diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ae61759..67a5fbf 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -41,5 +41,9 @@
     "tar-fs": "^2.0.0",
     "ts-jest": "^24.0.2",
     "typescript": "^3.5.3"
+  },
+  "dependencies": {
+    "@types/minimatch": "^3.0.3",
+    "minimatch": "^3.0.4"
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index d69bd34..73d638f 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { join } from 'path';
 import { walkAndRender } from './walk';
 import { help } from './help';
 import { getValidConfig } from './validate';
@@ -19,8 +20,8 @@ export async function cli(
   }
 
   try {
-    const { resolvedDest, archiveUrl } = await getValidConfig(...args);
-    const templateVariables = await downloadRepo(archiveUrl, resolvedDest);
+    const config = await getValidConfig(...args);
+    const templateVariables = await downloadRepo(config);
 
     if (templateVariables.size > 0) {
       const variables: { [key: string]: string } = {};
@@ -35,12 +36,15 @@ export async function cli(
 
       debug(`Variables: ${JSON.stringify(variables, null, 2)}`);
 
-      await walkAndRender(resolvedDest, variables);
+      const resolvedGlobs = config.ignoreGlobs.map((glob) =>
+        join(config.resolvedDest, glob),
+      );
+      await walkAndRender(config.resolvedDest, variables, resolvedGlobs);
     }
 
     return {
       code: 0,
-      message: `Successfully downloaded to ${resolvedDest}`,
+      message: `Successfully downloaded to ${config.resolvedDest}`,
     };
   } catch ({ code, message }) {
     return { code, message };
diff --git a/src/download-repo.ts b/src/download-repo.ts
index d285c13..bac358d 100644
--- a/src/download-repo.ts
+++ b/src/download-repo.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ import { createGunzip } from 'zlib';
 import { extract, Headers } from 'tar-fs';
 import { ReadStream } from 'fs';
 import { parse } from 'mustache';
+import minimatch from 'minimatch';
+import { Config } from './types';
 
 function map(header: Headers) {
   // eslint-disable-next-line no-param-reassign
@@ -13,37 +15,41 @@ function map(header: Headers) {
   return header;
 }
 
-function getMapStream(templateVariables: Set<string>) {
-  return (fileStream: ReadStream, { type }: Headers) => {
-    if (type === 'file') {
-      const templateChunks: string[] = [];
-
-      fileStream.on('data', (chunk) => templateChunks.push(chunk.toString()));
-      fileStream.on('end', () => {
-        const template: string[] = parse(templateChunks.join(''));
-        template
-          .filter((entry) => entry[0] === 'name')
-          .map((entry) => entry[1])
-          .forEach((entry) => templateVariables.add(entry));
-      });
-
+function getMapStream(templateVariables: Set<string>, globsToIgnore: string[]) {
+  return (fileStream: ReadStream, { type, name }: Headers) => {
+    if (
+      type !== 'file' ||
+      globsToIgnore.some((glob) => minimatch(name, glob))
+    ) {
       return fileStream;
     }
 
+    const templateChunks: string[] = [];
+
+    fileStream.on('data', (chunk) => templateChunks.push(chunk.toString()));
+    fileStream.on('end', () => {
+      const template: string[] = parse(templateChunks.join(''));
+      template
+        .filter((entry) => entry[0] === 'name')
+        .map((entry) => entry[1])
+        .forEach((entry) => templateVariables.add(entry));
+    });
+
     return fileStream;
   };
 }
 
-export async function downloadRepo(
-  archiveUrl: string,
-  dest: string,
-): Promise<Set<string>> {
+export async function downloadRepo({
+  archiveUrl,
+  resolvedDest,
+  ignoreGlobs,
+}: Config): Promise<Set<string>> {
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     // TODO: Clean up this side-effect nightmare
     const templateVariables: Set<string> = new Set();
 
     // eslint-disable-next-line consistent-return
-    get(archiveUrl, (response) => {
+    get(archiveUrl, async (response) => {
       if (!response.statusCode || response.statusCode >= 400) {
         return reject(new Error(response.statusMessage));
       }
@@ -59,13 +65,18 @@ export async function downloadRepo(
           );
         }
 
