Why ignore __pycache__?

__pycache__ holds compiled .pyc bytecode that Python regenerates automatically. It is machine-specific and pointless to commit, so it is always ignored.

Should I ignore my virtual environment?

Yes. Folders like venv and .venv contain a full local Python install and installed packages. Recreate them from requirements.txt or a lockfile instead of committing them.

Do I commit requirements.txt?

Yes — requirements.txt or your pyproject lockfile pins dependencies and should be committed. This template ignores the environment folder, not the requirements file.

What about .env files?

Ignore .env. It commonly stores secrets such as database URLs and API keys that must never be committed. Keep a sanitized .env.example in the repo instead.

Does it cover packaging output?

Yes, when the packaging section is on it ignores build/, dist/, *.egg-info/, and the .eggs folder produced by setuptools and build tools. Toggle it off if you commit wheels.

.gitignore Builder for Python

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A complete Python .gitignore

Python projects generate plenty of files you never want in version control: bytecode caches, virtual environments, packaging artifacts, and test coverage data. This builder produces a clean .gitignore for Python repositories, with each section toggleable so the file matches your exact toolchain.

How it works

Git applies each line of .gitignore as a pattern relative to the repository: a bare name matches anywhere below, a trailing slash matches directories, and globs like *.pyc match by extension. This builder assembles grouped sections — byte-compiled files (__pycache__/, *.pyc, *.pyo), virtual environments (venv/, .venv/, env/), environment files (.env), packaging (build/, dist/, *.egg-info/), testing (.pytest_cache/, .coverage, htmlcov/, .tox/), type checkers (.mypy_cache/, .ruff_cache/), and IDE folders (.vscode/, .idea/). Toggling a section includes or omits its block in the live output.

Tips and example

Keep your dependency manifest (requirements.txt, pyproject.toml, or poetry.lock) committed — it is not ignored here. A typical generated block includes:

# Byte-compiled files
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*.pyo

# Virtual environments
venv/
.venv/
env/

# Packaging
build/
dist/
*.egg-info/

# Testing
.pytest_cache/
.coverage
htmlcov/

If a cache folder was committed before you added this file, run git rm -r --cached __pycache__ to untrack it while keeping it locally.