Which File Tells Git The File Patterns Such That Git Will Not Monitor Any Changes To Those Files?

.gitignore

Git sees every file in your working copy as 1 of 3 things:

1. tracked - a file which has been previously staged or committed;
2. untracked - a file which has non been staged or committed; or
3. ignored - a file which Git has been explicitly told to ignore.

Ignored files are usually build artifacts and machine generated files that tin can be derived from your repository source or should otherwise not be committed. Some mutual examples are:

• dependency caches, such as the contents of /node_modules or /packages
• compiled lawmaking, such equally .o, .pyc, and .class files
• build output directories, such equally /bin, /out, or /target
• files generated at runtime, such as .log, .lock, or .tmp
• hidden system files, such as .DS_Store or Thumbs.db
• personal IDE config files, such as .idea/workspace.xml

Ignored files are tracked in a special file named .gitignore that is checked in at the root of your repository. There is no explicit git ignore command: instead the .gitignore file must be edited and committed by hand when you have new files that you wish to ignore. .gitignore files contain patterns that are matched against file names in your repository to make up one's mind whether or not they should exist ignored.

• Ignoring files in Git
  • Git ignore patterns
  • Shared .gitignore files in your repository
  • Personal Git ignore rules
  • Global Git ignore rules
  • Ignoring a previously committed file
  • Committing an ignored file
  • Stashing an ignored file
  • Debugging .gitignore files

Git ignore patterns

.gitignore uses globbing patterns to lucifer against file names. You lot can construct your patterns using diverse symbols:

Pattern	Example matches	Explanation*
**/logs	logs/debug.log logs/mon/foo.bar build/logs/debug.log	You can prepend a design with a double asterisk to match directories anywhere in the repository.
**/logs/debug.log	logs/debug.log build/logs/debug.log but not logs/build/debug.log	You lot can also use a double asterisk to match files based on their name and the proper noun of their parent directory.
*.log	debug.log foo.log .log logs/debug.log	An asterisk is a wildcard that matches nix or more than characters.
*.log !important.log	debug.log trace.log but not important.log logs/important.log	Prepending an assertion marker to a pattern negates it. If a file matches a pattern, merely also matches a negating pattern defined subsequently in the file, it will non be ignored.
*.log !important/*.log trace.*	debug.log important/trace.log but not important/debug.log	Patterns defined after a negating pattern volition re-ignore any previously negated files.
/debug.log	debug.log only not logs/debug.log	Prepending a slash matches files only in the repository root.
debug.log	debug.log logs/debug.log	By default, patterns match files in any directory
debug?.log	debug0.log debugg.log but not debug10.log	A question marker matches exactly i character.
debug[0-9].log	debug0.log debug1.log but not debug10.log	Square brackets tin also exist used to match a unmarried character from a specified range.
debug[01].log	debug0.log debug1.log only non debug2.log debug01.log	Square brackets match a single character form the specified fix.
debug[!01].log	debug2.log simply not debug0.log debug1.log debug01.log	An exclamation marker tin can exist used to match whatever graphic symbol except one from the specified set.
debug[a-z].log	debuga.log debugb.log simply not debug1.log	Ranges can be numeric or alphabetic.
logs	logs logs/debug.log logs/latest/foo.bar build/logs build/logs/debug.log	If you don't append a slash, the design will lucifer both files and the contents of directories with that proper noun. In the instance matches on the left, both directories and files named logs are ignored
logs/	logs/debug.log logs/latest/foo.bar build/logs/foo.bar build/logs/latest/debug.log	Appending a slash indicates the pattern is a directory. The unabridged contents of any directory in the repository matching that proper noun – including all of its files and subdirectories – will exist ignored
logs/ !logs/important.log	logs/debug.log logs/of import.log	Wait a minute! Shouldn't logs/important.log be negated in the example on the left Nope! Due to a performance-related quirk in Git, you can non negate a file that is ignored due to a design matching a directory
logs/**/debug.log	logs/debug.log logs/monday/debug.log logs/mon/pm/debug.log	A double asterisk matches nada or more than directories.
logs/*day/debug.log	logs/monday/debug.log logs/tuesday/debug.log but not logs/latest/debug.log	Wildcards tin exist used in directory names every bit well.
logs/debug.log	logs/debug.log just not debug.log build/logs/debug.log	Patterns specifying a file in a particular directory are relative to the repository root. (You can prepend a slash if yous like, but it doesn't do anything special.)

