fossil-forget

View documentation for the original command

$ tldr fossil rm

fossil forget ?-R|--repository REPO? ?--chdir DIR? FILENAME ...

--chdir DIR
    Change working directory to DIR before executing the command

-R|--repository REPO
    Use REPO as the repository database file

-n|--dry-run
    If given, display instead of running actions

--help
    Show command help and exit

The fossil forget command instructs Fossil, a distributed software configuration management system, to stop tracking specified files. It removes files from the repository's scan list without deleting them from the local checkout directory. This is useful for excluding files that should not be versioned, such as temporary files, build artifacts, or user-specific configurations.

When invoked on an unversioned file, it marks the file as ignored in future scans. For files that are added but not yet committed, it undoes the add. Files already committed remain in the repository history; fossil forget only affects future check-ins and status reports. After running this command, the file behaves like any ordinary disk file—edits won't trigger Fossil warnings or be included in commits unless explicitly re-added with fossil add.

This command promotes clean repositories by excluding irrelevant files, improving efficiency and reducing noise in version control. It requires a Fossil repository to be open in the current directory or specified via options.

Does not delete files from disk or remove committed history. Use fossil rm to delete from checkout and repo. Ignored files can be re-added later with fossil add.

fossil forget foo.tmp
fossil forget --chdir /path/to/repo src/*.o

Part of Fossil SCM since its inception in 2007 by D. Richard Hipp. Evolved with core file management features; enhanced ignore patterns in later releases (v1.0+). Widely used in embedded and self-contained projects.

Fossil documentation: fossil help forget or online at fossil-scm.org

fossil-add(1), fossil-rm(1), fossil-status(1), fossil-extra(1), git-rm(1)