Exclude pattern syntax

Exclude patterns are globs, matched against each file's path relative to the repository root — apps/server/src/index.ts, never a leading ./ or /.

Anchoring

This is the rule that catches people out:

Pattern contains	Matched against	Example
No /	The file name only, at any depth	*.snap matches src/__snapshots__/Button.snap
A /	The full path from the repository root	src/generated/** matches only under that exact directory

So a directory that can appear anywhere needs a **/ prefix: **/generated/**, not generated/**.

Wildcards

Token	Matches	Example
*	Any characters except /	*.min.js
**	Any number of directories	**/vendor/**
?	Exactly one character	v?.config.ts
{a,b}	Any of the alternatives	*.{png,jpg,svg}
[abc]	One character from the set	chunk-[0-9].js

Dotfiles are matched like any other file: * covers .eslintrc, and **/.github/** works as written.

Recipes

Goal	Pattern
Snapshots anywhere	*.snap
Every test file	**/*.{test,spec}.*
One directory at the root	vendor/**
The same directory at any depth	**/vendor/**
Database migrations	**/migrations/**
Generated API clients	**/api/generated/**
Images and fonts	*.{png,jpg,jpeg,gif,svg,woff,woff2}
All documentation	*.md
One specific file	packages/db/src/schema/index.ts

Pitfalls

Do not use negation. A pattern starting with ! means "everything except this", and since a file is skipped as soon as any pattern matches it, !*.md excludes your entire codebase apart from Markdown. To bring a file back, delete the pattern that catches it — the list holds every exclusion there is.

dist/** is not enough for a monorepo — it only matches at the root. Use **/dist/**, which is in the starting list anyway.

Invalid globs are rejected on the spot. A pattern the matcher cannot parse — an unclosed [, say — is refused with Pattern is not a valid glob. and never reaches your list.

A trailing / does nothing. Write **/fixtures/**, not **/fixtures/.

Patterns are not regular expressions. .* matches a literal dot followed by anything, not "any characters".

Verifying

Open the review detail for a pull request that touches the file and select it in the Skipped group. A file an exclusion caught is labelled excluded, and the pane on the right names the exact pattern that matched:

Excluded by pattern: **/migrations/**

A file labelled too large was skipped because GitHub provided no diff for it — a binary or an oversized file — and no pattern was involved.