The latest articles on Forem by petermf (@petermf). https://forem.com/petermf https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F540472%2F0a7b5b2d-42c2-4512-a42f-18df2e57652f.png https://forem.com/petermf en petermf Tue, 17 Jun 2025 09:00:00 +0000 https://forem.com/petermf/how-to-ignore-local-files-in-git-without-modifying-gitignore-2ipi https://forem.com/petermf/how-to-ignore-local-files-in-git-without-modifying-gitignore-2ipi <p>As developers, we often create temporary files or debug utilities during development.</p> <p>But what if you don’t want these debug files:</p> <ul> <li>to show up in <code>git status</code> </li> <li>or accidentally be committed</li> <li>yet you don’t want to edit <code>.gitignore</code> — especially in a shared codebase</li> </ul> <h3> Use <code>.git/info/exclude</code> </h3> <p>Git has a <strong>local-only ignore file</strong>, specific to your repo clone located at <code>.git/info/exclude</code></p> <p>Anything you add there behaves just like <code>.gitignore</code>, but:</p> <ul> <li>It’s <strong>not version-controlled</strong> </li> <li>It <strong>won’t affect your teammates</strong> </li> <li>It’s <strong>perfect for one-off debug or temp files</strong> </li> </ul> <h2> Why I Use This </h2> <p>I had a helper function called <code>useRenderCount()</code> to count component renders while debugging a React app.</p> <p>I didn’t want to commit it by accident or to pollute the shared <code>.gitignore</code></p> <p>Adding it to <code>.git/info/exclude</code> let me:</p> <ul> <li>keep the file locally</li> <li>use it freely</li> <li>never worry about it ending up in Git</li> </ul> programming git softwaredevelopment webdev