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.

TIP

It is strongly recommended to use "ignorePatterns" in .oxlintrc.json for ignoring files rather than a separate ignore file. This ensures that every developer will have the same ignores across all tools and commands running oxlint, especially IDE/editor integrations. It also keeps your configuration centralized to one file.

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.

.oxlintrc.json

{
  "$schema": "./node_modules/oxlint/configuration_schema.json",
  "ignorePatterns": ["dist/**", "coverage/**", "vendor/**", "test/snapshots/**"]
}

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

.eslintignore

Oxlint also supports .eslintignore for compatibility with existing ESLint setups. Existing .eslintignore files can remain in place during migration. The syntax is compatible with .gitignore, including comments and negation patterns.

New projects should prefer "ignorePatterns" in .oxlintrc.json, and we strongly recommend moving over to "ignorePatterns" soon after migrating, if not during migration.

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:

.oxlintrc.json

{
  "$schema": "./node_modules/oxlint/configuration_schema.json",
  "ignorePatterns": ["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