toptal/gitignore.io

★ 8,703SwiftAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Generate gitignore files
      Web service API
    Tech Stack
      Swift Vapor server
      Docker Compose
      Node.js tests
    Use Cases
      Self-hosted instance
      API integration
      Custom branding
    Configuration
      Custom host origin
      URL prefix
      Analytics tag

mindmap root((repo)) What it does Generate gitignore files Web service API Tech Stack Swift Vapor server Docker Compose Node.js tests Use Cases Self-hosted instance API integration Custom branding Configuration Custom host origin URL prefix Analytics tag

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Run your own branded instance of the gitignore.io service locally using Docker Compose.

USE CASE 2

Call the HTTP API from a script or IDE plugin to automatically generate a .gitignore when starting a new project.

USE CASE 3

Generate a .gitignore file for any OS, language, and editor combination through the hosted web interface.

Tech stack

SwiftVaporDockerNode.js

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

Requires Docker installed. Development server starts at localhost:8080 after a single docker-compose up command.

Generated .gitignore files are released under CC0, fully public domain with no usage restrictions.

In plain English

This is the source code for gitignore.io, a web service that generates .gitignore files for software projects. A .gitignore file tells Git which files to leave untracked in a repository, such as temporary build outputs, editor settings, or operating system metadata. The service is publicly hosted by Toptal at toptal.com/developers/gitignore, where you can pick your operating system, programming language, and editor to get a ready-made file. The web server is written in Swift using the Vapor framework, which is a server-side Swift web framework designed to run on Linux and macOS. This is the application layer of the service: it handles requests, looks up the appropriate templates, and returns the generated content. The actual template files (the raw text patterns for each language and tool) live in a separate repository. You can run your own instance of the service locally using Docker. The repository includes Docker Compose files for both development and production modes. A development mode setup mounts the public assets and resource directories so changes are picked up without rebuilding the container. The development server starts at http://localhost:8080. The project also includes end-to-end tests covering both API responses and browser behavior, using Node.js-based tools. Generated .gitignore files are released under CC0, meaning they are in the public domain and carry no usage restrictions. Configuration options let you set a custom host origin, a URL subdirectory prefix, and a Google Analytics tag if you want to deploy your own branded instance.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Using the toptal/gitignore.io API, help me write a shell script that automatically generates a .gitignore for a Python project on macOS with VS Code when I create a new directory.

Prompt 2

I want to run my own instance of gitignore.io. Walk me through setting up the Docker Compose development environment from the toptal/gitignore.io repository.

Prompt 3

Show me how to call the gitignore.io HTTP API from JavaScript to fetch a .gitignore file for a Node.js project and save it to disk.

Prompt 4

I want to deploy a custom-branded gitignore.io instance. How do I configure the host origin and URL subdirectory prefix in the toptal/gitignore.io project?

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