Gitignore Gen is a skill that automates .gitignore file creation by scanning a project directory for manifest files such as package.json, pyproject.toml, and go.mod. Based on what it finds, it constructs a categorized .gitignore file matched to the detected technology stack rather than relying on a generic template.
The generated file follows a consistent structure: OS-level exclusions (such as .DS_Store and Thumbs.db) come first, followed by IDE settings, security and credentials entries (including .env files), language-specific exclusions (such as node_modules for Node.js projects or build artifacts for Go), and finally logs and temporary files. Each section is clearly labeled with comments.
When a project combines multiple stacks — for example, a React frontend alongside a Go backend — the skill merges the relevant rules into a single file with distinct section headers rather than producing separate files or requiring manual merging.
This addresses a common failure mode in project setup: manually written .gitignore files often miss environment-specific junk or accidentally omit protections for sensitive credential files. The skill writes the finished file to the project root directory. It is a one-step operation with no environment variables or credentials required.