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 .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` string Required

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"
}