File typing

ripgrep can filter files by language using human-friendly type names: rg -tpy 'foo' only searches Python files, rg -Tjs 'foo' excludes JavaScript files.

Where the types come from

A "file type" is a name (string) plus a list of globs. The defaults live in crates/ignore/src/default_types.rs as a static array. As of writing the table holds well over 250 entries — rust, py, js, ts, cpp, cmake, dockerfile, yaml, markdown, ... — each mapped to its conventional file extensions.

Users can extend or override this table via:

• --type-add 'foo:*.fooext,*.barext' — adds a new type or appends globs to an existing one.
• --type-clear NAME — wipes a type's globs (so a subsequent --type-add starts fresh).
• --type NAME (-tNAME) — only search files matching the type's globs.
• --type-not NAME (-TNAME) — exclude files matching the type's globs.

Multiple -t and -T flags are allowed; the union of types is included and the union of negated types is excluded.

Listing types

rg --type-list prints the full registered type table (defaults plus any --type-add from configuration). Output is name: glob1, glob2, glob3. The implementation is in crates/core/main.rs::types, which iterates args.types().definitions().

Implementation pipeline

graph TD
    Defaults["default_types::DEFAULT_TYPES (static array)"] --> Builder[TypesBuilder]
    UserAdd["--type-add user input"] --> Builder
    UserClear["--type-clear"] --> Builder
    Builder --> Types["compiled Types matcher (GlobSet)"]
    UserSelect["-t / -T flags"] --> Selector[Selector]
    Selector --> Types
    Types --> Walker[WalkBuilder]
    Walker --> Files

crates/ignore/src/types.rs defines Types and TypesBuilder. The builder collects definitions, parses each glob, and at build() time emits a single Types matcher backed by a GlobSet. The Types matcher is then plugged into the walker as one of the priority layers (see gitignore handling for the precedence diagram).

Types::matched returns one of:

• Match::None — type matchers don't apply (no -t or -T selected anything).
• Match::Ignore(Glob) — a -T selector matched; file is excluded.
• Match::Whitelist(Glob) — a -t selector matched; file is whitelisted.

The walker's per-directory ignore stack consults Types after Override (CLI globs) and before .gitignore.

Configuring through RIPGREP_CONFIG_PATH

Per-line CLI flags in the config file are equivalent to the same flags on the command line, including --type-add. So:

# ~/.config/ripgrep/ripgreprc
--type-add=fooext:*.foo
--type-add=fooext:*.foo2

…is equivalent to passing those flags on every invocation. The config-file parser is crates/core/flags/config.rs.

Reference: file & function pointers

What	Where
Default-type table	crates/ignore/src/default_types.rs
Types, TypesBuilder, Selection	crates/ignore/src/types.rs
Type matcher integration with WalkBuilder	crates/ignore/src/walk.rs
--type, --type-not, --type-add, --type-clear, --type-list flags	crates/core/flags/defs.rs
--type-list output handler	crates/core/main.rs::types

For the user-facing GUIDE see https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep/blob/master/GUIDE.md#manual-filtering-file-types.

Adding a new default type

The most common ripgrep contribution is "please add a default type for X". The procedure:

1. Identify the conventional file extensions.
2. Add an entry to DEFAULT_TYPES in crates/ignore/src/default_types.rs keeping the array sorted.
3. Add a tests/feature.rs test that exercises -t newtype against a fixture file.
4. Add a one-line entry to CHANGELOG.md under "Many enhancements to the default set of file types" or as a standalone bullet.

The CHANGELOG cites Lean and Meson as recent additions (14.1.0).