diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad12d66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Runtime data: user accounts, password hashes, session secret, ani-cli state
+data/
+*.db
+*.db-wal
+*.db-shm
+secret.key
+
+# Python
+.venv/
+venv/
+__pycache__/
+*.pyc
+
+# Generated by install.sh (machine-specific)
+run.sh
+
+# Editor / OS
+.idea/
+.vscode/
+.DS_Store
\ No newline at end of file