diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0460fb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+# Python bytecode + caches
+__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+*$py.class
+*.so
+
+# Build / packaging
+build/
+dist/
+*.egg
+*.egg-info/
+.eggs/
+
+# Virtual environments
+.venv/
+venv/
+env/
+ENV/
+
+# Tooling caches
+.pytest_cache/
+.mypy_cache/
+.ruff_cache/
+.tox/
+.coverage
+.coverage.*
+htmlcov/
+
+# Secrets / local config
+.env
+.env.local
+config/settings.local.toml
+
+# Editor / OS noise
+.idea/
+.vscode/
+*.swp
+*.swo
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
+
+# Runtime artifacts (only if someone points settings.toml at a repo-local path)
+*.db
+*.sqlite
+*.sqlite3