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Git & GitHub Tools

Gitignore Checker

Test whether a specific file or folder path would be ignored by your .gitignore rules.

Paste your .gitignore content and enter a file or folder path - this tool checks the path against each rule and shows whether it would be ignored.

Useful when a file you expect Git to ignore keeps showing up in `git status`.

What Does This Tool Check?

It evaluates your .gitignore rules, in order, against a path you provide - the same way Git itself does - and reports whether the path matches an ignore rule, and which line matched.

Why Use This Tool?

Gitignore pattern syntax has some easy-to-miss subtleties (a leading slash anchors a pattern to the repository root, a trailing slash means directory-only, ! negates a previous rule). When a file you expect to be ignored keeps appearing in git status, this tool helps pinpoint why.

How to Use It

  1. Paste the contents of your .gitignore file.
  2. Enter the path you want to test, e.g. node_modules/some-package/index.js or .env.
  3. Click Check - the result shows whether the path is ignored and which rule matched.

Common Errors

A common surprise: if a file was already committed to the repository before it was added to .gitignore, Git will keep tracking changes to it - adding it to .gitignore only stops Git from tracking new, previously-untracked files matching that pattern.

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