Common Ignore Patterns

This is a curated reference of ready-to-use .stignore patterns for the most common Syncthing deployment scenarios. Copy and adapt these into your folder's .stignore file.

Learning Focus

A good .stignore reduces unnecessary file churn (fewer network operations), prevents syncing sensitive credentials or runtime state, and stops Syncthing from wasting CPU on files that change constantly and never need to be replicated.

Why Ignoring Files Matters

Without ignores, Syncthing syncs everything — including:

• Application caches (change constantly, waste bandwidth)
• Temp files and lock files (invalid on remote nodes)
• Environment secrets like .env files (security risk)
• Build artifacts already reproducible on the remote

Adding a thoughtful .stignore makes your sync faster, cheaper, and safer.

Web Server: WordPress

.stignore — WordPress on VPS

// === WordPress: ignore runtime state ===

// WP cache dirs (cache plugins: W3TC, LiteSpeed, WP Rocket)
/wp-content/cache/
/wp-content/litespeed/
/wp-content/wpo-cache/

// Uploads subdirectory caches (if using CDN)
/wp-content/uploads/cache/

// WordPress debug log
/wp-content/debug.log

// Upgrade working directory
/wp-content/upgrade/

// Session files
/wp-content/sessions/

// SQLite (if using WP SQLite DB plugin)
*.db-wal
*.db-shm

// PHP-generated temp
*.tmp

General Web Application

.stignore — Generic PHP/Python/Node app

// === App runtime state ===
*.log
*.tmp
*.pid

// Storage caches
/storage/framework/cache/
/storage/framework/sessions/
/storage/framework/views/

// Laravel / Symfony
/bootstrap/cache/
/.env             ← NEVER sync credentials
/.env.local
/.env.production

// Python
__pycache__/
*.pyc
.venv/

// Node
node_modules/
npm-debug.log
yarn-error.log

warning

Never sync .env files that contain production database passwords, API keys, or secret tokens. If your .env contains credentials, add .env to .stignore on all production devices.

Development Projects

.stignore — Developer machine

// === Build artifacts ===
dist/
build/
out/
target/    // Rust, Java Maven
.next/     // Next.js
.nuxt/     // Nuxt.js
.svelte-kit/

// === Dependencies ===
node_modules/
vendor/    // PHP Composer
.venv/     // Python virtualenv

// === IDE ===
.idea/
.vscode/
*.iml

// === OS artifacts ===
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db
desktop.ini

// === Editor temp ===
*.swp
*.swo
.~lock.*
~$*

Media Library (Photos / Videos)

.stignore — Media library

// Thumbnail caches (generated by Plex, Jellyfin, etc.)
/metadata/
/@eaDir/          // Synology NAS thumbnail directory
.@__thumb/        // QNAP thumbnail directory

// Adobe Lightroom catalog lock
*.lrcat-lock
*.lrdata/

// Darktable exports (if keeping masters only)
/export/

// macOS resource forks
._*
.Spotlight-V100
.Trashes

Database and Secrets

.stignore — Protect credentials and live DB files

// === Credentials (NEVER sync these) ===
.env
.env.*
*.pem
*.key
id_rsa
id_ed25519
*_rsa
credentials.json

// === Live database files (sync dumps instead) ===
*.db-wal
*.db-shm
*.db-journal
/mysql/
/data/              // PostgreSQL data directory

// === Certificate files ===
*.crt
*.csr

systemd / Config Management

.stignore — System configuration sync

// Never sync runtime state
/run/
/proc/
/sys/

// Machine-specific files
/etc/hostname
/etc/machine-id
/etc/network/interfaces

// SSH host keys (machine-specific, never replicate)
/etc/ssh/ssh_host_*_key
/etc/ssh/ssh_host_*_key.pub

Applying and Testing Ignore Patterns

After editing .stignore, trigger a rescan:

# Force Syncthing to rescan and re-apply ignore rules
curl -s -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:8384/rest/db/scan?folder=FOLDER_ID" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Check which files are currently ignored by looking at the folder status in the GUI
(Folder → Edit → Ignored Items or Local State → count of ignored files).

What's Next

• Selective Sync Strategies