diff-ignore

name	diff-ignore
description	Configure ignore patterns for file-tree-diff using .ftdignore files or CLI flags. Use when setting up ignore rules for directory comparisons, excluding build artifacts, or creating project-specific ignore configurations. Triggers include "ignore node_modules in diff", ".ftdignore", "exclude files from diff", "diff ignore patterns".

diff-ignore

Configure which files and directories to exclude from file-tree-diff comparisons.

Methods

1. CLI flags (one-time)

ftd --ignore "*.log" left/ right/
ftd --ignore "tmp/" --ignore "coverage/" left/ right/
ftd --ignore-common left/ right/   # built-in list

2. .ftdignore file (project-specific)

Create .ftdignore in either (or both) compared directories:

# gitignore syntax
node_modules/
dist/
*.min.js
*.log
.cache/

# Negation: always include this
!dist/MANIFEST.json

Auto-loaded when present. Both directories' .ftdignore files are merged.

3. Global ignore file (always applied)

~/.config/file-tree-diff/ignore

Same syntax as .ftdignore. Applied to all comparisons.

Built-in Common List (--ignore-common)

node_modules/
.git/
dist/
build/
.DS_Store
*.pyc
*.o
__pycache__/
.pnpm-store/
.cache/
coverage/
.nyc_output/
*.min.js
*.min.css

Pattern Syntax

Pattern	Matches
*.log	All .log files in any directory
tmp/	Directory named tmp anywhere
src/*.test.ts	Test files directly in src/
**/generated/**	Any path containing "generated"
!important.log	Negation: include this file even if *.log matches

Viewing Active Patterns

ftd --show-ignored left/ right/

Shows which patterns are active and how many files were excluded.