gitignore-scaffold

Quick Start

When adding directories that must exist in git but whose contents should be ignored, use the directory/* pattern (not directory/) combined with .gitkeep negation.

data/standards/promoted/*          # ignore contents
!data/standards/promoted/.gitkeep  # but track .gitkeep

When to Use

• Setting up empty directory structures that must persist in version control
• Adding gitignore rules for data directories, build outputs, or cache folders
• Troubleshooting why .gitkeep files are not being tracked

Workflow

1. Create directory structure

mkdir -p data/standards/promoted

2. Add .gitkeep to empty directories

touch data/standards/promoted/.gitkeep

3. Add gitignore patterns

Use directory/* form — never directory/ when .gitkeep must be tracked.

data/standards/promoted/*
!data/standards/promoted/.gitkeep

4. Verify with git check-ignore

# Should be ignored (exit 0):
git check-ignore -q "data/standards/promoted/example.csv"

# Should NOT be ignored (exit 1):
git check-ignore -q "data/standards/promoted/.gitkeep"

5. Regression-test existing patterns

After modifying .gitignore, confirm pre-existing patterns still work:

git check-ignore -q "path/to/known-ignored-file"

Pattern Types — Critical Distinction

Rule: Always use directory/* when you need to negate specific files inside.

Common Gotchas

1. directory/ kills negation — the most common mistake. Git never looks inside a fully-ignored directory, so !directory/.gitkeep has no effect.
2. Order matters — the negation line (!) must appear after the ignore line.
3. Nested negation — for deeply nested paths, every ancestor directory must use the /* form, not the / form.
4. Cached files — if a file was already tracked before the ignore rule was added, git rm --cached <file> is required to stop tracking it.
5. Always verify — never trust visual inspection of .gitignore; run git check-ignore -q to confirm behavior programmatically.