diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4829bc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# Real environment files (sample.env is tracked)
+.env
+*/.env
+*.env
+!sample.env
+!*/sample.env
+
+# Claude Code local state
+.claude/
+
+# OS / editor cruft
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
+*.swp
+*~
+.idea/
+.vscode/