.ds_store showing in system prompt for custom mode

[iamhenry]

App Version

Version: 3.18.0

API Provider

Anthropic

Model Used

n/a

🔁 Steps to Reproduce

any idea why the ds_store is showing up in the system prompt for my custom mode?

is it required that i add that to .rooignore? it's already part of .gitignore

mac v: 15.4.1 (24E263)
cursor: Version: 0.50.5
VSCode Version: 1.96.2

💥 Outcome Summary (Optional)

No response

📄 Relevant Logs or Errors

[adamhill]

Yes. Add it to .rooignore. Verified by AI.

---

adamhill: is Roo obeying the .rooignore file in the code, please verify

GitHub Copilot: Yes, Roo does obey the .rooignore file in the code.

Evidence from the codebase:

• The class RooIgnoreController in RooIgnoreController.ts is responsible for enforcing ignore patterns for file access.
• It loads patterns from .rooignore (using the ignore library, which supports standard .gitignore syntax).
• The method validateAccess(filePath: string): boolean checks if a file should be accessible, returning false if the file matches a pattern in .rooignore.
• The controller sets up a file watcher to reload .rooignore if it changes, ensuring updates are respected in real time.
• There are tests in RooIgnoreController.test.ts that verify files listed in .rooignore are blocked from access.

Summary:
If .rooignore exists, Roo will block access to files and directories listed in it, just like .gitignore but for Roo’s LLM/file access features. If you want Roo to ignore .DS_Store or any other files, add them to .rooignore.

Let me know if you want to see the relevant code or need help updating your .rooignore!

adamhill: show me the relevent code

GitHub Copilot: Here is the relevant code from RooIgnoreController.ts that shows how Roo obeys the .rooignore file:

export class RooIgnoreController {
	private cwd: string
	private ignoreInstance: Ignore
	private disposables: vscode.Disposable[] = []
	rooIgnoreContent: string | undefined

	constructor(cwd: string) {
		this.cwd = cwd
		this.ignoreInstance = ignore()
		this.rooIgnoreContent = undefined
		this.setupFileWatcher()
	}

	async initialize(): Promise<void> {
		await this.loadRooIgnore()
	}

	private async loadRooIgnore(): Promise<void> {
		try {
			this.ignoreInstance = ignore()
			const ignorePath = path.join(this.cwd, ".rooignore")
			if (await fileExistsAtPath(ignorePath)) {
				const content = await fs.readFile(ignorePath, "utf8")
				this.rooIgnoreContent = content
				this.ignoreInstance.add(content)
				this.ignoreInstance.add(".rooignore")
			} else {
				this.rooIgnoreContent = undefined
			}
		} catch (error) {
			console.error("Unexpected error loading .rooignore:", error)
		}
	}

	validateAccess(filePath: string): boolean {
		if (!this.rooIgnoreContent) {
			return true
		}
		try {
			const absolutePath = path.resolve(this.cwd, filePath)
			const relativePath = path.relative(this.cwd, absolutePath).toPosix()
			return !this.ignoreInstance.ignores(relativePath)
		} catch (error) {
			return true
		}
	}

	filterPaths(paths: string[]): string[] {
		try {
			return paths
				.map((p) => ({
					path: p,
					allowed: this.validateAccess(p),
				}))
				.filter((x) => x.allowed)
				.map((x) => x.path)
		} catch (error) {
			console.error("Error filtering paths:", error)
			return []
		}
	}
}

Summary:

• Roo loads .rooignore and uses it to block access to files and directories for LLM/file operations.
• The validateAccess and filterPaths methods enforce these rules.
• If .rooignore is updated, changes are picked up automatically.

[iamhenry]

why doesnt it work when it's set in .gitignore? shouldnt that work?

[hannesrudolph]

why doesnt it work when it's set in .gitignore? shouldnt that work?

I think it makes sense to have this ignored by default. I have moved it to be scoped. for now use .rooignore https://docs.roocode.com/features/rooignore

[adamhill]

@hannesrudolph There was a discussion about this a while back.

Someone came up with a usecase and we agreed to this way IIRC, i think it was for Checkpointing and just simple separation of concerns (.rooignore's reasons for being vs .gitgnore's)

See this section in the Checkpoint docs

@iamhenry wants to primarily hide it from the AI, so according to our decision this is the correct place to put it. But he should also put it into the .gitignore since it makes no sense to check it in.

Almost all default templates have **/.DS_Store in there.

[iamhenry]

so i added the .rooignore to root but the ds_store code still shows up in the full system prompt

i restarted the app but it still shows up. somehow it's taking up 6k tokens!