Maven .gitignore Template Explained

Maven.gitignore blocks files Maven creates during builds and releases. The tool is designed so that all output ends up in target/, so the rules are simple.

For the Maven wrapper, the currently recommended approach is to commit mvnw, mvnw.cmd and .mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties and to ignore the jar as the template does. The wrapper script downloads the jar or the Maven distribution when needed.

Rules explained

Pattern	What it ignores and why
`target/`	Build outputThe standard output folder that collects compiled classes, test results and packaged jars and wars. It is deleted with `mvn clean` and rebuilt.
`pom.xml.tagpom.xml.releaseBackuppom.xml.nextrelease.properties`	Release plugin filesBackups and progress files that maven-release-plugin creates during `release:prepare`. They are no longer needed once the release completes or is rolled back.
`pom.xml.versionsBackup`	Versions plugin backupThe original backup that versions-maven-plugin leaves before `versions:set`.
`dependency-reduced-pom.xmlbuildNumber.properties`	Plugin-generated filesThe reduced POM created by maven-shade-plugin and the number file of the buildnumber plugin.
`.mvn/timing.properties`	Local measurementsBuild timing results; the values differ per person.
`.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.jar`	Wrapper jarA binary the wrapper script can download when needed. The Maven Wrapper documentation linked from the template explains how to use it without the jar.
`.project.classpath`	Eclipse m2e filesProject files that Eclipse generates from the POM.

Practical notes

.mvn/maven.config and .mvn/jvm.config hold shared team build options, so commit them. This template does not ignore these two files.
If you put repository passwords in settings.xml, keep it in ~/.m2/settings.xml, not in the project.
If you use IntelliJ, also select the JetBrains template.

Maven .gitignore Template Explained

Rules explained

Practical notes

Original template

Often used together

More template explanations