# Vitest coverage exclude: files, folders and lines

> Exclude files from Vitest coverage with coverage.exclude and src/generated/** globs, ignore lines with v8 ignore comments, and fix excludes that don't work. Vitest 5.1.

Web page: https://supercov.com/blog/vitest-coverage-exclude · Published 2026-11-08
All Supercov pages for agents: https://supercov.com/llms.txt · Full text: https://supercov.com/llms-full.txt

The patterns and comments that work in Vitest 5.1, and five that look right but are not, each one measured.

Put the pattern in `test.coverage.exclude`, write it from the project root and
end folders with `/**`: `src/generated/**`. To ignore lines inside a file, use
a `/* v8 ignore */` comment.

## Exclude patterns at a glance

| To exclude | Write |
| --- | --- |
| A folder | `coverage.exclude: ['src/generated/**']` |
| A folder name anywhere | `coverage.exclude: ['**/generated/**']` |
| One file | `coverage.exclude: ['src/legacy/old-pricing.ts']` |
| Files by name | `coverage.exclude: ['**/*.config.ts']` |
| From the command line | `--coverage.exclude='src/generated/**'` |
| The next statement | `/* v8 ignore next */` |
| An `if` branch | `/* v8 ignore if */` |
| A block of lines | `/* v8 ignore start */` … `/* v8 ignore stop */` |

Test files never need excluding. Vitest leaves them out of the report, even a
test file inside `src` that your `include` pattern matches.

We ran every setup here with Vitest 5.1.0 and Node.js 24. The test project
has four source files. One of them, `src/legacy/old-pricing.ts`, no test
imports.

## Exclude files and folders

```ts
import { defineConfig } from 'vitest/config'

export default defineConfig({
  test: {
    coverage: {
      include: ['src/**/*.ts'],
      exclude: ['src/generated/**', 'src/legacy/**'],
    },
  },
})
```

The report then listed two files, 9 of 9 lines. Patterns are globs matched
against each file's path from the project root.

`include` matters as much as `exclude`. By default Vitest reports only the
files your tests import. Our unimported legacy file was not in the report
until we added `include: ['src/**/*.ts']`; then it showed at 0 of 1 lines. So
a file you never import is already out of the report, and it appears only
when `include` brings it in.

![A diagram. Files the tests import are always in the report; files matched by include are added, even at 0%. coverage.exclude removes files by globs from the project root, and test files are never included. In our run 3 imported files plus 1 from include made 4; excluding src/generated/** and src/legacy/** left 2 files, 9 of 9 lines.](https://supercov.com/assets/vitest-coverage-exclude-flow-1360.f7934f2dc5.webp)

*Which files reach Vitest's coverage report, and where coverage.exclude applies.*

## Ignore lines with comments

```ts
function format(cents: number): string {
  /* v8 ignore if */
  if (cents < 0) {
    return `-${format(-cents)}`
  }
  return `${Math.floor(cents / 100)}.${String(cents % 100).padStart(2, '0')}`
}
```

Our `receipt.ts` has this hint and one `/* v8 ignore next */`. Without the two
comments it had 3 of 5 lines and 1 of 2 branches; with them, 3 of 3 lines and
no branches left to cover. `next` skips the next statement, and `start` /
`stop` skip everything between them.

The docs suggest `-- @preserve`, as in `/* v8 ignore if -- @preserve */`,
because older builds stripped comments from TypeScript. In Vitest 5.1.0 the
hints worked both with and without it.

On the default V8 provider, `/* istanbul ignore if */` worked too. On the
Istanbul provider only `istanbul` hints work: the `v8 ignore` comments were
ignored and the file went back to 3 of 5 lines.

## Why your Vitest coverage exclude isn't working

| What we tried | What happened |
| --- | --- |
| `exclude: ['generated']` | Nothing excluded: the pattern is matched from the root |
| `exclude: ['src/generated']` or `'src/generated/'` | The imported file stayed in the report |
| `exclude: ['src/legacy']`, a folder no test imports | Excluded |
| `test.exclude` instead of `test.coverage.exclude` | No change: it picks which test files run |
| `v8 ignore` comments with `provider: 'istanbul'` | Ignored |

![A grid of six setups against four files. Without include, legacy is missing, 10 of 11 lines. include adds it, 10 of 12. Excluding src/generated/** leaves pricing and receipt, 9 of 9. Excluding generated keeps all four. Excluding src/generated without /** keeps the imported generated file and drops only legacy. test.exclude keeps all four.](https://supercov.com/assets/vitest-coverage-exclude-grid-1360.b9bb653e67.webp)

*What each setup left in the report, measured with Vitest 5.1.0.*

The second and third rows disagree. The docs say a pattern without a wildcard
counts as a folder, and that held only for files Vitest found through
`include`. Files your tests import need the `/**`. Write it every time.

You may have seen `...coverageConfigDefaults.exclude` spread into
`exclude`. In Vitest 5.1.0 it is an empty list, so it changes nothing.

## What Supercov adds

```sh
npx supercov -- npx vitest run
npx supercov runs latest gaps
```

Supercov runs the same command and records which test covered each line,
with branches and MC/DC, without Vitest's coverage provider. It decides what
counts from your source directories, not from `coverage.exclude`. See
[Vitest coverage: V8 vs Istanbul](https://supercov.com/compare/vitest-coverage.md) for how the two
providers compare, and [per-test coverage in Vitest](https://supercov.com/compare/vitest-per-test-coverage.md).