Excluding Files

Railpack supports the standard .dockerignore file syntax to exclude files from your build. For a complete reference on the syntax, please refer to the official Docker documentation.

Default Behavior

If no .dockerignore file is present in your project root, Railpack defaults to including all files in the build context.

Local Development Artifacts

If you run builds locally, it is critical to exclude local environment folders like node_modules, .venv, or vendor.

Secrets and Metadata

You should exclude sensitive files and version control metadata to keep your image clean, small, and secure.

It’s recommend to add .env, any encrypted secrets, .vscode, .github, and anything not required when running in production.

Here’s a great .dockerignore generator to use as a starting point.