✨ Features

🎨 Interactive TUI Mode

• Smart Search - Fuzzy, exact, and regex search modes (F1/F2/F3)
• Multi-Template Selection - Select and combine multiple templates
• Live Preview - See generated .gitignore content in real-time
• Intuitive Navigation - Tab between panels, arrow keys, vim-style shortcuts
• Beautiful Interface - Animated splash screen with pyfiglet ASCII art

⚡ Performance

• Intelligent Caching - Local template caching for instant access
• Async Loading - Non-blocking template loading and generation
• Rate Limiting - Respects API limits automatically

💾 Export & Save

• Save to File - Save generated .gitignore with custom paths
• Export Templates - Export selected templates as JSON
• Overwrite Protection - Confirmation dialogs for existing files

🛠️ CLI Mode

• Quick Generation - Generate .gitignore from command line
• List Templates - Browse 571+ available templates
• Test Connection - Verify API connectivity
• Cache Management - Clear and manage local cache

📦 Installation

Using pip (Standard)

pip install igntui

Using pipx (Isolated)

pipx installs the package in an isolated environment:

pipx install igntui

From source

git clone https://github.com/MKAbuMattar/igntui.git
cd igntui
pip install -e .

Windows Requirements

On Windows, you'll need the windows-curses package:

pip install windows-curses

🚀 Quick Start

Launch TUI (Interactive Mode)

igntui

or

python -m igntui

CLI Commands

Generate .gitignore

# Single template
igntui generate python

# Multiple templates
igntui generate python node visualstudiocode

# Save to file (also writes .igntui.cfg.toml sidecar by default)
igntui generate python --output .gitignore

# Preview without writing
igntui generate python --output .gitignore --dry-run

# Skip writing the sidecar
igntui generate python --output .gitignore --no-sidecar

# Overwrite without prompt
igntui generate python --output .gitignore --force

List Available Templates

# List all templates
igntui list

# Filter by pattern
igntui list --filter python

# Show count only
igntui list --count

Test API Connection

igntui test
igntui test --timeout 5

Cache Management

igntui cache info             # show cache stats
igntui cache stats            # show usage statistics
igntui cache clear --force    # clear all cached entries

Global Flags

igntui --no-cache list                  # bypass cache for the session
igntui --config /path/to/config.json    # load alternate config
igntui --verbose <command>              # verbose / debug output
igntui --version                        # print version + Python + OS

Project Sidecar (.igntui.cfg.toml)

When you save a .gitignore (via TUI or CLI), igntui writes a small TOML sidecar next to it that pins the templates and search mode used. Re-running igntui in the same directory auto-loads that selection so you can iterate without re-picking templates. The sidecar is safe to commit so teammates inherit the same starting state.

# .igntui.cfg.toml
schema_version = 1
generated_at   = "2026-04-27T12:00:00Z"
igntui_version = "0.0.2"

[selection]
templates   = ["python", "node", "macos"]
search_mode = "fuzzy"

[output]
path                = ".gitignore"
preserve_user_edits = true

A generated .gitignore carries two marked regions: the template content between # >>> igntui >>> / # <<< igntui <<<, which is replaced on every re-save, and a custom-patterns region below it whose contents igntui carries over untouched:

# >>> Start of custom patterns (edit freely; igntui preserves this block) <<<
secrets.local.json
# >>> End of custom patterns (edit freely; igntui preserves this block) <<<

Put your own rules there. Rules outside both regions are preserved too — the region just makes the safe place explicit. See Managed blocks.

Shell Completion

# bash
eval "$(igntui completion bash)"

# zsh — install to a directory on $fpath
igntui completion zsh > ~/.zsh/completions/_igntui

# fish
igntui completion fish | source

🎮 TUI Usage

Keyboard Shortcuts

Navigation

• Tab / Shift+Tab — Navigate between panels
• ↑ / ↓ — Move selection up/down
• PgUp / PgDn — Page up/down
• Home / End — Jump to top/bottom
• / — Focus the Search panel
• Esc (in Search) — Exit search mode and return to Templates

Search Modes

• F1 — Fuzzy search (default)
• F2 — Exact search
• F3 — Regex search

Template Management

• Space / Enter — Select/deselect template
• a — Select all visible (filtered) templates
• x — Remove all visible templates from selection
• c — Clear entire selection

Actions

• s — Save .gitignore (writes .igntui.cfg.toml sidecar; shows diff preview if file exists)
• e — Export selected templates as JSON
• r / F5 — Refresh template list from API
• h / ? / F12 — Show help dialog
• i — Show app info
• q / Esc (outside Search) — Quit application

Mouse Support

• Click a panel to focus it
• Click a row in Templates to select it (and toggle on the same click)
• Scroll wheel scrolls the panel under the cursor without changing focus

