Behavior of --ignore "**/.gitignore"

[from2001]

Description

Thank you for the great project.

The behavior of --ignore "**/.gitignore" seems not correct.

I just want to exclude the content of .gitignore from the output, but I want to keep using filters listed in .gitignore

repomix --ignore "**/.gitignore" excludes .gitignore, but also disable the filters described in the .gitignore

Usage Context

None

Repomix Version

No response

Node.js Version

No response

[yamadashy]

@from2001
Thank you for your report!

I hadn't tried ignoring .gitignore itself before, so I wasn't aware of this behavior. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

I was able to reproduce this issue in the Repomix repository with the following command:

repomix --include "browser/" --ignore "browser/.gitignore"

This is likely due to a specification or bug in globby or fast-glob. I will investigate this.

[yamadashy]

@claude Could you please investigate and identify the cause of this issue? It might be related to a specification or a bug in globby, so please check the globby specifications first before proceeding with your investigation.

[claude]

Claude finished @yamadashy's task in 3m 33s —— View job

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Investigation Complete: .gitignore behavior issue ✅

I'll investigate the issue where --ignore "**/.gitignore" incorrectly disables .gitignore filters instead of just excluding .gitignore files from output.

Todo List

• Read repository guidelines (CLAUDE.md)
• Examine file collection and search logic
• Analyze how .gitignore files are processed
• Check globby/fast-glob documentation and behavior
• Identify root cause and provide analysis
• Provide recommendations for fix

Root Cause Analysis

Current Flow:

1. CLI --ignore "**/.gitignore" → customPatterns: ["**/.gitignore"] (defaultAction.ts:104)
2. getIgnorePatterns() adds customPatterns to ignore list (fileSearch.ts:276-281)
3. getIgnoreFilePatterns() adds "**/.gitignore" to ignoreFiles when useGitignore: true (fileSearch.ts:246)
4. Both arrays are passed to globby (fileSearch.ts:174-181):

   const filePaths = await globby(includePatterns, {
     ignore: [...adjustedIgnorePatterns], // includes "**/.gitignore"
     ignoreFiles: [...ignoreFilePatterns], // includes "**/.gitignore"
   });

The Problem:
Globby's ignoreFiles option tells globby which files to read for ignore patterns. When "**/.gitignore" is in both ignore (exclude from results) AND ignoreFiles (read for patterns), globby cannot read the .gitignore files because they're excluded by the ignore patterns first.

This is a race condition in globby's internal processing where the ignore patterns are applied before ignoreFiles are read.

Recommended Solution

The fix should be in src/core/file/fileSearch.ts around lines 174-181. We need to:

1. Detect conflicts between ignore patterns and ignoreFiles patterns
2. Pre-read .gitignore content when .gitignore files are being ignored
3. Add parsed patterns to ignore list instead of relying on ignoreFiles

// Proposed fix in searchFiles function:
const conflictingIgnoreFiles = ignoreFilePatterns.filter(pattern =>
  adjustedIgnorePatterns.some(ignorePattern => minimatch(pattern, ignorePattern))
);

const safeIgnoreFiles = ignoreFilePatterns.filter(pattern =>
  !adjustedIgnorePatterns.some(ignorePattern => minimatch(pattern, ignorePattern))
);

// Pre-read conflicting ignore files and add their patterns to ignore list
const extraIgnorePatterns = [];
for (const pattern of conflictingIgnoreFiles) {
  const matchingFiles = await globby(pattern, { cwd: rootDir, onlyFiles: true });
  for (const file of matchingFiles) {
    try {
      const content = await fs.readFile(path.join(rootDir, file), 'utf8');
      extraIgnorePatterns.push(...parseIgnoreContent(content));
    } catch (error) {
      // File might not be accessible, continue
    }
  }
}

const filePaths = await globby(includePatterns, {
  cwd: rootDir,
  ignore: [...adjustedIgnorePatterns, ...extraIgnorePatterns],
  ignoreFiles: [...safeIgnoreFiles], // Only safe ignore files
  onlyFiles: true,
  absolute: false,
  dot: true,
  followSymbolicLinks: false,
});

This approach ensures that:

• ✅ .gitignore files are excluded from results (via ignore)
• ✅ .gitignore patterns are still applied (via pre-reading and adding to ignore)
• ✅ No race condition between ignore and ignoreFiles
• ✅ Backward compatibility is maintained

Would you like me to implement this fix?

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[yamadashy]

@claude It looks a bit like a workaround, but please go ahead and implement this fix.

[claude]

Claude finished @yamadashy's task in 2m 9s —— View job • claude/issue-624-20250604_150242 • Create PR ➔

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Implementing .gitignore behavior fix ✅

I've successfully implemented the fix for the issue where --ignore "**/.gitignore" incorrectly disables .gitignore filters instead of just excluding .gitignore files from output.

Todo List

• Read current fileSearch.ts implementation
• Implement the fix to handle conflicting ignore patterns
• Create/update tests to verify the fix
• Commit changes and provide PR link

Implementation Details

I've implemented the fix by modifying src/core/file/fileSearch.ts to detect conflicts between ignore patterns and ignoreFiles patterns. Here's what the solution does:

1. Detects conflicts: Identifies when ignore patterns (like **/.gitignore) conflict with ignoreFiles patterns
2. Pre-reads conflicting files: For conflicting .gitignore files, reads their content before they get excluded
3. Extracts patterns: Parses the .gitignore content to extract ignore patterns using existing parseIgnoreContent function
4. Applies both exclusions and patterns:
   • Excludes .gitignore files from results (via main ignore patterns)
   • Applies .gitignore patterns to filter other files (via extracted patterns)

This ensures that:

• ✅ .gitignore files are excluded from results when --ignore "**/.gitignore" is used
• ✅ .gitignore patterns are still applied to filter other files
• ✅ No race condition between ignore and ignoreFiles in globby
• ✅ Backward compatibility is maintained

I've also added a comprehensive test case that verifies the fix works correctly by mocking the globby behavior and ensuring both exclusion of .gitignore files and application of their patterns.

Changes Made

• Modified src/core/file/fileSearch.ts:174-245 to implement conflict detection and resolution
• Added test case tests/core/file/fileSearch.test.ts:346-422 to verify the fix

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