Gitignore Viewer

Overview

The Gitignore Viewer is a side-panel tool in the project browser that lets you edit and model .gitignore files. It combines a text editor with a technology model and template comparison to help you keep your ignore rules in sync with standards.

Features (Planned)

Layout

  • Left: Minimap (reusable) — A miniature preview of the document, like VS Code’s minimap. Shows the visible region and supports click/drag to navigate. This component will be reusable for other editors.

  • Center: Plain-text editor — Edit the .gitignore content directly.

  • Right: Model view — A tree of technologies recognized in the open gitignore. When the user clicks a technology, the related lines in the editor are highlighted (whole line).

  • Bottom right: Template comparison — Tabs for template sources (DevCentr, GitHub, Local). Each tab shows the template code for the selected technology; missing items in the project’s gitignore are shown with strikethrough.

Technology Recognition

The model parses gitignore comments and patterns to infer technologies (e.g. Node, Python, build/, .env). A line can map to multiple technologies (e.g. build/ shared across ecosystems). Clicking a technology highlights all related lines.

Template Comparison

  • Load a template from the selected source for the chosen technology.

  • Compare project gitignore to template; missing items get strikethrough.

  • Users can suppress warnings for intentionally omitted lines.

  • Suppressions are stored in .devcentr.sdl under gitignore.suppressMissing.

Integration

  • Available in the side-panel of the project viewer when a repo is selected.

  • Accessible from the hallmark toolbar or a dedicated ".gitignore" compound button.

  • Can be opened from the Init Repo dialog for comparison during setup.

Implementation Status

  • Reusable minimap widget

  • Gitignore text editor with line highlighting

  • Technology model (parse gitignore, build tree)

  • Template source tabs and comparison

  • Strikethrough for missing items

  • Suppression persistence in .devcentr.sdl

  • Side-panel integration

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