diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..84f6d1c71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+# General OS files
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
+
+# Editor & IDE files (keeping .vscode settings but ignoring unnecessary metadata)
+!.vscode/
+.vscode/*.workspace
+.vscode/*.tmp
+
+# Log and Cache files
+logs/
+*.log
+npm-debug.log*
+yarn-debug.log*
+yarn-error.log*
+
+# Python-specific exclusions
+__pycache__/
+*.pyc
+*.pyo
+*.pyd
+*.venv/
+venv/
+env/
+*.env
+
+# Node.js dependencies (frontend folder was excluded, but keeping this rule for reference)
+frontend/node_modules/
+frontend/.svelte-kit/
+frontend/.turbo/
+frontend/.vite/
+frontend/build/
+
+# API and Backend specific exclusions
+api/.env
+api/__pycache__/
+api/*.sqlite3
+
+# Install scripts and temporary files
+install/tmp/
+install/*.bak
+
+# VM and Container-specific exclusions
+vm/tmp/
+vm/*.qcow2
+vm/*.img
+vm/*.vmdk
+vm/*.iso
+vm/*.bak
+
+# Miscellaneous temporary or unnecessary files
+*.bak
+*.swp
+*.swo
+*.swn
+*.tmp
+*.backup
+
+# JSON configuration backups
+json/*.bak
+json/*.tmp
+json/.vscode/
+
+# Ignore compiled binaries or packaged artifacts
+*.exe
+*.dll
+*.bin
+*.deb
+*.rpm
+*.tar.gz
+*.zip
+*.tgz
+
+# Ignore repository metadata or Git itself
+.git/
+.gitignore