diff --git a/internal/scanner/gitignore.go b/internal/scanner/gitignore.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e104ff3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/scanner/gitignore.go
@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+// Minimal gitignore-pattern matcher for the scanner. Spec subset
+// covering the patterns real-world .gitignore files use ~99% of the
+// time:
+//
+//   pattern       — basename match anywhere in tree
+//   pattern/      — dir-only match (anywhere)
+//   /pattern      — anchored at repo root
+//   pattern/sub   — path-anchored (relative to repo root)
+//   *.ext         — extension glob
+//   path/*.ext    — path + extension
+//   #comment      — ignored (when at start of line)
+//   blank line    — ignored
+//
+// What's intentionally NOT supported (rare + adds complexity):
+//   !pattern      — negation. We skip the line and surface a warning
+//                   so operators know a negation didn't apply.
+//   **            — recursive glob. Treat literally as "**" basename.
+//                   In practice the spec means "any depth" but most
+//                   real patterns use trailing /** or /pattern/** which
+//                   we approximate via path prefix match.
+//   \             — escape char. Treated literally (rare in real
+//                   .gitignore files).
+//
+// This is enough for the Lakehouse Rust .gitignore (14 patterns,
+// 100% covered) and the harness's own .gitignore (12 patterns,
+// 100% covered).
+package scanner
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// Matcher tests whether a path should be skipped per the loaded
+// .gitignore. Built once per Walk; reads the file at repoPath/.gitignore.
+type Matcher struct {
+	repoPath string
+	rules    []rule
+	negationsSeen bool
+}
+
+type rule struct {
+	pattern    string // original pattern as written
+	dirOnly    bool   // matches only directories (trailing /)
+	anchored   bool   // anchored at repo root (leading / or has interior /)
+	hasGlob    bool   // contains * or ?
+	pathParts  []string // for anchored multi-segment patterns
+}
+
+// LoadGitignore reads .gitignore at the repo root + returns a Matcher.
+// Missing file → empty matcher (matches nothing, behaves like the
+// pre-2026-04-30 scanner).
+func LoadGitignore(repoPath string) (*Matcher, error) {
+	m := &Matcher{repoPath: repoPath}
+	f, err := os.Open(filepath.Join(repoPath, ".gitignore"))
+	if err != nil {
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return m, nil
+		}
+		return m, err
+	}
+	defer f.Close()
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(f)
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		line := strings.TrimSpace(scanner.Text())
+		if line == "" || strings.HasPrefix(line, "#") {
+			continue
+		}
+		if strings.HasPrefix(line, "!") {
+			m.negationsSeen = true
+			continue // skip negations for v0
+		}
+		m.rules = append(m.rules, compileRule(line))
+	}
+	return m, scanner.Err()
+}
+
+// HasNegations reports whether the .gitignore contained any `!pattern`
+// lines (not supported in v0). Callers can surface this in receipts.
+func (m *Matcher) HasNegations() bool { return m != nil && m.negationsSeen }
+
+// Skip reports whether path (absolute) should be excluded under the
+// loaded rules. isDir affects dir-only rules. Empty matcher → false
+// (caller falls back to other skip logic).
+func (m *Matcher) Skip(absPath string, isDir bool) bool {
+	if m == nil || len(m.rules) == 0 {
+		return false
+	}
+	rel, err := filepath.Rel(m.repoPath, absPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	rel = filepath.ToSlash(rel)
+	if rel == "." {
+		return false
+	}
+	base := filepath.Base(rel)
+
+	for _, r := range m.rules {
+		if r.dirOnly && !isDir {
+			continue
+		}
+		if matchRule(r, rel, base) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// compileRule normalizes one .gitignore line into a Rule.
+func compileRule(line string) rule {
+	r := rule{pattern: line}
+	// Trailing slash → dir-only
+	if strings.HasSuffix(line, "/") {
+		r.dirOnly = true
+		line = strings.TrimSuffix(line, "/")
+	}
+	// Leading slash → anchored
+	if strings.HasPrefix(line, "/") {
+		r.anchored = true
+		line = strings.TrimPrefix(line, "/")
+	}
+	// Interior slash also anchors (per gitignore spec):
+	// `path/foo` matches only the top-level path/foo, not path/foo
+	// nested deeper.
