Pattern Matching

Wildcards

Include and exclude patterns support two wildcards:

Pattern	Meaning
*	Matches any sequence of non-separator characters (single path segment)
**	Matches zero or more complete path segments (crosses / boundaries)

Include Patterns

Include patterns restrict scope: only files matching at least one include pattern are checked. All other files are immediately filtered (skipped).

f := gogenfilter.NewFilter(
    gogenfilter.Enabled(),
    gogenfilter.WithFilterOptions(gogenfilter.FilterAll),
    gogenfilter.WithIncludePatterns("pkg/**"),
)

Files outside pkg/ are filtered with ReasonIncludePattern.

Exclude Patterns

Exclude patterns broaden scope: matching files are always filtered, regardless of detection.

f := gogenfilter.NewFilter(
    gogenfilter.Enabled(),
    gogenfilter.WithFilterOptions(gogenfilter.FilterAll),
    gogenfilter.WithExcludePatterns("**/*.pb.go", "mocks/*"),
)

Pattern Rules

• Patterns without / match against the filename only: *.pb.go matches any/path/user.pb.go
• Patterns with / match against the full path: internal/*.go matches internal/handler.go
• **/ at the start matches at any depth: \*_/mocks/_.gomatchespkg/mocks/service.go
• /** at the end matches anything under a directory: generated/\*\*matchesgenerated/a/b/c.go
• /**/ in the middle bridges any number of segments: src/\*\*/test.gomatchessrc/pkg/test.go

Combined Example

f := gogenfilter.NewFilter(
    gogenfilter.Enabled(),
    gogenfilter.WithFilterOptions(gogenfilter.FilterAll),
    gogenfilter.WithIncludePatterns("pkg/**"),
    gogenfilter.WithExcludePatterns("**/*.pb.go"),
)

This filters everything inside pkg/ except protobuf files, which are excluded regardless.