diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 60d87d7..7360db9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ dmypy.json
 
 /0.0
 /.eric6project
-/src
+# /src
 /dist
 /ATTIC
 /platform_wasm
diff --git a/src/pygbag/app.py b/src/pygbag/app.py
index 261ba2f..15a8d51 100644
--- a/src/pygbag/app.py
+++ b/src/pygbag/app.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 from datetime import datetime
 
 from .__init__ import VERSION
+from .example_config import EXAMPLE_CONFIG
 
 if "--no_ssl_check" in sys.argv:
     import ssl
@@ -29,6 +30,10 @@
 
 from . import pack
 from . import web
+from .config_types import Config
+
+
+from config_to_object import load_config
 
 
 devmode = "--dev" in sys.argv
@@ -314,6 +319,8 @@ async def main_run(app_folder, mainscript, cdn=DEFAULT_CDN):
         help="web site to cache locally [default:%s]" % cdn,
     )
 
+    parser.add_argument("--ini", default=False, action="store_true", help="Initialize an example pygbag.ini config file")
+
     parser.add_argument(
         "--template",
         default=DEFAULT_TMPL,
@@ -407,11 +414,39 @@ async def main_run(app_folder, mainscript, cdn=DEFAULT_CDN):
         "COLUMNS": args.COLUMNS,
         "LINES": args.LINES,
         "CONSOLE": args.CONSOLE,
+        "INI": args.ini,
     }
 
+    if args.ini:
+        if not os.path.exists("pygbag.ini"):
+            with open("pygbag.ini", "w") as f:
+                f.write(EXAMPLE_CONFIG)
+        else:
+            print("ERROR: You already have an pygbag.ini file. Please delete it before attempting to init a fresh config.")
+            raise SystemExit
+
+    if os.path.exists("pygbag.ini"):
+        config: Config = load_config("pygbag.ini")
+        ignore_files = config.DEPENDENCIES.ignorefiles
+        ignore_dirs = config.DEPENDENCIES.ignoredirs
+    else:
+        print("WARNING: No pygbag.ini found! See: https://pygame-web.github.io/wiki/pygbag-configuration")
+        ignore_files = []
+        ignore_dirs = []
+
+    for ignore_arr in [ignore_files, ignore_dirs]:
+        for ignored in ignore_arr:
+            if ignored.strip().find(" ") != -1:  # has space in folder/file name
+                print(f"|{ignored}|")
+                print("ERROR! You cannot use folder/files with spaces in it.")
+                raise SystemExit  # maybe use a custom pygbag exception
+
     pygbag.config = CC
 
-    await pack.archive(f"{app_name}.apk", app_folder, build_dir)
+    print(f"Ignored dirs: {ignore_dirs}")
+    print(f"Ignored files: {ignore_files}")
+
+    await pack.archive(f"{app_name}.apk", app_folder, ignore_dirs, ignore_files, build_dir)
 
     def cache_file(remote_url, suffix):
         nonlocal cache_dir
diff --git a/src/pygbag/config_types.py b/src/pygbag/config_types.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..613ade4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pygbag/config_types.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# Automatically generated type hinting file for a .ini file
+# Generated with config-to-object https://pypi.org/project/config-to-object/1.0.0/
+# Run "ini_typefile your_config.ini type_file.py" to create a new type file
+
+from typing import NamedTuple, List, Tuple
+
+class DEPENDENCIES(NamedTuple):
+    ignoredirs:List[str]
+    ignorefiles:List[str]
+
+class Config(NamedTuple):
+    DEPENDENCIES:DEPENDENCIES
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/pygbag/example.ini b/src/pygbag/example.ini
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5153d9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pygbag/example.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# An example .ini file for pygbag configs
+
+[DEPENDENCIES]
+ignoreDirs = ["Folder1", "Folder2", "Folder3"]
+ignoreFiles = ["File1","File2", "File3"]
+# run `ini_typefile example.ini config_types.py` to regenerate the type hints for the ini file
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/pygbag/example_config.py b/src/pygbag/example_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd3f0de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pygbag/example_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+EXAMPLE_CONFIG = """[DEPENDENCIES]
+ignoreDirs = ["ignoreThisFolder","ignoreThisFolder2","ignoreThisFolder3"]
+ignoreFiles = ["File1.ignorethis", "File2.ignorethis", "File3.ignorethis"]
+"""
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/pygbag/filtering.py b/src/pygbag/filtering.py
index bf26dd5..613f4d7 100644
--- a/src/pygbag/filtering.py
+++ b/src/pygbag/filtering.py
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 /.github
 /.vscode
 /.idea
-/.venv
-/.tox
 /.DS_Store
 /dist
 /build
@@ -25,18 +23,24 @@
 /ignore
 /static
 /ATTIC
-""".strip().split(
-    "\n"
-)
+""".splitlines()
 
 SKIP_EXT = ["lnk", "pyc", "pyx", "pyd", "pyi", "exe", "bak", "log", "blend", "DS_Store"]
 
 
-def filter(walked):
-    global dbg, IGNORE, SKIP_EXT
+def filter(walked, ignore_dirs, ignore_files):
+    global dbg, IGNORE, SKIP_EXT, IGNORE_FILES
+    IGNORE.extend(ignore_dirs)
+    
+    IGNORE_FILES = ignore_files
+    
     for folder, filenames in walked:
         blocking = False
 
+        # ignore .* folders
+        if folder.startswith("."):
+            continue
+
         for block in IGNORE:
             if not block:
                 continue
@@ -58,10 +62,15 @@ def filter(walked):
             continue
 
         for filename in filenames:
+            # ignore .* files
+            if filename.startswith("."):
+                continue
             if filename in [".gitignore"]:
                 if dbg:
                     print("REJ 3", folder, filename)
                 continue
+            if filename in IGNORE_FILES:
+                continue
 
             ext = filename.rsplit(".", 1)[-1].lower()
             if ext in SKIP_EXT:
diff --git a/src/pygbag/pack.py b/src/pygbag/pack.py
index 277510d..ad6e938 100644
--- a/src/pygbag/pack.py
+++ b/src/pygbag/pack.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ def stream_pack_replay():
     print(f"replay packing {len(REPLAY.LIST)=} files complete for {REPLAY.APK}")
 
 
-async def archive(apkname, target_folder, build_dir=None):
+async def archive(apkname, target_folder, ignore_dirs:list[str], ignore_files:list[str], build_dir=None):
     global COUNTER, REPLAY
 
     COUNTER = 0
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ async def archive(apkname, target_folder, build_dir=None):
 
     filtered = []
     last = ""
-    for infolder, fullpath in filter(walked):
+    for infolder, fullpath in filter(walked, ignore_dirs, ignore_files):
         if last != infolder:
             print(f"Now in {infolder}")
             last = infolder