Glob Pattern Tester

Overview

Paste a glob pattern (src/**/*.ts, !**/node_modules) and a list of paths and see which paths match. The tool also shows the regex equivalent of your glob, so you can confirm what * vs ** actually expands to.

It's for developers writing .gitignore entries, ESLint ignorePatterns, Webpack include/exclude, GitHub Actions paths: filters, or any tooling that consumes glob syntax. Reach for it when a workflow isn't triggering on the file you expected, or when a deploy script copies files it shouldn't.

How it works

Glob patterns are a Unix shell tradition with subtle differences across tools. The tester follows the minimatch / picomatch flavour - the de facto standard for Node tooling and most CI platforms: * matches any characters except /, ** matches any number of path segments (including zero), ? matches a single non-separator character, [abc] is a character class, and ! at the start negates.

Brace expansion ({js,ts}) is supported. Patterns are compiled to a regex internally; the regex form is exposed so you can verify the exact match semantics.

Examples

• Match nested TypeScript files:

  Pattern: src/**/*.ts
  Matches: src/index.ts, src/utils/format.ts
  Skips:   src/types.d.ts (if .d.ts is excluded separately)
  

• Brace expansion:

  Pattern: **/*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx}
  

• Negation:

  Pattern: !**/node_modules/**
  Matches: everything except node_modules trees
  

• Single segment vs deep:

  Pattern: docs/*.md     -> matches docs/intro.md but not docs/api/v1.md
  Pattern: docs/**/*.md  -> matches both
  

FAQ

Is glob a regex?

No - it's a separate, simpler pattern syntax. The tester shows the equivalent regex so you can compare behaviour and use one if the other isn't supported.

Why doesn't * match across directories?

By design - * is one segment only. Use ** for cross-directory matching. This is universal across glob implementations.

Are leading dots matched by *?

By default no - *.txt skips .hidden.txt. Most globbers expose a dot: true option to include dotfiles.

Do globs match directories or files?

Both, unless the pattern is anchored with a trailing /. Tools like .gitignore treat trailing / as directory-only.

Try Glob Pattern Tester