feat: handle nested gitignore files #7645

gsquared94 · 2025-09-03T13:28:26Z

TLDR

This PR enhances the GitIgnoreParser to correctly process .gitignore files located in subdirectories. Previously, only the root .gitignore was considered. Now, rules defined in nested .gitignore files are properly applied relative to their location within the project structure.

Dive Deeper

The primary motivation for this change is to align the tool's behavior with standard Git functionality, where .gitignore files can be placed in any directory to specify ignore patterns for that part of the tree.

The key modifications are within packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.ts:

A new findAndLoadGitignoreFiles method recursively scans the project directory for .gitignore files.
The logic in loadPatterns has been updated to transform patterns from these nested files. For instance, a pattern like build/ in a .gitignore located at src/component/ will be correctly interpreted to ignore src/component/build/ and not the root build/ directory.
The parser now correctly handles pattern precedence, ensuring that rules in nested .gitignore files are
applied correctly alongside the root .gitignore and .git/info/exclude.

Comprehensive unit tests have been added in packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.test.ts to validate the new functionality, including tests for nested patterns and precedence rules.

Reviewer Test Plan

Setup test project:

 # Create a root directory for the test project and enter it
 mkdir test_gitignore_project && cd test_gitignore_project
 
 # Initialize a Git repository
 git init
 
 # Create a nested directory structure
 mkdir -p dir1/dir2/dir3
 mkdir -p dir4
 
 # Create various files to test against the ignore rules
 touch root_file.txt
 touch root_file.log
 touch dir1/file_in_dir1.txt
 touch dir1/file_in_dir1.log
 touch dir1/file_to_keep.tmp
 touch dir1/file_to_ignore.tmp
 touch dir1/dir2/file_in_dir2.txt
 touch dir1/dir2/dir3/file_in_dir3.txt
 touch dir4/file_in_dir4.log
 
 # Create .gitignore files at different levels
 
 # Root .gitignore: ignores all .log files
 echo "*.log" > .gitignore
 
 # Nested .gitignore in dir1: ignores .tmp files, but negates the rule for a specific file
 echo -e "*.tmp\n!file_to_keep.tmp" > dir1/.gitignore
 
 # Nested .gitignore in dir1/dir2: ignores everything inside, but un-ignores dir3
 echo -e "*\n!/dir3/" > dir1/dir2/.gitignore
 
 # Add all files to staging to see the effect of the .gitignore rules
 git add .
 
 # Check the git status to see which files are tracked and which are ignored
 echo "\n--- Git Status ---"
 git status --short

Should see this output:

A  .gitignore
A  dir1/.gitignore
A  dir1/file_in_dir1.txt
A  dir1/file_to_keep.tmp
A  root_file.txt

Now run this command in Gemini built from this branch:

Testing Matrix

	🍏	🪟	🐧
npm run	❓	❓	✅
npx	❓	❓	❓
Docker	❓	❓	❓
Podman	❓	-	-
Seatbelt	❓	-	-

Linked issues / bugs

Fixes #3072

gemini-code-assist

Summary of Changes

Hello @gsquared94, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request significantly enhances the GitIgnoreParser to accurately interpret and apply ignore rules from .gitignore files found throughout the project's directory structure, not just the root. This change ensures that the tool's behavior mirrors Git's native handling of ignore patterns, leading to more precise and expected file exclusion across complex repositories.

Highlights

Nested Gitignore Support: The GitIgnoreParser now correctly processes .gitignore files located in subdirectories, aligning with standard Git behavior.
Pattern Transformation: Patterns defined in nested .gitignore files are now properly transformed and applied relative to their location within the project structure.
Precedence Handling: The parser correctly handles pattern precedence, ensuring rules in nested .gitignore files are applied alongside root .gitignore and .git/info/exclude.
Recursive File Discovery: A new method, findAndLoadGitignoreFiles, has been introduced to recursively scan the project directory for all .gitignore files.
Enhanced Test Coverage: Comprehensive unit tests have been added to validate the new functionality, including tests for nested patterns and precedence rules.

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Code Review

This pull request is a significant improvement, adding support for nested .gitignore files, which brings the tool's behavior more in line with standard Git functionality. The recursive approach to finding and parsing .gitignore files, along with the logic to transform patterns relative to their location, is well-implemented. The tests are thorough and cover important cases for nested patterns and precedence rules. I have identified one high-severity issue related to a hardcoded exclusion of node_modules, which should be addressed to ensure the parser's behavior is fully consistent with Git.

packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.ts

Co-authored-by: gemini-code-assist[bot] <176961590+gemini-code-assist[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.ts

…emini#7645)

Co-authored-by: gemini-code-assist[bot] <176961590+gemini-code-assist[bot]@users.noreply.github.com> (cherry picked from commit abddd2b)

feat: handle nested gitignore files

cdab660

gsquared94 requested a review from a team as a code owner September 3, 2025 13:28

gemini-code-assist bot reviewed Sep 3, 2025

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gsquared94 enabled auto-merge September 3, 2025 13:28

gemini-code-assist bot reviewed Sep 3, 2025

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packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Update packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.ts

58f0067

Co-authored-by: gemini-code-assist[bot] <176961590+gemini-code-assist[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

gemini-cli bot added kind/enhancement priority/p1 Important and should be addressed in the near term. labels Sep 3, 2025

Merge branch 'main' into fix-3072

7771eb1

cornmander reviewed Sep 3, 2025

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packages/core/src/utils/gitIgnoreParser.ts Show resolved Hide resolved

gsquared94 requested a review from cornmander September 3, 2025 14:13

cornmander approved these changes Sep 3, 2025

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gsquared94 added this pull request to the merge queue Sep 3, 2025

Merged via the queue into google-gemini:main with commit abddd2b Sep 3, 2025
18 checks passed

gsquared94 deleted the fix-3072 branch September 3, 2025 14:33

thacio added a commit to thacio/auditaria that referenced this pull request Sep 3, 2025

Merge Commit 'abddd2b': feat: handle nested gitignore files (google-g…

4ed15a7

…emini#7645)

acoliver referenced this pull request in vybestack/llxprt-code Sep 19, 2025

feat: handle nested gitignore files (#7645)

af40a02

Co-authored-by: gemini-code-assist[bot] <176961590+gemini-code-assist[bot]@users.noreply.github.com> (cherry picked from commit abddd2b)

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gsquared94 commented Sep 3, 2025

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gsquared94 commented Sep 3, 2025

TLDR

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