Excluding files with .deployignore

Posted on 11th May 2016

New Features, Tips & Tricks, and Tutorials

When deploying with DeployHQ, you'll often want to prevent certain files from reaching your server — development configs, build dependencies, test fixtures, and other files that belong in your repository but not on production. The .deployignore file gives you a version-controlled way to define these exclusion rules.

What is `.deployignore`?

A .deployignore file works similarly to .gitignore: you place it in the root of your repository, and DeployHQ reads it during each deployment to determine which files and directories should be excluded. It works with all supported version control systems — Git, Mercurial, and Subversion.

flowchart LR
    A[Repository Push] --> B[DeployHQ Detects Changes]
    B --> C{Read .deployignore}
    C --> D[Match Files Against Rules]
    D --> E[Excluded Files Skipped]
    D --> F[Remaining Files Deployed]
    F --> G[Server Updated]

Setting it up

Create a .deployignore file in the root of your repository and add one exclusion rule per line. Comments start with #:

@title: .deployignore
# Dependencies (installed on server via build commands)
node_modules
node_modules/**
vendor
vendor/**

# Environment and config files
.env
config/local.php
config/database.yml

# Build and test artifacts
tests
tests/**
coverage
coverage/**
**/*.log

# Development tools
.editorconfig
.eslintrc
.prettierrc
docker-compose.yml
Makefile

Once the file is pushed to your repository, DeployHQ will automatically check your rules and exclude the matched files from all future deployments.

Pattern syntax reference

The .deployignore file uses the same pattern syntax as the Excluded Files UI:

Pattern	What it matches	Example
`filename`	A specific file or directory name	`Makefile`, `vendor`
`path/to/file`	A file at a specific path	`config/database.yml`
`*.ext`	Files with an extension in the current directory	`*.log`
`*/.ext`	Files with an extension at any depth	`*/.env`
`dir/**`	All contents inside a directory	`node_modules/**`
`dir/prefix-*`	Files matching a prefix in a directory	`config/test-*`
`!pattern`	Whitelist — keep a file even if its parent is excluded	`!vendor/autoload.php`

Important notes:

To fully exclude a directory and its contents, you need two rules: one for the directory itself (vendor) and one for its contents (vendor/**)
Rules must not end with trailing slashes
Use ** to match files recursively at any depth

Common examples by project type

PHP / Laravel

@title: .deployignore (PHP/Laravel)
node_modules
node_modules/**
tests
tests/**
.env
.env.example
phpunit.xml
docker-compose.yml
**/*.log

Node.js / Express

@title: .deployignore (Node.js)
tests
tests/**
coverage
coverage/**
.env
.env.test
jest.config.js
**/*.test.js
**/*.spec.js
**/*.log

WordPress

@title: .deployignore (WordPress)
node_modules
node_modules/**
.env
wp-config-local.php
**/*.sql
**/*.log
docker-compose.yml

Static site / Frontend

@title: .deployignore (Frontend)
node_modules
node_modules/**
src
src/**
tests
tests/**
.env
**/*.map
**/*.test.*
webpack.config.js
tsconfig.json

`.deployignore` vs the Excluded Files UI

DeployHQ offers two ways to manage exclusions:

Feature	`.deployignore`	Excluded Files UI
Version controlled	Yes — lives in your repository	No — configured in DeployHQ
Per-server rules	No — applies to all servers	Yes — can differ per server
Whitelisting	Yes — use `!` prefix	Yes — use `!` prefix
Shared across team	Yes — committed to repo	No — per-account setting

If you need different exclusion rules for different servers (e.g. excluding test data from production but keeping it on staging), use the Excluded Files per Server feature in the UI.

For most teams, using .deployignore for project-wide rules combined with the UI for server-specific overrides is the recommended approach.

Verifying your rules

After running a deployment, check the deployment log under the Generate Manifest step. DeployHQ displays a full list of excluded files for each server, so you can confirm your rules are working as expected.

Stop certain files from being uploaded during a deployment — basics of file exclusions
Whitelisting excluded files — create exceptions with the ! prefix
Excluded files per server — server-specific exclusion rules
Building a CI/CD pipeline from scratch with DeployHQ — broader deployment automation
Protect your environments: practical security tips — keep secrets out of deployments

For the full documentation, see our support article on excluded files.

Ready to streamline your deployments? Sign up for DeployHQ and get started in minutes. If you have any questions, reach out to us at support@deployhq.com or on Twitter/X @deployhq.