.claudeignore
.claudeignore lists files that Claude-based coding assistants should skip when reading your project for context.
This week: 0% of 499 scanned repos had .claudeignore.See Radar #4 →
What it is
.claudeignore is a gitignore-style file used by Claude-powered tools to exclude matching files from the assistant’s view of your codebase.
Why use it
It keeps secrets and irrelevant files out of Claude’s context window, reducing the chance that sensitive values are read or repeated. It applies independently of .gitignore.
How to set it up
Create .claudeignore in your project root and add one glob pattern per line for the files Claude should not read.
.env
.env.*
*.pem
*.key
secrets/What to exclude
Common sensitive categories worth adding to .claudeignore:
FAQ
- Is .claudeignore the same as CLAUDE.md?
- No. .claudeignore excludes files from context, while CLAUDE.md provides instructions and project memory that Claude reads.
Check your own project
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-runEverything runs locally. No file contents are uploaded.