Free · Open Source

Gitignore

A free command-line tool for managing .gitignore files.

Templates from GitHub and Toptal, local overrides for project-specific patterns, and an MCP server mode that lets AI coding assistants manage ignore rules directly. Cross-platform binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows.

Download latest release Source on GitHub

Installation

macOS (Apple Silicon) macOS (Intel) Linux Windows

curl -L https://github.com/convergent-systems-co/gitignore/releases/latest/download/gitignore-darwin-arm64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv gitignore /usr/local/bin/

curl -L https://github.com/convergent-systems-co/gitignore/releases/latest/download/gitignore-darwin-amd64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv gitignore /usr/local/bin/

curl -L https://github.com/convergent-systems-co/gitignore/releases/latest/download/gitignore-linux-amd64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv gitignore /usr/local/bin/

Download the .zip from the releases page and extract gitignore.exe to a directory in your PATH.

Or install from source with Go:

go install github.com/convergent-systems-co/gitignore/src/cmd/gitignore@latest

Quick start

List available templates

gitignore list

Shows templates in source/name form: github/go, github/global/macos, toptal/rust, local/myproject.

Search for a stack

gitignore search rust

Add templates to your project's .gitignore

gitignore add github/go github/global/macos

Remove a previously-added template

gitignore remove github/go

Add a single path or pattern (no template)

gitignore add-path "*.log" "build/"

What's in the box

Templates from multiple sourcesgithub.com/github/gitignore and Toptal's gitignore.io API. Configurable priority order.
Local overridesCustom templates in ~/.config/gitignore/local/ take precedence over upstream sources.
Add patterns directlyFor one-off ignores you don't want to template.
Idempotent add and removeTemplates are tracked by markers; remove cleanly removes only the lines a previous add wrote.
MCP server modeNative integration with AI coding assistants (Claude, GitHub Copilot). The assistant manages your .gitignore directly via the Model Context Protocol.
Cross-platformNative binaries for macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon), Linux, and Windows. Single static binary, no runtime.

MCP server mode

Run the tool as an MCP server so AI coding assistants can manage your .gitignore automatically:

gitignore mcp serve

Configure your MCP-aware client (Claude Desktop, GitHub Copilot, etc.) to launch this command. The assistant gains tools for listing, searching, adding, and removing templates without round-tripping through your terminal.

Full documentation

Complete usage guide, configuration reference, and contribution guidelines live in the repository:

github.com/convergent-systems-co/gitignore