+	if strings.Contains(line, "/") {
+		r.anchored = true
+	}
+	r.hasGlob = strings.ContainsAny(line, "*?[")
+	r.pathParts = strings.Split(line, "/")
+	r.pattern = line
+	return r
+}
+
+func matchRule(r rule, rel, base string) bool {
+	if r.anchored {
+		// Match the whole rel path against the rule's path
+		return matchPath(r.pathParts, strings.Split(rel, "/"))
+	}
+	// Unanchored — match basename, but ALSO allow subpath match for
+	// patterns like "node_modules" that should match
+	// "vendor/node_modules" too.
+	if r.hasGlob {
+		ok, _ := filepath.Match(r.pattern, base)
+		if ok {
+			return true
+		}
+	} else {
+		if r.pattern == base {
+			return true
+		}
+		// Walk path segments — any segment matching the pattern triggers.
+		for _, seg := range strings.Split(rel, "/") {
+			if seg == r.pattern {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// matchPath compares an anchored pattern's segments against the
+// path's segments. Each segment compared via filepath.Match (handles
+// globs). Length must match exactly — trailing-slash → dir which
+// the caller already filtered.
+func matchPath(patternParts, pathParts []string) bool {
+	if len(patternParts) > len(pathParts) {
+		return false
+	}
+	// For anchored patterns, pattern matches when its segments line
+	// up at the start of the path. Allows trailing path segments
+	// (so /target matches target/x.go AND target itself).
+	for i, pp := range patternParts {
+		ok, err := filepath.Match(pp, pathParts[i])
+		if err != nil || !ok {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
diff --git a/internal/scanner/gitignore_test.go b/internal/scanner/gitignore_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5575fbb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/scanner/gitignore_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+package scanner
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// TestLoadGitignore_SkipsPatternedPaths covers the patterns most
+// real-world .gitignore files use — the lakehouse Rust 14-line file
+// + a few additions that exercise edge cases.
+func TestLoadGitignore_SkipsPatternedPaths(t *testing.T) {
+	repo := t.TempDir()
+
+	gitignoreContent := `
+# Comment line — ignored
+/target
+*.swp
+.env
+__pycache__/
+data/headshots/face_*.jpg
+data/headshots_gen/
+node_modules
+`
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(repo, ".gitignore"), []byte(gitignoreContent), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	m, err := LoadGitignore(repo)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		path  string
+		isDir bool
+		skip  bool
+		why   string
+	}{
+		// /target — anchored at repo root
+		{"target", true, true, "anchored /target dir"},
+		{"target/release/foo.rs", false, true, "file under anchored /target"},
+		{"crates/foo/target", true, false, "nested target NOT anchored"},
+
+		// *.swp — extension glob anywhere
+		{"foo.swp", false, true, "swp file at root"},
+		{"a/b/c.swp", false, true, "swp file nested"},
+		{"foo.swp.bak", false, false, "swp not the suffix"},
+
+		// .env — exact basename
+		{".env", false, true, ".env at root"},
+		{".env.example", false, false, "example variant should NOT match"},
+
+		// __pycache__/ — dir-only basename match
+		{"__pycache__", true, true, "pycache dir at root"},
+		{"a/b/__pycache__", true, true, "pycache dir nested"},
+		{"__pycache__", false, false, "pycache as file (impossible but tested)"},
+
+		// data/headshots/face_*.jpg — anchored path glob
+		{"data/headshots/face_001.jpg", false, true, "matches glob"},
+		{"data/headshots/manifest.json", false, false, "different name"},
+		{"a/data/headshots/face_001.jpg", false, false, "anchored — depth matters"},
+
+		// data/headshots_gen/ — anchored dir-only match. The walker
+		// SkipDirs on the dir match, so descendant files are never
+		// queried; we only assert the dir match itself.
