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Ignoring Files
Some files never belong in a commit: build output, logs, editor settings, secrets in a .env file. You can tell git to ignore them, and they stop showing up as changes. Nibtree does this from a right-click.
A few words first. A .gitignore file lists patterns of files git should ignore. It lives in the repository and is committed, so everyone on the team shares it. .git/info/exclude works the same way, but it stays on your computer and is never committed: use it for things only you have, such as your own scratch files. An untracked file is one git does not know yet.
- Right-click a file or folder in the Files panel, or a file in Changes.
- Choose Add to .gitignore.
- Pick a pattern.
The Add to .gitignore submenu for src/wishlist.ts: the file, its folder or its extension.
For a file, the submenu offers three patterns. Each item is the pattern itself, with a grey hint next to it:
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/src/wishlist.ts(this file): only that one file. -
/src/(this folder): the folder the file is in, with everything inside. A file at the top of the repository has no folder choice. -
*.ts(this extension): every file with that ending, in every folder. Files likeMakefileor.envhave no extension, so this choice is left out.
For a folder, the submenu offers only the folder itself, such as /dist/.
The leading / anchors the pattern at the top of the repository, so /dist/ ignores the dist folder there and not one deeper down. Names with special characters, such as *, ?, [, a leading # or trailing spaces, are written so that git reads them as plain names.
The pattern goes into the .gitignore at the top of the repository, which is created when it is missing. A note confirms it, for example Added /src/wishlist.ts to .gitignore. If the pattern is there already, the note says so and nothing is added twice. The new line keeps the file's own line endings.
To keep the pattern out of the shared file, open Add to .gitignore > Add to .git/info/exclude and pick the same kind of pattern there. Nobody else sees it.
Add to .gitignore > Edit .gitignore opens the repository's .gitignore in an editor tab, creating an empty one first if there is none. Use it to remove a line, add a comment (a line starting with #) or write a pattern of your own.
Ignoring only works for files git does not track yet. A file that is already committed stays tracked, even when a pattern matches it. So after adding a pattern, Nibtree checks for tracked files it now matches. When it finds some, it asks Remove from Git?:
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Remove from Git runs
git rm --cachedon them. The files stay on your disk, but git stops tracking them. The removal shows up as a staged deletion in Changes, and you commit it like any other change. - Cancel leaves them tracked. The pattern is still added and applies to new files.
Example: someone committed debug.log by mistake. Right-click it in the Files panel, choose Add to .gitignore and the file pattern, then confirm Remove from Git and commit. From then on, debug.log stays on your disk but out of git.
- Ignoring never changes or deletes your files.
- The menu is not offered for conflicted files or for the repository folder itself.
- In a workspace with several repositories, the pattern goes to the repository the file belongs to.