Show HN: Git-temp – scratchpad folder for AI agents; doesn't clutter Git status

Purpose: create a local AI scratchpad inside a Git repo without committing it.

git-temp

makes a temp/

folder, adds it to .git/info/exclude

, and keeps it visible to editors and AI tools. That means no noisy git status

, no accidental commits, and no .gitignore

rule that hides files from indexing or @

tagging.

npx git-temp            # creates temp/
npx git-temp notes      # creates notes/
npx git-temp status     # shows hidden scratchpad contents
npx git-temp clean -f   # empties and recreates temp/
npx git-temp integrate  # updates existing agent instruction files

temp/scripts/

for one-off scriptstemp/dumps/

for JSON, CSV, logs, and payloadstemp/drafts/

for notes and draft specstemp/scratch/

for experimentstemp/README.md

explaining the folder to humans and AI agents

• Keep scratch work searchable and taggable by AI/editor tooling.
• Ignore scratch work locally through .git/info/exclude

, not shared.gitignore

. - Avoid committing temporary files by accident.

• Remove blocking nested temp/.gitignore

files that contain*

or/*

. - Stay zero-dependency and fast under npx

.

git-temp [directory] [--integrate]

Creates the scratchpad, subfolders, README, and local exclude entry.

git-temp status [directory]

Shows file count, directory count, size, and modified times for files Git now hides.

git-temp clean [directory] [--force]

Deletes scratchpad contents, then recreates the standard structure.

git-temp integrate [directory]

Appends an AI scratchpad guideline to existing instruction files only:

AGENTS.md

CLAUDE.md

.cursorrules

.windsurfrules

.github/copilot-instructions.md

• Node.js 18+
• Git
• Run inside a Git repository