** these explanations presume your .gitignore file is in the top level directory of your repository, as is the convention. If your repository has multiple .gitignore files, but mentally replace "repository root" with "directory containing the .gitignore file" (and consider unifying them, for the sanity of your squad).*

In addition to these characters, you can use # to include comments in your .gitignore file:

You tin can use \ to escape .gitignore pattern characters if yous take files or directories containing them:

              # ignore the file literally named foo[01].txt
foo\[01\].txt            

Git ignore rules are unremarkably defined in a .gitignore file at the root of your repository. Still, yous tin can choose to define multiple .gitignore files in different directories in your repository. Each pattern in a detail .gitignore file is tested relative to the directory containing that file. Nevertheless the convention, and simplest approach, is to ascertain a single .gitignore file in the root. As your .gitignore file is checked in, it is versioned like whatsoever other file in your repository and shared with your teammates when you push. Typically y'all should only include patterns in .gitignore that will benefit other users of the repository.

Personal Git ignore rules

Yous can also ascertain personal ignore patterns for a item repository in a special file at .git/info/exclude. These are non versioned, and not distributed with your repository, so it's an appropriate identify to include patterns that will probable only do good you. For case if y'all take a custom logging setup, or special evolution tools that produce files in your repository's working directory, you could consider adding them to .git/info/exclude to prevent them from existence accidentally committed to your repository.

Global Git ignore rules

In addition, you lot can define global Git ignore patterns for all repositories on your local system past setting the Git core.excludesFile holding. You'll have to create this file yourself. If yous're unsure where to put your global .gitignore file, your home directory isn't a bad choice (and makes it easy to find later). One time y'all've created the file, yous'll demand to configure its location with git config:

              $ impact ~/.gitignore
$ git config --global core.excludesFile ~/.gitignore            

You lot should be careful what patterns you choose to globally ignore, as different file types are relevant for dissimilar projects. Special operating system files (e.g. .DS_Store and thumbs.db) or temporary files created by some developer tools are typical candidates for ignoring globally.

Ignoring a previously committed file

If you lot want to ignore a file that you've committed in the past, you'll need to delete the file from your repository and then add a .gitignore dominion for it. Using the --cached option with git rm means that the file volition be deleted from your repository, but will remain in your working directory equally an ignored file.

              $ echo debug.log >> .gitignore
  $ git rm --cached debug.log
rm 'debug.log'
                
  $ git commit -m "Start ignoring debug.log"
                          

You tin omit the --cached choice if you lot want to delete the file from both the repository and your local file system.

Committing an ignored file

Information technology is possible to force an ignored file to be committed to the repository using the -f (or --strength) option with git add:

              $ cat .gitignore
*.log
  $ git add -f debug.log
                
  $ git commit -g "Force calculation debug.log"
                          

You might consider doing this if you have a general blueprint (like *.log) defined, but you desire to commit a specific file. However a better solution is to ascertain an exception to the general rule:

              $ echo !debug.log >> .gitignore
  $ true cat .gitignore
*.log
!debug.log
                
  $ git add debug.log
                
  $ git commit -m "Adding debug.log"
                          

This approach is more obvious, and less confusing, for your teammates.

Stashing an ignored file

git stash is a powerful Git feature for temporarily shelving and reverting local changes, allowing you to re-apply them after. As you'd wait, by default git stash ignores ignored files and just stashes changes to files that are tracked by Git. However, you tin invoke git stash with the --all pick to stash changes to ignored and untracked files besides.

Debugging .gitignore files

If you lot take complicated .gitignore patterns, or patterns spread over multiple .gitignore files, it can be hard to track downwardly why a particular file is existence ignored. Y'all can use the git cheque-ignore control with the -5 (or --verbose) choice to determine which design is causing a item file to be ignored:

              $ git bank check-ignore -v debug.log
.gitignore:three:*.log  debug.log            

The output shows:

              <file containing the pattern> : <line number of the design> : <pattern>    <file proper name>            

You tin can pass multiple file names to git check-ignore if you like, and the names themselves don't even have to correspond to files that be in your repository.

Source: https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/saving-changes/gitignore

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