From 5d05415292d10a83d707cd5659cb0d809a704f94 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: mintybasil <163682877+mintybasil@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2026 13:15:03 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Expand .gitignore example

---
 .../docs/user-guide/profile-distributions.md  | 55 ++++++++++++++-----
 1 file changed, 42 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/website/docs/user-guide/profile-distributions.md b/website/docs/user-guide/profile-distributions.md
index e9a73843475..5a9da248505 100644
--- a/website/docs/user-guide/profile-distributions.md
+++ b/website/docs/user-guide/profile-distributions.md
@@ -129,30 +129,59 @@ Do this **before** running `git init` or `git add`. If you have already chatted
 Create `~/.hermes/profiles/research-bot/.gitignore` with at minimum:
 
 ```gitignore
-# Secrets — never commit these. Hermes cannot undo a committed secret.
+# Credentials & secrets — NEVER commit
 auth.json
 .env
-.env.*
-!.env.EXAMPLE
+.env.EXAMPLE    # generated by install, not authorship domain
 
-# User data — private to each machine, never part of a distribution.
-memories/
-sessions/
+# Runtime databases & state
 state.db
 state.db-shm
 state.db-wal
+hermes_state.db
+response_store.db
+response_store.db-shm
+response_store.db-wal
+gateway.pid
+gateway_state.json
+processes.json
+auth.lock
+active_profile
+.update_check
+
+# User data — NEVER commit
+memories/
+sessions/
 logs/
-workspace/
 plans/
+workspace/
 home/
 
-# Caches and local customization.
-*_cache/
+# Caches & generated artifacts
+image_cache/
+audio_cache/
+document_cache/
+browser_screenshots/
+cache/
+
+# Infrastructure (should not be in profile dir, but safe to exclude)
+hermes-agent/
+.worktrees/
+profiles/
+bin/
+node_modules/
+
+# User customization namespace — your local overrides
 local/
 
-# OS / editor cruft.
-.DS_Store
-*.swp
+# Checkpoints & backups (can be huge)
+checkpoints/
+sandboxes/
+backups/
+
+# Logs
+errors.log
+.hermes_history
 ```
 
 This mirrors the [hard-excluded paths](#whats-not-in-a-distribution-ever) that the installer strips on its end. Anything else you want to keep out of the repo (scratch files, large assets, local-only skills) should also go in here.
@@ -619,4 +648,4 @@ The short version:
 - [`hermes profile export` / `import`](../reference/profile-commands.md#hermes-profile-export) — local backup / restore (not distribution)
 - [Using SOUL with Hermes](../guides/use-soul-with-hermes.md) — authoring personalities
 - [Personality & SOUL](./features/personality.md) — how SOUL fits into the agent
-- [Skills catalog](../reference/skills-catalog.md) — skills you can bundle
\ No newline at end of file
+- [Skills catalog](../reference/skills-catalog.md) — skills you can bundle