igt - Interactive gitignore CLI

igt (ignore + TUI) is an interactive CLI tool for managing .gitignore templates from the official github/gitignore repository.

Features

• 🎨 Interactive TUI - Beautiful terminal UI with fuzzy search and multi-select
• 📦 Smart Caching - Local cache with configurable TTL (default 7 days)
• 🔄 Section Management - Update templates without losing custom rules
• 🌐 GitHub Integration - Fetch templates directly from github/gitignore
• 🚀 Fast & Lightweight - Single binary with no dependencies
• 🔍 Fuzzy Search - Quickly find templates with incremental filtering
• 📋 Preview Mode - Dry-run to see changes before applying

Installation

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew tap mather/igt
brew install igt

Go Install

go install github.com/mather/igt/cmd/igt@latest

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/mather/igt.git
cd igt
go build -o igt ./cmd/igt

Usage

Interactive Mode

Simply run igt to launch the interactive template selector:

igt

Use the arrow keys to navigate, space or tab to toggle selection, enter to confirm, and esc to cancel.

Non-Interactive Mode

Pass template names as arguments to skip the TUI:

igt Go Node Python

List Available Templates

Show all available templates grouped by category:

igt --list

Search for specific templates:

igt --list | grep -i python

Preview Changes

Use dry-run mode to preview what would be added:

igt --dry-run Go Node

Refresh Cache

Force refresh the template cache from GitHub:

igt --refresh

Custom Output Path

Specify a custom output file:

igt --output path/to/.gitignore Go

How It Works

Template Sections

igt manages templates using marked sections in your .gitignore:

# Your custom rules
*.log
/dist/

### igt: Go ###
*.exe
*.test
### igt: Go ###

### igt: Node ###
node_modules/
npm-debug.log
### igt: Node ###

When you re-run igt and select templates:

• Existing managed sections (between ### igt: Name ### markers) are updated
• Your custom rules (outside markers) are preserved
• New templates are added at the end
• The igt: prefix prevents conflicts with template content

Caching

Templates are cached locally in ~/.cache/igt/templates/ with a 7-day TTL:

• First run downloads the entire repository as a zip archive (one HTTP request)
• Subsequent runs use cached templates
• Cache automatically refreshes after TTL expires
• Use --refresh to force immediate update

Offline Support

Since igt downloads the entire repository once and caches it locally:

• No rate limiting issues
• Works offline after initial download
• Fast subsequent operations

Command-Line Options

Usage:
  igt [flags] [<template>...]

Flags:
  -o, --output string   Output file path (default: .gitignore)
  -r, --refresh         Force refresh cache
  -l, --list            List all templates
  -n, --dry-run         Dry run mode (preview changes)
  -h, --help            Show help
  -v, --version         Show version

Examples:
  igt                   # Interactive mode
  igt Go Node           # Non-interactive mode
  igt -l | grep -i go   # List and search templates
  igt -n Go             # Preview changes
  igt -r                # Refresh cache and select

Template Categories

Templates are organized into three categories:

• Language - Programming language-specific templates (e.g., Go, Python, Java)
• Global - OS and editor-specific templates (e.g., macOS, Windows, Vim)
• Community - Community-contributed templates

Development

Project Structure

igt/
├── cmd/igt/           # CLI entry point
├── internal/
│   ├── fetcher/       # GitHub API & caching
│   ├── merger/        # .gitignore parser & merger
│   ├── template/      # Data models
│   └── ui/            # Bubble Tea TUI
├── go.mod
└── README.md

Running Tests

go test ./internal/... -v

Building

go build -o igt ./cmd/igt

Similar Tools

• gibo - Command-line gitignore template manager
• gi - CLI for generating .gitignore files

igt differentiates itself with:

• Interactive TUI with fuzzy search
• Managed sections that preserve custom rules
• Built-in caching with TTL

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.