My custom rules
my-secret-config.json
uploads/

Smart GitIgnore will keep your custom rules and only append the missing ones at the bottom. It will never delete or overwrite anything.

Keyboard Shortcuts (Optional)

You can bind commands to keyboard shortcuts via File → Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts:

[
  {
    "key": "ctrl+shift+g ctrl+shift+i",
    "command": "smartGitIgnore.generate"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+shift+g ctrl+shift+u",
    "command": "smartGitIgnore.update"
  }
]

Requirements

• VS Code version 1.85.0 or higher
• No other dependencies — everything runs locally, no internet required

Privacy

Smart GitIgnore works 100% offline. It never sends any data anywhere. All scanning and file generation happens locally on your machine.

Troubleshooting

Extension not detecting my technology? Make sure the marker file (e.g., package.json, pubspec.yaml) is in the root of your workspace folder, not in a subfolder.

My custom rules were removed? This should not happen. If it does, please open an issue. Always use Update (not Generate) if you have existing custom rules.

I want to ignore a file type that's not listed? Use Update .gitignore and manually add your custom rule. Smart GitIgnore will preserve it on all future updates.

The status bar shows an error? Open the Output panel (View → Output) and select Smart GitIgnore from the dropdown for detailed error logs.

Changelog

v1.0.0

• Initial release
• Support for 13 technologies: Node, React, Next.js, Angular, Vue, Flutter, Python, Java, Laravel, Go, Rust, .NET, Docker
• Auto-detection of secrets, logs, databases, cache, IDE files, OS files
• Smart merge — never overwrites existing custom rules
• Duplicate cleaner
• Status bar indicator
• 8 configurable settings
• Preview before write
• Workspace analysis command

License

MIT License — free to use, modify, and distribute.