-        downloadRepo(redirectUrl, dest).then(resolve, reject);
+        downloadRepo({
+          archiveUrl: redirectUrl,
+          resolvedDest,
+          ignoreGlobs,
+        }).then(resolve, reject);
       } else {
-        const mapStream = getMapStream(templateVariables);
+        const mapStream = getMapStream(templateVariables, ignoreGlobs);
+
         response
           .pipe(createGunzip())
           .pipe(
-            extract(dest, {
+            extract(resolvedDest, {
               map,
               mapStream,
             }),
diff --git a/src/get-globs-to-ignore.ts b/src/get-globs-to-ignore.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1df30d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/get-globs-to-ignore.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import { get } from 'https';
+import { debug } from './log';
+
+export async function getGlobsToIgnore(
+  ignoreFileUrl: string,
+): Promise<string[]> {
+  let globs: string[] = [];
+
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    try {
+      get(ignoreFileUrl, (response) => {
+        if (response.statusCode !== 200) {
+          debug(`No .demsignore file found at ${ignoreFileUrl}`);
+          resolve([]);
+        }
+
+        const globChunks: string[] = [];
+
+        response.on('data', (chunk) => {
+          globChunks.push(chunk);
+        });
+
+        response.on('end', () => {
+          globs = globChunks
+            .join('')
+            .split('\n')
+            .filter(Boolean);
+          resolve(globs);
+        });
+      });
+    } catch {
+      debug(`Error retrieving .demsignore file at ${ignoreFileUrl}`);
+    }
+  });
+}
diff --git a/src/get-scm-info.ts b/src/get-scm-info.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 644cda8..0000000
--- a/src/get-scm-info.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-import { InvalidSourceError } from './errors';
-import { SCMType } from './types';
-
-const repoUrlMap = {
-  github: (repo: string) => `https://github.com/${repo}`,
-  gitlab: (repo: string) => `https://gitlab.com/${repo}`,
-  bitbucket: (repo: string) => `https://bitbucket.org/${repo}`,
-};
-
-export function getScmInfo(descriptor: string): { type: SCMType; url: string } {
-  const pattern = /(?:https:\/\/|git@)?(github|bitbucket|gitlab)?(?::)?(?:\.org|\.com)?(?:\/|:)?([\w-]+\/[\w-]+)(?:\.git)?/;
-  const match = descriptor.match(pattern);
-
-  if (!match) {
-    throw new InvalidSourceError();
-  }
-
-  const type = (match[1] || 'github') as SCMType;
-  const url = repoUrlMap[type](match[2]);
-
-  return { type, url };
-}
diff --git a/src/prompt.ts b/src/prompt.ts
index 946aa2a..5c299a8 100644
--- a/src/prompt.ts
+++ b/src/prompt.ts
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@ import { createInterface } from 'readline';
 /**
  * Prompts for user input, displaying the given `question` string, and returns
  * the users input a a string
- *
- * @param question
  */
 export async function prompt(question: string): Promise<string> {
   const rl = createInterface({
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index dec6c89..7ef6b44 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ export type SCMType = 'github' | 'gitlab' | 'bitbucket';
 export interface Config {
   resolvedDest: string;
   archiveUrl: string;
+  ignoreGlobs: string[];
 }
 
 export interface CommitSHAMap {
diff --git a/src/validate.ts b/src/validate.ts
index ef5d929..ecbf7bf 100644
--- a/src/validate.ts
+++ b/src/validate.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,20 @@
 import { resolve } from 'path';
 import { existsSync } from 'fs';
-import { MissingSourceArgError, DestExistsError } from './errors';
-import { Config, CommitSHAMap } from './types';
+import {
+  MissingSourceArgError,
+  DestExistsError,
+  InvalidSourceError,
+} from './errors';
+import { Config, CommitSHAMap, SCMType } from './types';
 import { pExec } from './exec-promise';
 import { debug } from './log';
-import { getScmInfo } from './get-scm-info';
+import { getGlobsToIgnore } from './get-globs-to-ignore';
+
+const repoUrlMap = {
+  github: (repo: string) => `https://github.com/${repo}`,
+  gitlab: (repo: string) => `https://gitlab.com/${repo}`,
+  bitbucket: (repo: string) => `https://bitbucket.org/${repo}`,
+};
 
 const scmArchiveUrls = {
   gitlab: (url: string, sha: string) =>
@@ -13,6 +23,15 @@ const scmArchiveUrls = {
   github: (url: string, sha: string) => `${url}/archive/${sha}.tar.gz`,
 };
 
