Use ignorePatterns to Keep Build Artifacts and Vendor Folders Out of Claude's View

Claude Code scans your project to understand the codebase, but it doesn't need to read your node_modules, build output, or vendored dependencies. The ignorePatterns setting tells Claude to skip directories and files that would just waste context and slow things down.

claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "dist/**"
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "build/**"
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns ".next/**"
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "coverage/**"
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "*.min.js"

Claude already ignores common patterns like node_modules and .git by default, but your project probably has others — compiled output, generated files, large data fixtures, or vendored assets that shouldn't be part of Claude's search space.

Common patterns worth adding:

# Build artifacts
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "dist/**"
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "build/**"
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns ".next/**"
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "out/**"

# Generated code
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "*.generated.ts"
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "src/graphql/__generated__/**"
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "prisma/client/**"

# Large data files
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "fixtures/**/*.json"
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "seeds/**/*.sql"

# Compiled assets
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "public/assets/**"
claude config add -s project ignorePatterns "*.min.css"

This makes a real difference in three ways:

• Faster searches — Claude greps fewer files, so code searches return quicker.
• Better context — Claude's context window fills with your actual code, not generated boilerplate.
• Fewer false positives — when searching for function references, Claude won't find matches in compiled bundles or vendored code.

Set patterns at the project level so they're shared with your team via .claude/settings.json, or at the user level for personal preferences.

Claude doesn't need to read your build output to understand your source code — exclude the noise and let it focus on what matters.

via Claude Code