[Bug]: No documented way to exclude directories from the workspace index; .gitignore does not apply outside a git repository #10918

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1. juliusmarminge commented on Sep 9, 2026

   

   juliusmarminge

   on Sep 9, 2026

   Member

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   Triage

   Confirmed, not a duplicate of #10917. That issue is the hardcoded 15s scan timeout failing projects.listEntries. This one is the missing, undocumented way to shrink what the index walks — especially outside Git.

   What the tree actually does

   The Files panel, @ picker, and workspace search all go through WorkspaceEntries → WorkspaceSearchIndex → @ff-labs/fff-node@0.9.4. T3 creates the finder with no ignore/exclude options:

   FileFinder.create({
     basePath: cwd,
     disableMmapCache: true,
     disableContentIndexing: variant !== "content",
     aiMode: false,
     enableFsRootScanning: true,
     enableHomeDirScanning: true,
   })

   There is no setting in Settings, settings.json, client-settings.json, or t3.json. projects.listEntries accepts only { cwd }.

   Built-in skips are a fixed list in FFF 0.9.4 (crates/fff-core/src/ignore.rs): node_modules, __pycache__, venv, .venv, target/debug, target/release, target/rust-analyzer, target/criterion, plus some Windows/macOS machine-state paths. T3 does not extend it. Current FFF main still does not include .svn or .hg.

   Ignore files

   FFF’s walker is the ignore crate (0.4.25 in FFF 0.9.4):

   • .gitignore / .git/info/exclude / global gitignore apply only inside a Git (or Jujutsu .jj) root. A Subversion WC or plain directory gets no benefit. That is crate semantics, not a T3 wiring bug.
   • .ignore is always read (WalkBuilder.ignore(true)), same syntax as gitignore, and does not require Git. The reporter’s reduction (146k → 93k) is this path.
   • .jj.ignore is not registered as a custom filename in FFF 0.9.4. The crate treats a .jj directory as a VCS root so .gitignore applies there. Jujutsu itself still uses .gitignore.

   None of this is documented in docs/user/. FFF’s own README mentions .ignore; T3’s user docs do not.

   On adding .svn / .hg

   For a non-Git root FFF also sets .hidden(true), so dot-directories such as .svn should already be skipped (same walker condition as #8665). The 7,913 .svn files in the report look like an independent tree walk after subtracting node_modules, not a confirmed index inclusion. The reporter already notes this is ~5% and not the dominant cost. Adding .svn/.hg to the built-in list is still reasonable defense-in-depth; the user-facing fix is documenting .ignore for build/, obj/, bin/, platforms/, and similar.

   Not a duplicate

   Issue / PR	Why it is related but distinct
   #10917	Timeout / hard fail. Same workspace; different fix.
   #4640	Silent 25k truncation on the same index.
   #8665 / #8670	Non-Git dot-entries hidden by .hidden(!is_git_repo).
   #10628 / #10686	Non-Git binaries dropped by FFF 0.9.4; open FFF 0.10.6 bump.
   #10380	Opposite knob: show gitignored files.
   #2077 / #2078	Historical @ search gitignore wiring (pre-FFF). Closed.
   #7088	Usage transcript walk, not the workspace index.

   No merged fix. Open PRs above do not document ignore files or add user excludes.

   Workaround

   Add a .ignore file at the workspace root (gitignore syntax). Example for this report:

   .svn/
   .hg/
   build/
   .gradle/
   platforms/
   obj/
   bin/

   Restart or refresh Files so the index rebuilds. .gitignore in the same place will not help until the folder is a Git (or .jj) repo.

   Next step

   1. Document the ignore-file mechanism in docs/user/ (which names are read; that .gitignore needs a Git/Jujutsu root; that .ignore is the supported extra file).
   2. Optionally ask FFF to add .svn/.hg to the built-in list, and/or honor .gitignore without a Git root. T3 0.9.4 has no API to pass extra patterns today.
   3. Do not wait on [Bug]: Workspace index scan timeout of 15s is hardcoded and fails the whole Files panel with no partial result #10917, fix(server): list binary files outside Git repositories #10686, or feat(files): add a setting to show gitignored files #10380.

   Labels: documentation, enhancement, accepted, via-triage; remove needs-triage.
2. juliusmarminge

   added

   documentationImprovements or additions to documentationImprovements or additions to documentation

   enhancementRequested improvement or new capability.Requested improvement or new capability.

   acceptedfeature request acceptedfeature request accepted

   via-triageFiled through npx t3 triageFiled through npx t3 triage

   on Sep 9, 2026
3. pingdotgg

   locked and limited conversation to collaborators on Oct 11, 2026
4. maria-rcks

   converted this issue into a discussion #17973 on Oct 11, 2026