I created a quick-and-dirty plugin, sublime-gitignorer, to solve exactly this problem.
It is currently tested on Ubuntu and Windows in Sublime Text 2 and 3. I expect it will also work on any other Linux distro or on Mac.
To install, assuming you have package control, just:
- Press CTRL+SHIFT+P (CMD+SHIFT+P on Mac)
- Select “Install Package”
- Search for the Gitignored File Excluder and press Enter.
Alternatively, if you don’t have package control you can copy gitignore_plugin.py to your Packages directory, which you can locate by selecting Browse Packages... from the Preferences menu in Sublime. You should really get Package Control instead, though – it’s useful.
I’m not kidding when I say this plugin is dirty. The way it works is that the plugin, every five seconds:
- Checks for Git repos located within your open folders
- Asks Git what paths are ignored in each of those repos
- Adds those paths to the
file_exclude_patternsandfolder_exclude_patternssettings.
Seems to work okay for most users, though – at least as long as the folders you’re opening in Sublime aren’t too huge. The presence of giant folders (e.g a typical node_modules folder) can, in combination with this plugin, slow Sublime to a crawl.
Anyone looking to contribute or report bugs should check out the issues page.