gitignore

Gitignore Management Skill (ign)

ign (GitHub Gitignore CLI) is a high-performance, explicitly managed, and Agent-friendly .gitignore manager built with Rust. Powered by the official github/gitignore repository, it provides modular block-isolated merging, context-aware template detection, smart aliases, fuzzy search, and guaranteed preservation of custom user-defined rules. It operates completely offline by default with zero hidden network requests, synchronizing templates on-demand via explicit commands.

1. Prerequisites & Installation

Before performing any .gitignore operations, the Agent should verify installation and initialization in sequence:

1.1 Verify and Install the CLI Tool

command -v ign >/dev/null 2>&1 || cargo install ign

1.2 Verify and Initialize the Template Library

Check if ~/.config/ign/templates is initialized. If not ready, clone the official template repository:

ign template status >/dev/null 2>&1 || ign template init

2. Context-Aware Template Selection

When configuring .gitignore for a project, the Agent should first inspect the workspace context (project markers, build files, OS, and IDE configuration) to automatically select and combine matching templates:

2.1 Language & Tech Stack Mapping

Project Marker / Directory	Recommended Template	Description
`Cargo.toml`, `Cargo.lock`	`Rust`	Rust build artifacts (`target/`) and backups
`package.json`, `pnpm-lock.yaml`, `yarn.lock`	`Node`	Node.js / Web frontend dependencies and build outputs
`pyproject.toml`, `requirements.txt`, `Pipfile`	`Python`	Python virtual environments and `__pycache__/`
`go.mod`, `go.sum`	`Go`	Go binaries and vendor directories
`pom.xml`	`Java`, `Maven`	Java Maven projects
`build.gradle`, `build.gradle.kts`, `gradlew`	`Java`, `Gradle`	Gradle / Kotlin / Android projects
`composer.json`	`PHP`	PHP Composer dependencies
`Gemfile`	`Ruby`	Ruby / Rails dependencies and logs
`pubspec.yaml`	`Dart`, `Flutter`	Dart / Flutter cross-platform projects
`CMakeLists.txt`, `Makefile`	`C++` or `C`	C / C++ build outputs
`deno.json`, `deno.jsonc`	`Deno`	Deno cache and build artifacts
`mix.exs`	`Elixir`	Elixir / Phoenix projects
`.sln`, `.csproj`	`VisualStudio`	.NET / C# solutions

2.2 Operating System & IDE Templates

Operating System (add based on current execution environment):
- Linux: Linux (maps to Global/Linux)
- macOS: macOS (maps to Global/macOS)
- Windows: Windows (maps to Global/Windows)
Developer Tools / IDE (add based on workspace settings or user preference):
- VS Code: Visual_Studio_Code (alias vscode, maps to Global/VisualStudioCode)
- JetBrains (IDEA/CLion/RustRover/PyCharm/GoLand): JetBrains (alias idea, maps to Global/JetBrains)

2.3 Agent Automated Decision Examples

# Example: Rust project detected on Linux with VS Code and JetBrains IDEs
ign init Rust macOS Linux JetBrains Visual_Studio_Code

# Example: Frontend Node.js project detected
ign init Node macOS Linux Visual_Studio_Code

3. Usage & Commands

3.1 Initialize Project `.gitignore` (`init`)

Initialize with explicitly specified templates:

ign init Rust macOS JetBrains Visual_Studio_Code

Interactive multi-select selection:
```
ign init -i
```
Re-initialize existing file while preserving manual custom rules:
```
ign init Rust macOS
```

3.2 Append & Update Templates (`add`)

Safely append new language or tool templates into an existing .gitignore (auto-deduplicated, preserving custom rules):

ign add Linux Python

3.3 Inspect & Audit Applied Templates (`status`)

Inspect metadata of the current repository's .gitignore (applied templates, timestamps, custom rules):

# Human-readable terminal output
ign status

# Structured JSON output for Agent/CI consumption
ign status --json

JSON Output Schema:

{
  "file_exists": true,
  "path": ".gitignore",
  "managed_by_ign": true,
  "templates_count": 4,
  "templates": [
    "Rust",
    "Global/macOS",
    "Global/JetBrains",
    "Global/VisualStudioCode"
  ],
  "created_at": "2026-08-29T04:33:10Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-08-29T04:33:21Z",
  "has_custom_rules": true,
  "custom_rules_lines": 2,
  "custom_rules": "# Custom user rule\nscratch/",
  "total_lines": 220
}

3.4 Remove Specified Templates (`remove`)

Remove templates from .gitignore while keeping remaining templates and custom rules intact:

ign remove Global/macOS
# Or using smart alias:
ign remove macos

3.5 Search & Explore Templates (`search` / `list` / `show`)

# Fuzzy search templates
ign search elixir
ign search jetbrains --json

# View raw template contents
ign show Rust

# List all templates in a category
ign list -c global

3.6 Local Template Repository Maintenance (`template`)

# Inspect local template library status and directory path
ign template status
ign template path

# Manually pull latest templates from GitHub
ign template update
# (Top-level shorthand: ign update)

4. Environment Variables

Default template storage path: ~/.config/ign/templates
Custom storage path override: export IGN_TEMPLATES_DIR="/path/to/custom/gitignore-repo"

About this skill