alt Hacker NewsWhat am I missing about this use case? It seems like you should just create `build/.gitignore` with `*` in it and `add -f` it and be done.
I'd use `.gitkeep` (or an empty `.gitignore`) if I needed to commit an otherwise-empty hierarchy. But if I'm going to have a `.gitignore` in there anyway, it's not empty.
> The directory is now “tracked” with a single, standard file that will work even after renames.
Does `.gitkeep` not work after renames? Or `.gitignore`?
So I am missing something. :)
That's a hack. What you should do is a .gitignore with * and then a whitelist of paths like src/**/*.
If you rely on `add -f` you will forget to commit something important.
For example, for a tree sitter grammar I developed a couple years ago, here is my .gitignore:
```
# Ignore everything
*
# Top-level whitelist
CHANGELOG.md
# Allow git to see inside subdirectories
!*/
# Whitelist the grammar and tests
!/grammar/*.js
!/test/corpus/*.txt
# Whitelist any grammar and tests in subdirectories
!/grammar/**/*.js
!/test/corpus/**/*.txt
```*