diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9cc0f3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+node_modules/
+
+# Runtime data — never commit
+data/jobs_queue.json
+data/applications_log.json
+
+# User config — contains credentials, never commit
+config/settings.json
+config/profile.json
+config/answers.json
+
+# Templates are committed instead (see config/*.example.json)
diff --git a/config/answers.json b/config/answers.example.json
similarity index 100%
rename from config/answers.json
rename to config/answers.example.json
diff --git a/config/profile.json b/config/profile.example.json
similarity index 100%
rename from config/profile.json
rename to config/profile.example.json
diff --git a/config/settings.json b/config/settings.example.json
similarity index 100%
rename from config/settings.json
rename to config/settings.example.json