Disclosure: This draft was generated with AI and checked against the cited primary sources, with a separate AI editorial review. It was prepared for the FrameSprite team, which has a commercial interest in FrameSprite. Proposed examples are not executed tests unless explicitly identified as recorded fixture results.
Check whether delivery files are tracked, not merely present on the exporting artist's machine. An ignored export folder can contain a perfect local animation while a clean checkout receives no usable textures. Decide explicitly which outputs are generated during a build and which must travel with the project.
Key Takeaways
- Verify the recipient's file set from a clean checkout.
- Keep disposable caches separate from required delivery files.
- Fix ignore policy narrowly instead of force-adding everything.
Local presence does not establish delivery
Git ignore rules affect untracked files; they are not a package inventory. An artist may have exported a character into a directory the project intentionally excludes. The editor can still load that local file, so a preview does not expose the missing repository input.
Write down the recipient's starting point. If they only clone the repository, required inputs must either be available there or be produced by a documented step using available dependencies. “Run the exporter” is incomplete when the exporter requires an unpublished master.
Find the specific rule
Use git check-ignore to identify the matching ignore rule. Review its purpose. The folder might contain temporary renders, machine-specific caches, or private references that should remain excluded.
Inspect tracked files with git ls-files. This separates a file existing locally from a revision including it. Avoid deleting local exports to reproduce the problem; a separate checkout provides cleaner evidence without risking the only approved output.
Choose between tracking the approved delivery in a dedicated location and making generation a real build prerequisite. Keep this decision separate from whether editable masters should be public or retained in a private art repository. Document any private dependency the recipient needs.
Example: the excluded export directory
An artist writes a run animation into a build-art directory and the game scene references it. The repository ignores that directory because it previously contained only throwaway previews. The scene is committed, but its PNG is absent from a teammate's checkout.
Move the approved delivery into the project's asset input folder, or revise the build to produce it before import. Update the scene reference in the same change. Copying the PNG onto one teammate's computer leaves the next build machine with the same missing input.
If a narrow ignore exception is necessary, check parent-directory behavior and verify the actual result. A negated child pattern does not automatically make an excluded parent traversable. Review the complete rule chain rather than guessing from one line.
Acceptance from the recipient's position
Start with a new checkout of the candidate revision, follow the documented setup, and verify that the animation can be imported. Check both source inputs and expected runtime exports. A missing texture substituted by an editor cache is not a pass.
Record which files are tracked, which are generated, and where generation inputs come from. If setup requires unavailable tools or private masters, mark that dependency before approving handoff. The programmer should not need to reconstruct an artist's local folder history.
This is a proposed delivery check, not an executed clean-build result. No claim is made that the repository currently has a missing file or that every generated output belongs in version control.
Related workflow
For the neighboring problem, see game asset pack source export preview folders. Keep the animation handoff checklist with the delivery, and retain approved visual decisions in the art reference board.
Prepared by the FrameSprite Workflow Team. Editorial method · Corrections. Primary documentation checked 2026-10-20.
Top comments (0)