diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 01b1635a96..2915e7bdef 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+# Dependencies
 node_modules
+
+# Log files
+npm-debug.log*
+yarn-debug.log*
+yarn-error.log*
+debug.log
+
+# Lockfiles
 package-lock.json
+yarn.lock
+
+# Temporary directory for testing
 tmp
diff --git a/bin/create-probot-app.js b/bin/create-probot-app.js
index 6f776c877b..fa8cb89056 100755
--- a/bin/create-probot-app.js
+++ b/bin/create-probot-app.js
@@ -2,16 +2,18 @@
 
 'use strict'
 
+const fs = require('fs')
 const path = require('path')
 const inquirer = require('inquirer')
 const program = require('commander')
-const {generate} = require('egad')
+const { generate } = require('egad')
 const kebabCase = require('lodash.kebabcase')
 const camelCase = require('lodash.camelcase')
 const chalk = require('chalk')
+const jsesc = require('jsesc')
 const spawn = require('cross-spawn')
 const stringifyAuthor = require('stringify-author')
-const {guessEmail, guessAuthor, guessGitHubUsername} = require('conjecture')
+const { guessEmail, guessAuthor, guessGitHubUsername } = require('conjecture')
 const validatePackageName = require('validate-npm-package-name')
 
 program
@@ -35,6 +37,22 @@ const destination = program.args.length
 
 const templates = ['basic-js', 'checks-js', 'git-data-js', 'deploy-js', 'basic-ts']
 
+/**
+ * Partially sanitizes keys by escaping double-quotes.
+ * 
+ * @param {Object} object The object to mutate.
+ * @param {String[]} keys The keys on `object` to sanitize.
+ */
+function sanitizeBy(object, keys) {
+  keys.forEach(key => {
+    if (key in object) {
+      object[key] = jsesc(object[key], {
+        quotes: 'double'
+      })
+    }
+  })
+}
+
 const prompts = [
   {
     type: 'input',
@@ -131,13 +149,14 @@ inquirer.prompt(prompts)
     answers.repo = program.repo || answers.repo
     answers.template = program.template || answers.template
 
-    // TODO: clean that up into nicer object combinging
+    // TODO: clean that up into nicer object combining
 
+    sanitizeBy(answers, ['author', 'description'])
+    
     if (!templates.includes(answers.template)) {
       console.log(chalk.red(`Please use an existing use case template: ${templates.join(', ')}`))
       process.exit(1)
     }
-
     const relativePath = path.join(__dirname, '/../templates/', answers.template)
     return generate(relativePath, destination, answers, {
       overwrite: Boolean(program.overwrite)
@@ -145,6 +164,26 @@ inquirer.prompt(prompts)
   })
   .then(results => {
     results.forEach(fileinfo => {
+      if (fileinfo.skipped === false &&
+        path.basename(fileinfo.path) === 'gitignore'
+      ) {
+        try {
+          const gitignorePath = path.join(path.dirname(fileinfo.path), '.gitignore')
+
+          if (fs.existsSync(gitignorePath)) {
+            const data = fs.readFileSync(fileinfo.path, { encoding: 'utf8' })
+            fs.appendFileSync(gitignorePath, data)
+            fs.unlinkSync(fileinfo.path)
+          } else {
+            fs.renameSync(fileinfo.path, gitignorePath)
+          }
+
+          fileinfo.path = gitignorePath
+        } catch (err) {
+          throw err
+        }
+      }
+
       console.log(`${fileinfo.skipped ? chalk.yellow('skipped existing file')
         : chalk.green('created file')}: ${fileinfo.path}`)
     })
@@ -152,7 +191,7 @@ inquirer.prompt(prompts)
   })
   .then(() => {
     console.log(chalk.blue('\nInstalling Node dependencies!'))
-    const child = spawn('npm', ['install', '--prefix', destination], {stdio: 'inherit'})
+    const child = spawn('npm', ['install', '--prefix', destination], { stdio: 'inherit' })
     child.on('close', code => {
       if (code !== 0) {
         console.log(chalk.red(`Could not install npm dependencies. Try running ${chalk.bold('npm install')} yourself.`))
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index f13904d7ca..3d7bc6fca6 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
     "conjecture": "^0.1.2",
     "egad": "^0.2.0",
     "inquirer": "^6.2.2",
+    "jsesc": "^2.5.2",
     "lodash.camelcase": "^4.3.0",
     "lodash.kebabcase": "^4.1.1",
     "stringify-author": "^0.1.3",
diff --git a/templates/basic-js/.gitignore b/templates/basic-js/gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from templates/basic-js/.gitignore
rename to templates/basic-js/gitignore
diff --git a/templates/basic-ts/.gitignore b/templates/basic-ts/gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from templates/basic-ts/.gitignore
rename to templates/basic-ts/gitignore
diff --git a/templates/checks-js/.gitignore b/templates/checks-js/gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from templates/checks-js/.gitignore
rename to templates/checks-js/gitignore
diff --git a/templates/deploy-js/.gitignore b/templates/deploy-js/gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from templates/deploy-js/.gitignore
rename to templates/deploy-js/gitignore
diff --git a/templates/git-data-js/.gitignore b/templates/git-data-js/gitignore
similarity index 100%
rename from templates/git-data-js/.gitignore
rename to templates/git-data-js/gitignore