Does an empty .aiexclude do anything?

In some implementations an empty .aiexclude blocks the whole directory. Add explicit patterns to control exactly what is excluded.

What is .aiexclude and how to use it

.aiexclude is a gitignore-style file that Gemini-powered IDE features honor to keep matching files out of AI context and suggestions.

It prevents Gemini from reading sensitive files when generating code or answering questions inside the IDE, independent of .gitignore.

Create .aiexclude in your project root (or a subdirectory) and list patterns to exclude, one per line.

Example .aiexclude

.env
*.pem
*.key
keystore.properties

Common sensitive categories worth adding to .aiexclude:

Does an empty .aiexclude do anything?: In some implementations an empty .aiexclude blocks the whole directory. Add explicit patterns to control exactly what is excluded.

158 of 499 repos this week exposed sensitive paths to AI tools. Check yours in seconds:

Run the same local check with Offsend CLI:

brew install --cask offsend/tap/offsend-cli
offsend show
offsend prepare --dry-run

Everything runs locally. No file contents are uploaded.