# .claudeignore Template

> From NerdSmith Founder Track -- Module 0, Lesson 1: File & Project Management
> Copy the template below into a file called `.claudeignore` in your project root.

---

## What Is .claudeignore?

A `.claudeignore` file tells Claude Code which files and folders to skip entirely. Works like `.gitignore` -- any file matching a pattern is invisible to Claude.

**Why you need it:** Every file Claude reads eats into your context window. Photos, PDFs, old drafts, and binary files waste context on things that don't help your task.

---

## Instructions

1. Create a file called `.claudeignore` in your project root (same level as CLAUDE.md)
2. Copy the template below
3. Add or remove patterns based on your project
4. Save -- Claude will skip these files immediately

---

## --- TEMPLATE --- Copy below this line ---

```
# ============================================
# .claudeignore — Founder Project Template
# ============================================
# Claude skips everything matching these patterns.
# Saves context for the work that matters.

# ---- Archives & Old Versions ----
_archive/
.archive/
old/
deprecated/
backup/
drafts/old-*

# ---- Images & Media (can't read these anyway) ----
*.jpg
*.jpeg
*.png
*.gif
*.svg
*.ico
*.mp4
*.mp3
*.wav
*.mov
*.avi

# ---- Documents Claude Can't Parse Well ----
*.pdf
*.docx
*.xlsx
*.pptx
*.zip
*.rar

# ---- System & OS Junk ----
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db
desktop.ini
*.tmp
*.swp
*~

# ---- Dev Dependencies (if project has code) ----
node_modules/
.next/
dist/
build/
.cache/
.vercel/
__pycache__/
*.pyc
.env
.env.local

# ---- Large Data Files ----
*.csv
*.json
data/raw/

# ---- Personal Files (should not be in project) ----
*.tax
*personal*
*private*
```

## --- END TEMPLATE ---

---

## Common Customizations

### If you work with CSVs (customer data, surveys)
Remove the `*.csv` line -- you probably want Claude to read those.

### If you have useful PDFs (reports, whitepapers)
Remove `*.pdf` and instead exclude specific large ones:
```
research/100-page-report.pdf
```

### If you have a code project
Keep the `node_modules/`, `.next/`, `dist/` lines. These folders contain thousands of files that blow up your context.

### If you use Markdown for everything
Make sure you do NOT add `*.md` to this file -- that would hide your specs and research from Claude.

---

## How to Verify It Works

After creating `.claudeignore`, ask Claude:

```
List all files you can see in this project.
```

Files matching your ignore patterns should be absent from the list.

---

*NerdSmith Founder Track -- Module 0: Claude Code Bootcamp*
*Download: .claudeignore Template*