Atom exclude node_modules folder from search

Question

How to exclude node_modules folder from Atom searches "Find in project" after you have put node_modules inside your .gitignore file? Does atom require that the project actually has a git repository, or should the .gitignore be enough for Atom to exclude the folder?

My .gitignore looks like this:

.DS_STORE
*.log

node_modules

dist
coverage

Solution 1

Steps

1. Launch atom
2. From the menu: edit > preferences (atom > prefernces on Mac)
3. From the side menu, click the button "Open Config Folder"

Now a new atom IDE should open.

1. Open the file "config.cson"
2. Add ignoredNames: ["node_modules"] under core

Example of a config.cson

"*":
  core:
    ignoredNames: [
      ".git"
      "node_modules"
    ]
  editor: {}
  minimap:
    plugins:
      "highlight-selected": true
      "highlight-selectedDecorationsZIndex": 0
  welcome:
    showOnStartup: false

Hope this helps

Solution 2

In the "File/directory pattern" field of the search use an exclamation mark followed by the name of the directory you want to ignore:

Solution 3

If your .gitignore file sits higher in the directory than where you are performing a Search in Directory your node_modules will not be excluded from Atom's search.

For that reason I recommend adding node_modules to the Ignored Names list in the Core Settings.

Solution 4

The .gitignore file should be enough for Atom to exclude the folder, as long as you have the ignore "exclude VCS ignored paths" option checked.

You should also append a "/" after node_modules

node_modules/

Solution 5

For new versions of Atom (I am using 1.28.2 on Windows) I accessed config.cson via File > Config...

Then, as mentioned in this previous answer, ignoredNames: ["node_modules"] must be added under the core section:

"*":
  core:
    telemetryConsent: "no"
    themes: [
      "one-light-ui"
      "one-light-syntax"
    ]
    ignoredNames: ["node_modules"]

View more solutions

Comments

[Ville Miekk-oja]

Works on Windows, but not on Ubuntu through Virtualbox. I did what you suggested, and didn't work. It still searches from the whole project

[goliatone]

is there a way to have node_modules show in your side bar but not on your searches?

[Matt Dell]

If you're banging your head with the above not working, ensure your .gitignore file is in the root of your repository and not within say /web/.gitignore. Took me some time to realize that it only looks at /.gitignore/

[Johan Degrieck]

Thanks Rodrigo, seperate with a comma to exclude multiple folders f.e. !node_modules, !bower_components

[Marian07]

This way, node_modules disappears from the tree-view.

[sager]

No, node_modules will stay with this solution. This should be the accepted answer, for sure.

[Mircea]

One problem with this approach is when one has sources in a "lib" subfolder. I agree it is not a good practice, but it happens (e.g. python + nodejs project)

[massic80]

A tiny detail: in my Windows version of Atom, the Open Config Folder button is in File -> Settings

[Altin]

@sager yes, it disappears from tree view. And it's fkn annoying!