From 83c6149e499382690b88264486baf820f963e82f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Arthur <worldnomad@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2026 08:46:47 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] #21114 Allow specifying exclude directories for Data Sources

---
 docs/models/core/datasource.md   | 15 +++++++++------
 netbox/core/forms/model_forms.py |  2 +-
 netbox/core/models/data.py       | 15 ++++++++-------
 3 files changed, 18 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/models/core/datasource.md b/docs/models/core/datasource.md
index 64a087cb6..23d06f610 100644
--- a/docs/models/core/datasource.md
+++ b/docs/models/core/datasource.md
@@ -36,13 +36,16 @@ If false, synchronization will be disabled.
 
 ### Ignore Rules
 
-A set of rules (one per line) identifying filenames to ignore during synchronization. Some examples are provided below. See Python's [`fnmatch()` documentation](https://docs.python.org/3/library/fnmatch.html) for a complete reference.
+A set of rules (one per line) identifying files or paths to ignore during synchronization. Rules are matched against both the full relative path (e.g. `subdir/file.txt`) and the bare filename, so path-based patterns can be used to exclude entire directories. Some examples are provided below. See Python's [`fnmatch()` documentation](https://docs.python.org/3/library/fnmatch.html) for a complete reference.
 
-| Rule           | Description                              |
-|----------------|------------------------------------------|
-| `README`       | Ignore any files named `README`          |
-| `*.txt`        | Ignore any files with a `.txt` extension |
-| `data???.json` | Ignore e.g. `data123.json`               |
+| Rule                  | Description                                          |
+|-----------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
+| `README`              | Ignore any files named `README`                      |
+| `*.txt`               | Ignore any files with a `.txt` extension             |
+| `data???.json`        | Ignore e.g. `data123.json`                           |
+| `subdir/*`            | Ignore all files directly within `subdir/`           |
+| `subdir/*/*`          | Ignore all files one level deep within `subdir/`     |
+| `*/dev/*`             | Ignore files inside any directory named `dev/`       |
 
 ### Sync Interval
 
diff --git a/netbox/core/forms/model_forms.py b/netbox/core/forms/model_forms.py
index 4f26d6024..bcfabe265 100644
--- a/netbox/core/forms/model_forms.py
+++ b/netbox/core/forms/model_forms.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class DataSourceForm(PrimaryModelForm):
                 attrs={
                     'rows': 5,
                     'class': 'font-monospace',
-                    'placeholder': '.cache\n*.txt'
+                    'placeholder': '.cache\n*.txt\nsubdir/*'
                 }
             ),
         }
diff --git a/netbox/core/models/data.py b/netbox/core/models/data.py
index 1047fbd14..5555c655e 100644
--- a/netbox/core/models/data.py
+++ b/netbox/core/models/data.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class DataSource(JobsMixin, PrimaryModel):
     ignore_rules = models.TextField(
         verbose_name=_('ignore rules'),
         blank=True,
-        help_text=_("Patterns (one per line) matching files to ignore when syncing")
+        help_text=_("Patterns (one per line) matching files or paths to ignore when syncing")
     )
     parameters = models.JSONField(
         verbose_name=_('parameters'),
@@ -258,21 +258,22 @@ class DataSource(JobsMixin, PrimaryModel):
             if path.startswith('.'):
                 continue
             for file_name in file_names:
-                if not self._ignore(file_name):
-                    paths.add(os.path.join(path, file_name))
+                file_path = os.path.join(path, file_name)
+                if not self._ignore(file_path):
+                    paths.add(file_path)
 
         logger.debug(f"Found {len(paths)} files")
         return paths
 
-    def _ignore(self, filename):
+    def _ignore(self, file_path):
         """
         Returns a boolean indicating whether the file should be ignored per the DataSource's configured
-        ignore rules.
+        ignore rules. file_path is the full relative path (e.g. "subdir/file.txt").
         """
-        if filename.startswith('.'):
+        if os.path.basename(file_path).startswith('.'):
             return True
         for rule in self.ignore_rules.splitlines():
-            if fnmatchcase(filename, rule):
+            if fnmatchcase(file_path, rule) or fnmatchcase(os.path.basename(file_path), rule):
                 return True
         return False