diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21da05f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# OSM extracts + Nominatim Postgres data are large binary blobs.
+# Place PBFs under data/ locally; never commit them.
+data/
+!data/.gitkeep
+
+# Local env overrides
+.env
+.env.local