.speakignore

The .speakignore file lets you exclude specific files or directories from TTS audio generation. It uses gitignore syntax for pattern matching.

Creating .speakignore

Create a .speakignore file in your documentation directory:

touch .speakignore

Syntax

.speakignore uses the same pattern syntax as .gitignore:

# for comments
* matches any sequence of characters
** matches nested directories
! negates a pattern (include instead of exclude)
/ at the end matches directories only

Common Patterns

Exclude Directories

.speakignore

# Exclude entire directories
snippets/**
api-reference/**
drafts/**
internal/**

Exclude Specific Files

.speakignore

# Exclude specific files
README.mdx
CONTRIBUTING.mdx
CHANGELOG.mdx

Exclude by Pattern

.speakignore

# Exclude all files starting with "draft-"
draft-*.mdx

# Exclude all files in any "examples" directory
**/examples/**

# Exclude all .md files (only process .mdx)
**/*.md

Example .speakignore

Here’s a complete example:

.speakignore

# .speakignore
# Exclude files/folders from TTS generation (uses gitignore syntax)

# Common Mintlify excludes
snippets/**
api-reference/**

# Drafts and internal docs
drafts/**
internal/**

# Meta files
README.mdx
CONTRIBUTING.mdx

Use .speakignore to skip auto-generated API reference pages, code snippets, or internal documentation that doesn’t need audio narration.

How It Works

When you run speak-mintlify generate, the tool:

Searches for MDX files using the --pattern glob (default: **/*.mdx)
Filters out files matching .speakignore patterns
Only generates TTS audio for remaining files

Excluded files are completely skipped - no API calls, no S3 uploads, no MDX modifications.

Testing Your Patterns

Use the --dry-run flag to preview which files will be processed:

speak-mintlify generate --dry-run

This shows:

Files that will be processed
Files that will be skipped
Reason for skipping (e.g., “matched .speakignore pattern”)

Advanced Patterns

Include Exceptions

Exclude a directory but include specific files:

.speakignore

# Exclude all of api-reference/
api-reference/**

# But include the overview page
!api-reference/overview.mdx

Multiple Patterns

Combine multiple exclusion rules:

.speakignore

# Exclude by directory
drafts/**
internal/**

# Exclude by file name pattern
draft-*.mdx
test-*.mdx
*-wip.mdx

# Exclude specific files
README.mdx
CHANGELOG.mdx

Exclude by Depth

Exclude files at specific directory depths:

.speakignore

# Exclude all MDX files in root directory only
/*.mdx

# Exclude only files directly in the guides folder
guides/*.mdx

# Exclude files at any depth in guides (including subdirectories)
guides/**/*.mdx

Use Cases

Skip API Reference Pages

API reference pages are often auto-generated and may not need narration:

.speakignore

api-reference/**
openapi/**

Skip Snippets and Components

Exclude reusable snippets that aren’t standalone pages:

.speakignore

snippets/**
components/**

Skip Draft Content

Exclude work-in-progress documentation:

.speakignore

drafts/**
**/draft-*.mdx
**/*-wip.mdx

Skip Internal Documentation

Exclude docs meant only for internal team use:

.speakignore

internal/**
team/**
private/**

Pattern Matching Priority

Patterns are evaluated in order from top to bottom:

.speakignore

# This matches first
guides/**

# This can override the previous exclusion
!guides/getting-started.mdx

The file guides/getting-started.mdx will be included because the ! pattern comes after the exclusion.

Debugging

If files aren’t being excluded as expected:

Check pattern syntax

Ensure you’re using correct gitignore syntax:

dir/** excludes all files in dir/
dir/* only excludes direct children
*.mdx matches at any level

Use --verbose flag

Run with verbose output to see which files are skipped:

speak-mintlify generate --verbose

Test with --dry-run

Preview without making changes:

speak-mintlify generate --dry-run --verbose

Performance Benefits

Using .speakignore effectively can:

Reduce API calls to Fish Audio
Lower S3 storage costs
Speed up generation time
Keep your docs cleaner (no audio on pages that don’t need it)

Start with a restrictive .speakignore and gradually include more sections as needed. It’s easier to add than remove.

Get Started

Configuration

Commands

Guides

Reference

Creating .speakignore

Syntax

Common Patterns

Exclude Directories

Exclude Specific Files

Exclude by Pattern

Example .speakignore

How It Works

Testing Your Patterns

Advanced Patterns

Include Exceptions

Multiple Patterns

Exclude by Depth

Use Cases

Pattern Matching Priority

Debugging

Performance Benefits

Next Steps

Speaker Config

CLI Reference

​Creating .speakignore

​Syntax

​Common Patterns

​Exclude Directories

​Exclude Specific Files

​Exclude by Pattern

​Example .speakignore

​How It Works

​Testing Your Patterns

​Advanced Patterns

​Include Exceptions

​Multiple Patterns

​Exclude by Depth

​Use Cases

​Pattern Matching Priority

​Debugging

​Performance Benefits

​Next Steps

Speaker Config

CLI Reference

Creating .speakignore

Syntax

Common Patterns

Exclude Directories

Exclude Specific Files

Exclude by Pattern

Example .speakignore

How It Works

Testing Your Patterns

Advanced Patterns

Include Exceptions

Multiple Patterns

Exclude by Depth

Use Cases

Pattern Matching Priority

Debugging

Performance Benefits

Next Steps