Which files are deleted on deploy?

Did you upload your application to Square Cloud and notice that some folders or files disappeared from your dashboard? Don't worry, this is standard and intentional behavior on our platform!

When deploying, Square Cloud automatically "cleans up" your package, removing local development environment files, framework caches, and dependency folders (such as the heavy node_modules).

We do this for two main reasons:

1. Speed and Performance: It prevents unnecessary data traffic, making your deployment much faster.
2. Space Saving: Local files and caches are not required for your application to run in the production environment. The actual dependencies will be automatically installed by our system.

Which files are automatically excluded?

When the application is created (upload), Square Cloud deletes these files and folders from the project root. Commits and GitHub deploys do not remove them, so leave them out of the zip. We have separated the list into categories for easier understanding:

Dependencies and Virtual Environments:

• node_modules
• .venv
• .npm
• .composer
• .bundle
• __pycache__

Framework Caches and Builds:

• .next/cache
• .nuxt/cache
• .cache

System and Version Control:

• .git
• .local
• .mongodb
• .bashrc
• .bash_logout
• .profile

Editor and Tool Configurations:

• .vscode
• .husky
• .logs

What do I need to do?

To ensure an efficient deployment, the best practice is to not upload these files at all. Use a squarecloud.ignore file at the project root (.gitignore syntax): the CLI and the VS Code extension leave out what it lists, plus node_modules, .git, .github, .vscode and lockfiles by default.

If you end up uploading these folders by mistake, there is no problem at all: Square Cloud will handle excluding them for you to ensure your application remains clean and lightweight.

Updated on: 10/04/2026