Question 1

How to use globby with .gitignore files?

Accepted Answer

Set the gitignore option to true when calling globby. It automatically reads .gitignore files from the current directory and respects patterns, but performance may degrade if negation patterns or parent .gitignore files are involved, so specify ignoreFiles for better control.

Question 2

Globby vs fast-glob: which one should I use?

Accepted Answer

Use globby if you need extra features like ignore file support, automatic directory expansion, or a simpler API with negation patterns. Choose fast-glob directly for maximum performance and minimal dependencies when those conveniences aren't necessary.

Question 3

How to exclude files in globby?

Accepted Answer

Use negation patterns starting with '!', such as ['*.js', '!test.js']. Globby handles these seamlessly in a single array, and you can combine multiple negations or use negation-only patterns with expandNegationOnlyPatterns for fine-grained control.

Question 4

Does globby work on Windows?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but you must handle paths carefully. Avoid backslashes in patterns; use path.posix.join() or convertPathToPattern() to escape special characters, as backslashes will cause silent failures without error messages.

Question 5

How to handle large directories with globby?

Accepted Answer

Use globbyStream to process files incrementally via a readable stream. This avoids loading all matches into memory at once, which is ideal for big file sets, and supports async iteration with for await...of loops.

Question 6

Can globby be used in the browser?

Accepted Answer

No, globby is designed for Node.js and relies on Node's file system APIs, so it won't work in browser environments. For client-side globbing, consider libraries tailored to browser constraints or virtual file systems.

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