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GuidesGuidesCopy-paste .gitignore blocks for Node, Python, PHP, Go, Rust, Bun, and Java — and why each line is there. On Falix it matters double: a committed node_modules or .env can overwrite the real one on deploy.
A .gitignore file tells Git which files to leave untracked — the stuff that shouldn't live in your repo. Get it right once per project and you avoid two classic messes: leaking secrets, and bloating your repo with generated junk. On Falix there's a third reason it matters, and it's the sharpest one. This guide gives you a copy-paste block per stack and explains every line.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| You need | a project you deploy from Git |
| Plan | any |
| Time | five minutes |
Whatever the language, the files you keep out of Git fall into three buckets:
| Bucket | Examples | Why ignore it |
|---|---|---|
| Generated | node_modules/, vendor/, dist/, target/ |
Rebuilt from your manifest — no need to store, and huge |
| Secret | .env |
Tokens and keys; a leaked secret is a live one |
| Local data | *.db, *.sqlite, .local/ |
Runtime state that belongs on the server, not in source |
Falix deploys copy files from your repo and overwrite server files with the same name (they never delete files that aren't in the repo). That rule turns two ignore-mistakes into real damage:
.env and every deploy overwrites your server's real secrets with whatever placeholder is in the repo — your bot goes offline with an "invalid token" error that looks like a bad token but is really a clobbered file.node_modules (or vendor, target) and you ship a heavy, machine-specific folder over the one the server builds for itself — the Node and Python apps run npm install / pip install on every start anyway, so the repo copy is pure downside.Ignore both from day one and your secrets and dependencies stay exactly where they belong: on the server, rebuilt or preserved, never overwritten. (More on the copy-only model in Keep secrets out of Git.)
🎯 Good to know:
.gitignoreonly stops files Git isn't already tracking. If you committed.envbefore ignoring it, you must untrack it too — and rotate any secret that was in it, because a pushed secret is a leaked secret.
Drop the matching block into a file named .gitignore at your repo root. Each ends with the universal lines every project wants.
Node.js — dependencies and build output rebuild themselves; the database and secrets stay on the server:
node_modules/
dist/
build/
*.db
.env
# editor & OS
.vscode/
.DS_Store
Bun — same shape as Node (Bun installs into node_modules too):
node_modules/
dist/
.env
.DS_Store
TypeScript (on the Node app) — also ignore the compiled output, since it's rebuilt from source:
node_modules/
dist/
*.tsbuildinfo
.env
.DS_Store
Python — __pycache__ is bytecode, .local is where Falix installs your requirements, and virtualenvs never belong in Git:
__pycache__/
*.pyc
.local/
venv/
.venv/
*.db
.env
.DS_Store
PHP (Composer / web) — vendor/ is Composer's install target and rebuilds from composer.json:
/vendor/
/tmp/
*.log
.env
.DS_Store
Go — the app runs a prebuilt binary named app; don't commit the compiled artifact when you build on deploy:
app
*.exe
bin/
.env
.DS_Store
Rust — target/ is the entire build directory and can be enormous; Cargo.lock is the one thing you keep:
/target/
.env
.DS_Store
Java — ignore the build output (target/ for Maven, build/ for Gradle) and stray class files; commit the source and your build file:
target/
build/
*.class
.env
.DS_Store
Static site (HTML/CSS/JS) — little to generate; mostly keep OS and editor cruft out:
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db
.vscode/
*.log
.envIf you take one habit from this guide, it's this: .env is in every block for a reason. Your tokens, connection strings, and API keys go in a .env on the server, never in the repo — and because it's not in the repo, a deploy leaves it untouched while your code updates around it. Commit a .env.example with empty placeholder keys instead, so anyone cloning knows what to fill in without you leaking anything. The whole workflow is in Keep secrets out of Git.
| Stack | Ignore the generated | Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Node / Bun | node_modules/, dist/ |
.env, *.db |
| TypeScript | node_modules/, dist/ |
.env |
| Python | __pycache__/, .local/ |
.env, *.db, venv/ |
| PHP | /vendor/, /tmp/ |
.env |
| Go | app, bin/ |
.env |
| Rust | /target/ |
.env (keep Cargo.lock) |
| Java | target/, build/ |
.env |