Glob Tester

About this tool

Glob patterns are the universal language for matching file paths — from .gitignore rules to tsconfig include arrays, Docker COPY instructions, shell scripts, and CI pipeline path filters. It is easy to write a pattern that matches more or less than intended without a way to test it. Glob Tester lets you enter a pattern, paste a list of file paths one per line, click Test, and see which lines match. It supports a basic subset of glob syntax: * for any characters within a single path segment, ? for exactly one character other than /, and ** as a whole segment for any number of directories. Each candidate is matched as a whole line. Character classes such as [abc], brace expansion such as {ts,tsx}, and negation are not supported — those characters are matched literally. Matching runs in your browser and you can copy the list of matching paths.

Why use it

• Quick Match Check: Click Test and the whole candidate list is evaluated at once, with only the matching paths listed so you can see exactly what the pattern selects.

• Supports ** Deep Wildcards: Handles the ** multi-segment wildcard used in .gitignore, tsconfig, Bash globstar, and build tools, including zero directories, so **/*.ts matches app.ts as well as src/a/b.ts.

• Segment-Aware * and ?: A single * or ? never crosses a / separator, matching how most glob tools treat path segments.

• No Shell or Node.js Required: Test glob patterns directly in the browser — no need to create test files, run a shell script, or install a glob library just to validate a pattern.

• Whole-Line Matching: Each candidate must match the pattern from start to end, so src/*.ts will not accidentally match src/app.ts.bak or lib/src/app.ts.

• Copyable Results: Copy the list of matching paths with one click to paste into a ticket, code review, or script.

How to use

1. Enter your glob pattern in the Pattern field — for example *.ts, src/**/*.js, or **/__tests__/**.
2. Paste your list of file paths into the Candidates box, one path per line — use relative paths without a leading slash.
3. Click Test to evaluate the pattern against every line.
4. Read the Matches box, which lists only the matching paths, or '(no matches)' if none match.
5. Adjust the pattern and click Test again to see which paths enter or leave the match set.
6. Click Copy to copy the matching paths, then put the tested pattern into your configuration file once you are satisfied.

When it helps

• When writing a .gitignore rule and you want to verify it ignores exactly the intended files without accidentally excluding tracked source files.
• When configuring the include or exclude arrays in tsconfig.json and you need to confirm the TypeScript compiler will see the right set of .ts files.
• When writing a webpack entry glob and you want to see exactly which modules will be bundled before running the build.
• When authoring a GitHub Actions workflow with path filters (on.push.paths) and you want to verify which file changes will trigger the workflow.
• When writing a shell glob in a Makefile or CI script and you need to confirm the pattern expands to the correct set of files without running it on the live filesystem.
• When debugging a recursive pattern like **/*.test.ts to see exactly which test files a test runner will pick up from a specific directory tree.

Examples

Pattern: src/**/*.ts
Candidates:
src/app.ts
src/components/Button.ts
src/utils/helpers.ts
src/styles/main.css
dist/app.js
README.md

src/app.ts
src/components/Button.ts
src/utils/helpers.ts

Pattern: **/__tests__/**
Candidates:
src/__tests__/app.test.ts
src/__tests__/utils.test.ts
src/app.ts
src/utils/helpers.ts

src/__tests__/app.test.ts
src/__tests__/utils.test.ts

Pattern: log-?.txt
Candidates:
log-1.txt
log-2.txt
log-10.txt
error.txt

log-1.txt
log-2.txt

Tips

• Test the inverse of your intended pattern too — paste a set of paths you do NOT want to match and check that none of them appear in the Matches box, preventing accidental over-matching.
• When debugging a tsconfig.json include that is missing files, start with ** and progressively narrow to **/*.ts, then src/**/*.ts, to isolate which segment of the pattern is rejecting the files you expect.
• For .gitignore testing, remember that .gitignore interprets a pattern without any / as matching at any directory depth — in this tool, write **/ in front to see the same effect.
• Brace expansion like **/*.{ts,tsx} is not supported here; test each extension as its own pattern, then combine them in your config if your target tool supports braces.
• Include a few paths that should NOT match alongside the ones that should when building your test list — this guards against accidentally writing an overly broad pattern like ** that matches everything.

Frequently Asked Questions

Glossary

Glob

A pattern language for matching file paths using wildcard characters. The word 'glob' comes from the Unix shell's 'global' command for expanding filename patterns.

** (double star)

A glob wildcard that matches any number of path segments including zero, crossing directory boundaries. **/*.ts matches TypeScript files at any depth in the directory tree.

* (single star)

A glob wildcard that matches any sequence of characters within a single path segment, not crossing / separators. *.js matches any .js file in the current directory only.

? (question mark)

A glob wildcard that matches exactly one character at that position in a path segment, excluding / separators. Useful for matching files with single-character variation.

minimatch

A popular Node.js library implementing glob matching, used internally by webpack, Jest, TypeScript, and ESLint. The de-facto standard for glob semantics in the JavaScript ecosystem.

Dotfile

A file or folder whose name starts with a dot, such as .eslintrc.js. Many glob libraries skip dotfiles for * by default; this tester's * matches them like any other name.