How do I ignore files locally without changing .gitignore?

1. Find the exclude file for this repository

Run this from the repository root to resolve the correct path, including repositories using a Git file or linked worktree:

git rev-parse --git-path info/exclude

Open the reported file in your editor; create its parent directory and the file if needed. Preserve existing entries. In an ordinary repository the path is .git/info/exclude.

2. Add personal rules

Append these example rules to the reported exclude file. They ignore directories named local-notes and the root dev.local.json. They use the same syntax as .gitignore.

Shared project rules belong in a committed .gitignore. Personal rules needed across repositories belong in the global ignore file. A worktree may share repository metadata, so this is repository-local rather than a promise of a separate configuration for each worktree.

local-notes/
/dev.local.json

Why is a file ignored by global Git rules?

3. Verify and check tracking status

Create the untracked sample files and inspect the source of their rules:

git check-ignore -v -- local-notes/draft.txt dev.local.json

The output should name info/exclude. If the paths are already tracked, this file cannot hide their modifications. Git’s assume-unchanged and skip-worktree bits are not a general solution; use a committed configuration template and an ignored local copy when appropriate.

How do I ignore files Git already tracks?