Covers: Chapter 21 - .gitignore

.gitignore

• Keep a single .gitignore file at the top level of the package. Do not nest multiple .gitignore files.
• Certain system/generated files must NOT be tracked. BiocCheck flags them if committed. They may exist locally but must be excluded.

Files that must be excluded (BiocCheck-flagged)

Configuration and history:

• .Renviron, .Rprofile, .Rhistory, .RApp.history
• .Rproj, .Rproj.user
• .seed, .exrc, .gdb.history

Build artifacts and compiled objects:

• .o, .sl, .so, .dylib, .a, .dll, .def
• .log, .aux, .backups

System and IDE files:

• .DS_Store (macOS)
• .project, .cproject, .settings, .tm_properties
• .directory, .dropbox
• unsrturl.bst

Git metadata that should not be present:

• .gitattributes, .gitmodules, .hgtags

Notes

• Do not commit build tarballs (*.tar.gz) or the *.Rcheck/ directory.
• Do not commit large data files (see data chapter); they belong in a Hub.

Source: .gitignore Fetched 2026-08-14 from contributions.bioconductor.org (Bioconductor devel guide).