Gitignore Standards

GitIgnore Standards Skill

Objective

Produce and maintain .gitignore content with exactly three section groups in this order:

1. Base template reference
2. One or more unaltered GitHub gitignore templates
3. One project-specific rules section

Base .gitignore Template Reference

Use the canonical base template file at references/base-gitignore-template.gitignore.

Required Structure

Use this exact section order and heading format:

### Base Template
<unaltered content from ./references/base-gitignore-template.gitignore>

### <Name> Template
<unaltered content from github/gitignore>

### <Name> Template
<unaltered content from github/gitignore>

### Project-Specific Rules
<custom project patterns>

Complete Example (Trimmed)

This is a concise end-to-end example with multiple template sections and short content excerpts:

### Base Template
# Agent and Developer Temporary Files
.tmp/

### Python Template
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
.venv/

### Terraform Template
.terraform/
*.tfstate
*.tfstate.*

### Project-Specific Rules
# Repository-specific additions
coverage-final/
terraform.local.tfvars
!.env.production.template

Rules

• Apply this skill to every .gitignore task: create, update, review, and refactor.
• The base template section MUST copy unaltered content from Base .gitignore Template into the generated output.
• Each imported GitHub template section MUST start with exactly one heading line in this format: ### <Name> Template.
• Imported GitHub templates MUST remain unaltered from their original source text.
• There MUST be exactly one ### Project-Specific Rules section.
• Put all project-specific additions or overrides in ### Project-Specific Rules, including re-adding any desired patterns ignored by earlier templates.
• Separate sections with exactly one blank line.
• Do not add extra section types.

Validation Checklist

• Order is Base -> GitHub templates -> Project-Specific Rules.
• Base template content is copied unaltered from references/base-gitignore-template.gitignore and embedded inline.
• Every GitHub template has a ### <Name> Template heading.
• GitHub template text is unmodified.
• Only one ### Project-Specific Rules section exists.
• Exactly one blank line separates adjacent sections.