# Exclude files

> Keep generator output, vendored files, and other files out of the checks.

gspot reads the files that Git tracks, and untracked files that `.gitignore` does not hide. Keep build output and other files that do not belong in Git in `.gitignore`. Most checks read only your own source files. Secret scans read every file, and dependency checks read lockfiles.

## Files gspot leaves out

gspot leaves these out of most checks without a mark:

* generator output: files whose first lines carry a generator banner, such as `@generated` or `// Code generated by ... DO NOT EDIT.`
* vendored files: files under a folder named `vendor`, `third_party`, `third-party`, `node_modules`, `Pods`, `Carthage`, or `.build`, and license files
* binary files

Run `gspot explain ./<path>` to see how gspot treats a file.

## Mark other files

In `.gitattributes`, mark other generator output as `linguist-generated`, and other vendored files as `linguist-vendored`:

```text
src/api/schema.ts linguist-generated
lib/upstream/** linguist-vendored
```

## Leave a file out of one check

Ignore the check for those paths, with a reason:

```shell
gspot ignore javascript/eslint --paths "scripts/**" --reason "Scripts print their results."
```

See [Ignore findings](/use/ignore/).