Panel Layout

┌─────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┐
│  Search Panel               │  Generated Content Panel         │
│  (Filter templates)         │  (Preview .gitignore)            │
├─────────────────────────────┤                                  │
│  Available Templates        │                                  │
│  (571+ templates)           │                                  │
│                             │                                  │
│  • Select with Space        │                                  │
│  • Multi-select support     │                                  │
│  • Smart search             │                                  │
├─────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────┤
│  Selected Templates (Bottom Panel)                             │
│  • Shows your current selection                                │
│  • Remove with Space                                           │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│  Status Bar                                                    │
│  • Keyboard shortcuts • Current mode • Status messages         │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

🎯 Use Cases

For Developers

# Python project
igntui generate python venv

# Node.js project
igntui generate node npm yarn

# Full-stack project
igntui generate python node react visualstudiocode

# Unity game development
igntui generate unity visualstudio windows

For Teams

# Export team's template selection
igntui  # Select templates in TUI, press 'e' to export

# Share the JSON file with team
# Others can import and use the same templates

⚙️ Configuration

Configuration file location: ~/.igntui.cfg.toml

Default Configuration

{
  "api": {
    "base_url": "https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore/api",
    "timeout": 10,
    "cache_ttl": 3600,
    "retry_attempts": 3
  },
  "ui": {
    "theme": "default",
    "mouse_support": true,
    "animation_speed": 150
  },
  "behavior": {
    "fuzzy_search_threshold": 0.6,
    "max_recent_templates": 10
  }
}

🐛 Troubleshooting

Windows: "igntui is not recognized"

If you see 'igntui' is not recognized as an internal or external command, the Scripts directory is not in your PATH.

Quick Fix - Use Python Module:

python -m igntui

Permanent Fix - Add to PATH:

1. Press Win + X and select "System"
2. Click "Advanced system settings" → "Environment Variables"
3. Under "User variables", select "Path" and click "Edit"
4. Click "New" and add: C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Python\Python3XX\Scripts
5. Click "OK" and restart your terminal

Or use PowerShell (as Administrator):

$currentPath = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User")
$newPath = $currentPath + ";C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Python\Python313\Scripts"
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", $newPath, "User")

Linux/macOS: Permission Denied

If you get permission errors:

# Use --user flag
pip install --user igntui

# Or add ~/.local/bin to PATH
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

ImportError: No module named 'curses'

On Windows, install windows-curses:

pip install windows-curses

API Connection Issues

If templates won't load:

1. Check internet connection
2. Test API: igntui test
3. Clear cache: igntui cache clear (add --force to skip the confirmation)
4. Try with verbose: igntui --verbose

🧪 Development

Setup Development Environment

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/MKAbuMattar/igntui.git
cd igntui

# Install the project with the tools CI uses
uv sync --extra test --extra dev

# Run it
uv run igntui

Stay in the repo root when using uv run — from elsewhere it resolves a different environment and will run a globally installed igntui instead of your checkout.

Running the checks

The same three commands CI runs. All three are clean on main, so anything they report came from your change:

uvx ruff check src tests
uvx ty check --python .venv src/igntui
uv run --frozen pytest -q

# With coverage
uv run --frozen pytest --cov --cov-report=term-missing

# A single file
uv run --frozen pytest tests/core/test_api.py

The tests need no network and no terminal. They also cannot tell you whether the TUI renders correctly — see .github/CONTRIBUTING.md for what to check by hand.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Read .github/CONTRIBUTING.md first — it covers the checks, the threading rule in the TUI, and the managed-block file format. ROADMAP.md lists what is queued (and what has been rejected on purpose).

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feat/my-change)
3. Commit with a Conventional Commits message
4. Push to the branch and open a Pull Request

📝 License

GPL-3.0-or-later — see the LICENSE file for the full text.

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

👨‍💻 Author

Mohammad Abu Mattar

• GitHub: @MKAbuMattar
• Website: MKAbuMattar.com
• Email: info@mkabumattar.com

🙏 Acknowledgments

• gitignore.io - Template source
• pyfiglet - ASCII art generation
• Python curses - Terminal UI framework

📊 Statistics

• 571+ Templates - Comprehensive template library
• Smart Caching - Reduces API calls by 90%
• 3 Search Modes - Fuzzy, exact, and regex
• Multi-select - Combine unlimited templates
• Cross-platform - Windows, macOS, Linux

🔗 Links

• Repository: https://github.com/MKAbuMattar/igntui
• Issue Tracker: https://github.com/MKAbuMattar/igntui/issues
• PyPI Package: https://pypi.org/project/igntui/
• Documentation: https://github.com/MKAbuMattar/igntui/wiki (coming soon)

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