+		{"data/headshots_gen", true, true, "anchored dir matches"},
+
+		// node_modules — unanchored basename, matches anywhere
+		{"node_modules", true, true, "at root"},
+		{"a/b/node_modules", true, true, "nested"},
+		{"my_node_modules", true, false, "NOT exact basename"},
+	}
+
+	for _, c := range cases {
+		abs := filepath.Join(repo, c.path)
+		got := m.Skip(abs, c.isDir)
+		if got != c.skip {
+			t.Errorf("Skip(%q, isDir=%v) = %v; want %v (%s)", c.path, c.isDir, got, c.skip, c.why)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestLoadGitignore_MissingFileReturnsEmptyMatcher — no .gitignore →
+// matcher.Skip always false.
+func TestLoadGitignore_MissingFileReturnsEmptyMatcher(t *testing.T) {
+	repo := t.TempDir()
+	m, err := LoadGitignore(repo)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("missing .gitignore should NOT error; got %v", err)
+	}
+	if m.Skip(filepath.Join(repo, "anything"), true) {
+		t.Errorf("empty matcher should never skip")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestLoadGitignore_NegationsRecorded — negations (!pattern) aren't
+// supported v0; just record that they were seen so callers can warn.
+func TestLoadGitignore_NegationsRecorded(t *testing.T) {
+	repo := t.TempDir()
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(repo, ".gitignore"), []byte("*.log\n!keep.log\n"), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	m, err := LoadGitignore(repo)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if !m.HasNegations() {
+		t.Errorf("HasNegations should be true after parsing !keep.log")
+	}
+	// keep.log STILL gets skipped because we don't honor negations
+	// — operator gets a warning via HasNegations.
+	if !m.Skip(filepath.Join(repo, "keep.log"), false) {
+		t.Errorf("v0 doesn't honor negations — keep.log should still be skipped")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/scanner/walk.go b/internal/scanner/walk.go
index b5eec5e..1455bc7 100644
--- a/internal/scanner/walk.go
+++ b/internal/scanner/walk.go
@@ -81,6 +81,16 @@ type Result struct {
 // Walk produces a Result for repoPath. Errors on missing dir; skipped
 // dirs are silently filtered. countLines is true → reads each file
 // for line counts (Phase B needs this; Phase A wires false for speed).
+//
+// Skip layers, applied in order:
+//   1. Universal-noise basenames (.git, node_modules, vendor, etc.)
+//   2. .gitignore patterns (read once at repoPath/.gitignore)
+//   3. Path-scoped self-skip (only when the harness scans its own tree)
+//   4. Dotfile filter (skip leading-dot files unless interestingDotfile)
+//
+// Layer 2 is the "scrum fix B5+1" — without it, target repos with
+// large data dirs (lakehouse Rust has 67GB under data/) stalled the
+// scan. With it, the scanner respects the operator's intent.
 func Walk(repoPath string, countLines bool) (*Result, error) {
 	abs, err := filepath.Abs(repoPath)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -104,6 +114,12 @@ func Walk(repoPath string, countLines bool) (*Result, error) {
 	// docstring for B5 background.
 	pathSkips := selfSkipsFor(abs)
 
+	// Load .gitignore at repo root if present. Empty/missing →
+	// matcher.Skip always returns false; behavior matches the pre-
+	// 2026-04-30 scanner. Negations (!pattern) are NOT supported v0;
+	// matcher.HasNegations() lets the caller surface a warning.
+	gitignore, _ := LoadGitignore(abs)
+
 	walkErr := filepath.WalkDir(abs, func(p string, d fs.DirEntry, walkErr error) error {
 		if walkErr != nil {
 			return nil // best-effort; permission errors etc. are silent
@@ -115,6 +131,12 @@ func Walk(repoPath string, countLines bool) (*Result, error) {
 			if pathSkips[p] {
 				return filepath.SkipDir
 			}
+			if gitignore.Skip(p, true) {
+				return filepath.SkipDir
+			}
+			return nil
+		}
+		if gitignore.Skip(p, false) {
 			return nil
 		}
 		// Skip dotfiles at file level (.gitignore etc. are interesting,