diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e69de29..ba39f76 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# Python
+__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+*.pyo
+
+# Virtual Environments
+.venv/
+venv/
+env/
+
+# IDEs
+.vscode/
+.idea/
+
+# macOS
+.DS_Store
+
+# Test & Coverage
+.pytest_cache/
+.coverage
+htmlcov/
+
+# Build
+build/
+dist/
+*.egg-info/
+
+# Environment
+.env
+
+# Local databases
+*.db
+*.sqlite
+*.sqlite3
+
+# Meeting data
+data/recordings/*
+data/transcripts/*
+data/database/*
+
+# Keep directory structure
+!data/recordings/.gitkeep
+!data/transcripts/.gitkeep
+!data/database/.gitkeep
diff --git a/data/database/.gitkeep b/data/database/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/data/recordings/.gitkeep b/data/recordings/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/data/transcripts/.gitkeep b/data/transcripts/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29