diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f893102
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Local runtime data / secrets
+data/
+backend/data/*.json
+
+# Allow checked-in examples/templates
+!backend/data/*.example.json
+
+# Dependencies / build output
+node_modules/
+backend/node_modules/
+frontend/node_modules/
+frontend/dist/
+frontend/dev-dist/
+
+# Env files
+.env
+.env.*
+*.env
+