Ignore Support

Tildr supports a repository-level .tildrignore file for excluding paths from repository scans.

How It Works

• The file must live at the root of the Tildr repository
• Ignore rules are applied when scanning repository contents
• Patterns use gitignore-style matching semantics
• The file is committed to the repository like any other managed file

Creating a .tildrignore

You can create the file manually or use the tildr exclude command:

# Using the CLI
tildr exclude add *.log
tildr exclude add cache/
tildr exclude add .DS_Store

# Or create manually
echo "*.log" > ~/.dotfiles/.tildrignore
echo "cache/" >> ~/.dotfiles/.tildrignore

Pattern Examples

Wildcard Patterns

# Ignore all log files
*.log

# Ignore all backup files
*.bak

# Ignore all temporary files
*.tmp

Directory Patterns

# Ignore the cache directory
cache/

# Ignore the .cache directory
.cache/

# Ignore all node_modules directories
**/node_modules/

Specific Files

# Ignore a specific file
.DS_Store

# Ignore a specific directory
local/

# Ignore files by name
secret.key
passwords.txt

Negation Patterns

# Ignore everything in .config
.config/*

# But keep these specific files
!.config/nvim/
!.config/starship.toml

Combined Patterns

# Shell temporary files
*.swp
*~
*.bak

# OS-specific files
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# Build artifacts
target/
dist/
build/

# Editor temporary files
*.undo
.vscode/
.idea/

Using tildr exclude

The tildr exclude command manages .tildrignore patterns without editing the file manually:

# Add a pattern
tildr exclude add *.log

# Remove a pattern
tildr exclude rm *.log

# List all patterns
tildr exclude list

Behavior:

• Creates .tildrignore if it does not exist
• Duplicate patterns are ignored
• Patterns added here prevent files from being discovered by list, status, and apply
• Does not remove existing symlinks — use tildr unlink for that

What Tildr Ignores Internally

During repository scans, Tildr always excludes the following entries regardless of .tildrignore:

These entries are excluded from:

• tildr list output
• tildr status checks
• tildr apply symlink creation
• tildr stats calculations
• Interactive picker lists

Common Use Cases

Ignore Editor Temporary Files

*.swp
*.swo
*~
*.undo
.vscode/
.idea/

Ignore Build Artifacts

target/
dist/
build/
*.o
*.so
*.dylib

Ignore OS-Specific Files

.DS_Store
Thumbs.db
Desktop.ini

Ignore Secrets (without GPG)

.ssh/id_rsa
.ssh/id_rsa.pub
.gnupg/

Ignore Cache Directories

.cache/
.cache/**
npm-cache/
yarn/

Relationship with .gitignore

Tildr’s .tildrignore is separate from Git’s .gitignore:

A file can be:

• Ignored by both (not tracked by Git, not managed by Tildr)
• Ignored by Tildr only (tracked by Git, not managed by Tildr)
• Ignored by Git only (managed by Tildr, not tracked by Git)
• Ignored by neither (managed by Tildr and tracked by Git)

Verification

After adding patterns, verify they work:

# Check what Tildr sees
tildr list

# Check if specific files are excluded
tildr status

# Verify the ignore file
tildr exclude list

Notes

• .tildrignore patterns only affect Tildr’s repository scanning
• They do not affect Git tracking — use .gitignore for that
• Patterns are applied recursively to all subdirectories
• The .tildrignore file itself is always excluded from Tildr operations
• Internal exclusions (.git, .tildr/, etc.) cannot be overridden