Gitignore

Use the REST API to get .gitignore templates that can be used to ignore files and directories.

About gitignore

When you create a new repository on GitHub.com via the API, you can specify a .gitignore template to apply to the repository upon creation. You can use the REST API to get .gitignore templates from the GitHub Enterprise Cloud .gitignore repository.

You can use the application/vnd.github.raw custom media type when getting a gitignore template. For more information, see "Media types."

Get all gitignore templates

Works with GitHub Apps

List all templates available to pass as an option when creating a repository.

HTTP response status codes for "Get all gitignore templates"

Status code	Description
`200`	OK
`304`	Not modified

Code samples for "Get all gitignore templates"

get/gitignore/templates

curl -L \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>"\
  -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \
  https://api.github.com/gitignore/templates

Response

Status: 200

[
  "Actionscript",
  "Android",
  "AppceleratorTitanium",
  "Autotools",
  "Bancha",
  "C",
  "C++"
]

Get a gitignore template

Works with GitHub Apps

The API also allows fetching the source of a single template. Use the raw media type to get the raw contents.

Parameters for "Get a gitignore template"

Headers
Name, Type, Description
`accept`string Setting to `application/vnd.github+json` is recommended.
Path parameters
Name, Type, Description
`name`stringRequired

HTTP response status codes for "Get a gitignore template"

Status code	Description
`200`	OK
`304`	Not modified

Code samples for "Get a gitignore template"

get/gitignore/templates/{name}

curl -L \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>"\
  -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \
  https://api.github.com/gitignore/templates/NAME

Response

Status: 200

{
  "name": "C",
  "source": "# Object files\n*.o\n\n# Libraries\n*.lib\n*.a\n\n# Shared objects (inc. Windows DLLs)\n*.dll\n*.so\n*.so.*\n*.dylib\n\n# Executables\n*.exe\n*.out\n*.app\n"
}