Ignore files

Large repositories contain files that should not be linted, such as build output, vendored code, snapshots, or generated artifacts. Oxlint provides a predictable ignore model that works well in monorepos and CI.

Default ignores

Oxlint automatically ignores:

• .git directories
• Minified files containing .min., -min., or _min. in the file name
• Files matched by .gitignore (global gitignore files are not respected)

Hidden files are not automatically ignored.

ignorePatterns

The recommended approach is to define ignores in .oxlintrc.json using ignorePatterns. This keeps ignores close to the configuration they belong to and works naturally with nested configs.

Patterns are resolved relative to the configuration file.

{
  "ignorePatterns": ["dist/**", "coverage/**", "vendor/**", "test/snapshots/**"],
}

In monorepos, nested configs can ignore package specific output without affecting the rest of the repository.

.oxlintignore

For repositories that prefer an ignore file, use .oxlintignore. The syntax is compatible with .gitignore, including comments and negation patterns.

Oxlint also supports .eslintignore for compatibility with existing ESLint setups. Existing .eslintignore files can remain in place during migration. New projects should prefer ignorePatterns in .oxlintrc.json.

Ignore from the command line

CLI flags are useful for one off changes in CI or local debugging.

Use a custom ignore file:

oxlint --ignore-path path/to/ignorefile

Add additional ignore patterns:

oxlint --ignore-pattern 'dist/**' --ignore-pattern 'coverage/**'

Quote patterns to avoid shell glob expansion.

Unignoring files

Ignore files support negation patterns, which allow a directory to be ignored while keeping specific files.

To ignore everything under build/ except one file, ignore the contents rather than the directory itself:

.oxlintignore

build/**/*
!build/keep.js

This keeps traversal possible while still ignoring almost everything.

Disable ignoring

To disable all ignore behavior, including ignore files and CLI ignore options, use --no-ignore:

oxlint --no-ignore