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SonarLint Exclusion Setting Doesn't Work

Mar 27, 2025

About

This article describes the issue I faced when trying to configure pre-commit and CI pipeline for my tech blog site using SonarLint. Specifically, I encountered a problem where SonarLint's exclusion settings didn't work as expected.

Situation

The directory structure

Follows the standard Next.js layout:

app/
├── layout.tsx
├── page.tsx
├── global.css
└── …
node_modules/ <– auto-generated by npm
coverage/　　　<– generated by Jest
public/

Requirement

Building a CI pipeline and pre-commit hook that runs the following:

  • prettier check
  • eslint
  • sonarlint (code analysis)
  • jest tests with coverage

Command I wrote

npx prettier --check . &&
npm run lint &&
npx sonarlint --exclude 'node_modules/**,coverage/**' &&
npm test -- --coverage --ci --silent=false

Issue

The exclusion option in SonarLint doesn't work when multiple directories are specified using --exclude:

  • If I specify only one directory (e.g., node_modules/**), it works fine.
  • However, specifying multiple directories (e.g., 'node_modules/**,coverage/**') does not exclude them.
  • While I tried several patterns, one of them worked:
    • .sonarlintignore file
    • SonarLint config file
    • Wildcard variations (**/node_modules/**)
    • Separating with spaces or commas

Workaround

This appears to be a known SonarLint issue. There are several similar unresolved reports on the SonarSource community, indicating a possible bug.

So as a temporary workaround, I added the following command before running the analysis:

rm -rf coverage &&

This simply deletes the folder before SonarLint scans the project.

Conclusion

In my case, there were only two directories to exclude, and one (coverage) could be safely removed beforehand. However, this approach won't scale if I need to exclude more directories.

If you're facing the same issue, I recommend either:

  • Avoiding unnecessary folders before analysis (if safe)
  • Watching the SonarLint issue tracker for updates.

References