Okay, let me tell you about this thing, `gibo`. For the longest time, setting up new projects was always a bit messy, especially with the `.gitignore` file. I mean, you start a new thing, maybe Node, maybe Python, maybe something else, and you gotta remember what to ignore. `node_modules`, `__pycache__`, those `.env` files you definitely shouldn’t commit. I used to just copy and paste from old projects, you know? But sometimes I’d forget something, or copy the wrong stuff.
I remember this one time, working on a team project, someone accidentally committed their IDE settings folder. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it cluttered up the pull request, caused a little argument about cleaning the history. Just annoying friction, you know? All because the `.gitignore` wasn’t quite right. We wasted maybe half an hour sorting it out. Sounds small, but it adds up.
Finding a Better Way
So, I was grumbling about this, probably online somewhere or to a friend, I don’t recall exactly. And someone mentioned `gibo`. Said it just pulls standard `.gitignore` stuff from that big collection everyone uses on GitHub. Sounded simple enough. Skeptical, like always, but tired of the copy-paste game.
Getting it running was ridiculously easy. I think I used Homebrew on my Mac, just typed `brew install gibo`. That was it. No complicated setup, no config files to mess with right away. That’s a big plus for me, I hate fiddling with tools before I can even use them.
Putting it to Work
First time I tried it, I just opened my terminal in a new project folder and typed something like `gibo dump Node >> .gitignore`. And boom, a pretty decent `.gitignore` file for * projects appeared. Clean, had all the usual suspects.
Then I realized you could combine them. Starting a Python project using PyCharm? Easy. `gibo dump Python JetBrains >> .gitignore`. It just strings them together. Super handy.
- No more hunting for templates online.
- No more copying from old projects and hoping they’re right.
- Just type `gibo dump` and the languages or tools you’re using.
Sometimes I check what templates are available with `gibo list`. It’s got tons of them. Unity, Go, macOS specifics, text editors… pretty much anything I’ve needed so far.
And if the templates get updated upstream? Just run `gibo update`. It fetches the latest versions. Simple.
Why It Stuck
Look, it’s not some revolutionary piece of tech. It’s just a small command-line tool. But it does one job, does it well, and gets out of the way. It solved that little nagging annoyance of setting up `.gitignore` files perfectly. It just works. Now, starting any new project, `gibo` is one of the first commands I run. It saves me time, prevents stupid mistakes like committing secrets or junk files, and keeps things consistent. Honestly, can’t imagine going back to managing those files manually anymore. It’s become a small, but essential, part of my workflow.
