Setup Go Gitignore

This documentation was generated with the assistance of AI. Please report any inaccuracies.

Create or refresh the root .gitignore of a Go module — typically a command-line tool scaffolded by Setup Go CLI. The template is a trimmed, house-style version of GitHub’s Go.gitignore extended with what this catalog’s scaffold, gates and release tooling write. It never overwrites an existing .gitignore without showing a diff and getting approval.

Purpose

iru-setup-go-gitignore ignores the binaries go build leaves at the repository root (root-anchored, so cmd/<bin>/ stays tracked), test binaries and profiles, coverage output (coverage.out, *.coverprofile, /covdata/), the /build/ report and docs-generator directory, GoReleaser’s /dist/, per-developer go.work/go.work.sum, env files (keeping .env.example), editor/OS files and the repository-wide .integration-test.lock/. /vendor/ is ignored only when dependencies are not vendored (detected, or asked); go.work is left alone when the repository tracks a deliberate workspace. Antora and root Node sections are added only when detected. For a Bubble Tea terminal UI (bubbletea in go.mod, or a root .ui-quality.yml or .ui-screenshots/) a terminal-UI section ignores .ui-screenshots/, the directory the UI tests write their captures to (see Building user interfaces); .ui-quality.yml, internal/tui/ui_screenshots_test.go and the committed docs/modules/ROOT/images/ui/ tree are never ignored.

It never ignores go.mod, go.sum, testdata/ or .secrets.baseline, and removes a go.sum ignore line from an existing file. The draft is checked with git check-ignore so it cannot hide cmd/*/main.go, internal/, testscript files or the committed CLI reference page. When .gitignore exists it announces an update, shows a diff and asks Update / Keep as is / Replace.

Purpose group

Command-Line Tool Bootstrap

Plugin

Shipped by the iru-go plugin of the ai-catalog marketplace (install with /plugin install iru-go@ai-catalog; see Plugins).

Invocation

/iru-setup-go-gitignore

Optionally with an args block of key: value lines (see below) for scripted runs.

Inputs

Argument Required Description Default

bin-name

No

Comma-separated binary name(s) to ignore at the root.

Every cmd/<name>/ with a main.go, else the module path’s last element, else none

vendor

No

yes (dependencies vendored, vendor/ committed) or no (ignore /vendor/).

Detected from vendor/modules.txt; asked when ambiguous

mode

No

new or existing. An existing file still goes through the Update / Keep as is / Replace question unless on-existing decides.

Detected from the root .gitignore

on-existing

No

ask, keep, update or replace — how to treat an existing .gitignore in scripted runs; the warning and diff are still printed.

ask

Any other key forwarded by Setup CLI Repository (such as language, ui or distribution) is ignored and named in the report.

Outputs

  • A root .gitignore — created, updated (merged, keeping hand-added lines), replaced with the template, or left untouched when kept as is.

  • A report stating whether the run was from scratch or an update, the action taken (created / updated / replaced / kept as is, and its source), the binary names used, the vendoring and workspace decisions, which conditional sections were included or skipped, whether a go.sum ignore line was removed, the git check-ignore result, and any tracked file under a newly ignored path with the git rm -r --cached it needs.

  • Explicit warnings: review the file before committing; writing .gitignore never untracks committed files; always commit go.mod and go.sum; rotate any committed .env credentials.

Execution flow

flowchart TD A["Start /iru-setup-go-gitignore"] --> B["Step 0: parse args\n(bin-name, vendor, mode, on-existing)"] B --> C["Step 1: survey go.mod, binaries, vendoring,\ngo.work, GoReleaser, Antora, existing .gitignore"] C --> V1{"Vendor state unclear?"} V1 -- yes --> V2["AskUserQuestion:\nvendoring or not"] V1 -- no --> D V2 --> D{".gitignore exists?"} D -- no --> E["Announce creating from scratch"] D -- yes --> F["Announce updating existing"] E --> G["Step 2: base template\n(root binaries, test and coverage output,\nbuild, dist, go.work, vendor, env, editors)"] F --> G G --> H["Step 3: Antora and Node sections\nif detected"] H --> I["Step 4: compose draft, merge existing lines,\ndrop go.sum ignore, check-ignore safety check"] I --> M{"Existing file?"} M -- no --> W["Step 6: write .gitignore"] M -- yes --> N["Step 5: show diff"] N --> O{"on-existing set?"} O -- yes --> P["Apply keep, update or replace"] O -- no --> Q{"AskUserQuestion:\nUpdate, Keep as is, Replace"} P --> W Q -- Update or Replace --> W Q -- Keep as is --> R W --> VR["Verify with git check-ignore"] VR --> R["Report mode, action, decisions,\nsections, warnings"]

Dependencies

Invokes

None — iru-setup-go-gitignore is a leaf skill; it only reads go.mod, GoReleaser and docs config, runs read-only git commands, and writes .gitignore.

Invoked by

Also named as a follow-up step by Setup Go CLI when run standalone.

Related agents

None.

Source

SKILL.md on GitHub — the file this page was generated from.