diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3b34a6fa..b903490e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,16 +1,55 @@
-dist
-bin/*.sh
-bin/*.py
-*.done
+*.a
+*.dep.mk
 *.dist
+*.done
+*.jw-secret
+*.jw-secret-file
+*.ldscript
+*.o
+*.old
+*.orig
 *.out
-test-out.txt
-make/.cache.mk
-make/jw-pkg.pc
-minimal-to-master.sh
-pkg-build.dist
-pkgconfig/
-rebase.sh
-__pycache__
+*.pc
+*.pyc
+*.rep
+*.secret
+*.so
+*.so.*
+*.swp
+*_generated_*
+*tmp*
+*~
+-test-out.txt
 .cache-project.mk
+.exrc
+.feedfs_history
+.gdb_history
+.jw-agit
+.mypy_cache
+.ruff_cache
+__init__.py
+__pycache__
+bin/*.bat
+bin/*.pl
+bin/*.pm
+bin/*.py
+bin/*.sh
+bin/*.tcl
+conftest.py
+core
+dist
+ld-*.conf
+local.conf
+local.mk
+local.mk
+local.yaml
+make/*.pc
+mkspec.sh
+pr-descr*.txt
+pre-local.mk
+pyproject.toml
+pyrightconfig.json
+!*.jw-tmpl
+!*.tmpl
 .cache-projects.mk
+make/ssh-wrapper.sh
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 105c83d0..7ff1e771 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,12 +4,16 @@ PKG_UPLOAD_URLPREFIX      ?= rsync_ssh://$(JANWARE_USER)@pkg.janware.com:/srv/da
 all:
 all: cache-projects
 
+GITIGNORE_PATTERNS_TOP         =
+GITIGNORE_PATTERNS_END         = .cache-projects.mk make/ssh-wrapper.sh
+
 include $(TOPDIR)/make/proj.mk
 include $(JWBDIR)/make/topdir.mk
 include $(JWBDIR)/make/srcdist.mk
 include $(JWBDIR)/make/git-cvs-bridge.mk
 include $(JWBDIR)/make/py-topdir.mk
 
+
 clean: clean.pkgconfig
 clean.pkgconfig:
 	rm -rf pkgconfig
diff --git a/conf/templates/gitignore b/conf/templates/gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9d297dbe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conf/templates/gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+{top}
+*.a
+*.dep.mk
+*.dist
+*.done
+*.jw-secret
+*.jw-secret-file
+*.ldscript
+*.o
+*.old
+*.orig
+*.out
+*.pc
+*.pyc
+*.rep
+*.secret
+*.so
+*.so.*
+*.swp
+*_generated_*
+*tmp*
+*~
+-test-out.txt
+.cache-project.mk
+.exrc
+.feedfs_history
+.gdb_history
+.jw-agit
+.mypy_cache
+.ruff_cache
+__init__.py
+__pycache__
+bin/*.bat
+bin/*.pl
+bin/*.pm
+bin/*.py
+bin/*.sh
+bin/*.tcl
+conftest.py
+core
+dist
+ld-*.conf
+local.conf
+local.mk
+local.mk
+local.yaml
+make/*.pc
+mkspec.sh
+pr-descr*.txt
+pre-local.mk
+pyproject.toml
+pyrightconfig.json
+!*.jw-tmpl
+!*.tmpl
+{end}
diff --git a/make/py-topdir.mk b/make/py-topdir.mk
index 75d95b50..73b32fb6 100644
--- a/make/py-topdir.mk
+++ b/make/py-topdir.mk
@@ -19,8 +19,7 @@ clean: clean.topdir
 clean.topdir: clean.py-check
 
 pyproject.toml:
-	$(PYTHON) $(JWB_SCRIPT_DIR)/jw-pkg.py -p $(PROJECTS_DIR) -t $(TOPDIR) --topdir-format unaltered projects create-file --format tmpl \
-		--template-name $@ --search-path $(JW_PKG_CONF_BASE_DIR)/templates --field mypypath='$(MYPY_PATH_DIRECTIVE)' $(PROJECT) > $@.tmp
+	$(JW_PKG_TMPL_UPDATE) $@ --field mypypath='$(MYPY_PATH_DIRECTIVE)' $(PROJECT) > $@.tmp
 	mv $@.tmp $@
 
 pyrightconfig.json:
diff --git a/make/topdir.mk b/make/topdir.mk
index 0573e7f0..b8eb3e75 100644
--- a/make/topdir.mk
+++ b/make/topdir.mk
@@ -95,6 +95,13 @@ ifneq ($(SUBDIRS_TO_ITERATE),)
   endif
 endif
 
+JW_PKG_TMPL_SEARCH_PATH     ?= $(JW_PKG_CONF_BASE_DIR)/templates
+JW_PKG_TMPL_UPDATE          ?= $(PYTHON) $(JWB_SCRIPT_DIR)/jw-pkg.py -p $(PROJECTS_DIR) -t $(TOPDIR) --topdir-format unaltered \
+				projects create-file --format tmpl --search-path $(subst $(space),:,$(JW_PKG_TMPL_SEARCH_PATH)) --template-name
+
+GITIGNORE_PATTERNS_TOP      ?= $(PROJECT)
+GITIGNORE_PATTERNS_END      ?= $(addprefix !,$(shell git ls-files 2>/dev/null | grep "\(\b$(PROJECT)\b\|__init__.py\)" | xargs))
+
 all: topdir config
 test: all
 
@@ -307,3 +314,10 @@ Makefile: ;
 %: $(TD_COPY_SRC)/% $$(foreach path,$$(TD_COPY_SRC_PATH),$$(wildcard $$(addprefix $$(path)/,$$@))) $$(wildcard $$@.*)
 	cat $^ > $@.tmp
 	mv $@.tmp $@
+
+gitignore:
+	$(JW_PKG_TMPL_UPDATE) gitignore --field-keys top,end \
+		$(addprefix --field top=,$(GITIGNORE_PATTERNS_TOP)) \
+		$(addprefix --field end=,$(GITIGNORE_PATTERNS_END)) \
+		--field-separator='%n' $(PROJECT) | grep -v '^[[:space:]]*$$' > .gitignore.tmp
+	mv .gitignore.tmp .gitignore
diff --git a/scripts/jw-pkg-create-project.sh b/scripts/jw-pkg-create-project.sh
index c954b3ef..8ef06c49 100644
--- a/scripts/jw-pkg-create-project.sh
+++ b/scripts/jw-pkg-create-project.sh
@@ -97,42 +97,6 @@ cat_make_project_conf()
 	EOT
 }
 
-cat_gitignore()
-{
-	cat <<-EOT
-	*.done
-	*.dist
-	*.dep.mk
-	.cache-project.mk
-	*.o
-	*.so.*
-	*.so
-	*.a
-	*.rep
-	ld-*.conf
-	*.ldscript
-	*.pc
-	$name
-	*_generated_*
-	*.secret
-	local.mk
-	.gdb_history
-	dist
-	mkspec.sh
-	*.out
-	*.orig
-	*.old
-	.feedfs_history
-	.exrc
-	*.swp
-	*tmp*
-	__init__.py
-	__pycache__
-	pyproject.toml
-	pyrightconfig.json
-	EOT
-}
-
 # ---------------------- here we go
 
 myname=`basename $0`
@@ -193,7 +157,7 @@ cat_make_Makefile > make/Makefile
 cat_VERSION > VERSION
 cat_make_proj_mk > make/proj.mk
 cat_make_project_conf > make/project.conf
-cat_gitignore > .gitignore
+make gitignore
 
 log Successfully created project template \"$name\".