+const ignoreFileUrls = {
+  gitlab: (repo: string, sha: string) =>
+    `https://gitlab.com/${repo}/raw/${sha}/.demsignore`,
+  bitbucket: (repo: string, sha: string) =>
+    `https://bitbucket.org/${repo}/raw/${sha}/.demsignore`,
+  github: (repo: string, sha: string) =>
+    `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/${repo}/${sha}/.demsignore`,
+};
+
 /**
  * Run several checks to see if the user input appears valid. If valid,
  * transform it into a stricter structure for the rest of the program.
@@ -34,7 +53,17 @@ export async function getValidConfig(
   }
 
   debug('Checking source is valid');
-  const { url, type } = getScmInfo(descriptor);
+  const pattern = /(?:https:\/\/|git@)?(github|bitbucket|gitlab)?(?::)?(?:\.org|\.com)?(?:\/|:)?([\w-]+\/[\w-]+)(?:\.git)?/;
+  const match = descriptor.match(pattern);
+
+  if (!match) {
+    throw new InvalidSourceError();
+  }
+
+  const type = (match[1] || 'github') as SCMType;
+  const repo = match[2];
+  const url = repoUrlMap[type](repo);
+
   debug(`Valid source: ${url}`);
 
   const { stdout } = await pExec(`git ls-remote ${url}`);
@@ -57,6 +86,12 @@ export async function getValidConfig(
   const archiveUrl = scmArchiveUrls[type](url, sha);
   debug(`Archive URL: ${archiveUrl}`);
 
+  const ignoreFileUrl = ignoreFileUrls[type](repo, sha);
+  debug(`Ignore file URL: ${ignoreFileUrl}`);
+
+  const ignoreGlobs = await getGlobsToIgnore(ignoreFileUrl);
+  debug(`Globs to ignore: ${ignoreGlobs}`);
+
   debug('Checking dest is valid');
   // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-non-null-assertion
   const resolvedDest = resolve(dest || url.split('/').pop()!);
@@ -65,5 +100,5 @@ export async function getValidConfig(
   }
   debug(`Valid dest: ${resolvedDest}`);
 
-  return { resolvedDest, archiveUrl };
+  return { resolvedDest, archiveUrl, ignoreGlobs };
 }
diff --git a/src/walk.ts b/src/walk.ts
index f22a1ea..54f713c 100644
--- a/src/walk.ts
+++ b/src/walk.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 import { render } from 'mustache';
 import { promises as fsp } from 'fs';
-import { join } from 'path';
+import { join, resolve } from 'path';
+import minimatch from 'minimatch';
 import { debug } from './log';
 
 export async function walkAndRender(
   dir: string,
   templateVariables: { [key: string]: string },
+  ignoreGlobs: string[],
 ) {
   const files = await fsp.readdir(dir, { withFileTypes: true });
 
@@ -14,10 +16,18 @@ export async function walkAndRender(
       const filePath = join(dir, file.name);
 
       if (file.isDirectory()) {
-        return walkAndRender(filePath, templateVariables);
+        return walkAndRender(filePath, templateVariables, ignoreGlobs);
       }
 
       if (file.isFile()) {
+        if (file.name === '.demsignore') {
+          return fsp.unlink(filePath);
+        }
+
+        if (ignoreGlobs.some((glob) => minimatch(filePath, resolve(glob)))) {
+          return Promise.resolve();
+        }
+
         const fileToRender = await fsp.readFile(filePath, { encoding: 'utf8' });
         debug(`Writing file ${filePath}`);
         return fsp.writeFile(filePath, render(fileToRender, templateVariables));
diff --git a/test/cleanup.ts b/test/cleanup.ts
index 09dc65d..c7556cc 100644
--- a/test/cleanup.ts
+++ b/test/cleanup.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,23 @@
 import { existsSync, rmdirSync, readdirSync, unlinkSync } from 'fs';
 import { resolve } from 'path';
 
+function deleteDirectory(path: string) {
+  if (existsSync(path)) {
+    const dirents = readdirSync(path, { withFileTypes: true });
+    dirents.forEach((ent) => {
+      if (ent.isFile()) {
+        unlinkSync(resolve(path, ent.name));
+      }
+
+      if (ent.isDirectory()) {
+        deleteDirectory(resolve(path, ent.name));
+      }
+    });
+
+    rmdirSync(path);
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Not an ideal solution, but relatively safe if the tests are not executed in
  * parallel, and provides an easier solution than mocking write streams. Note
@@ -8,15 +25,10 @@ import { resolve } from 'path';
  * --runInBand is recommended anyway.
  */
 export function removeTestDir() {
-  const dir = resolve('dems-example');
-  if (existsSync(dir)) {
-    const dirents = readdirSync(dir, { withFileTypes: true });
-    dirents.forEach((ent) => {
-      if (ent.isFile()) {
-        unlinkSync(resolve(dir, ent.name));
-      }
-    });
+  const fixturePaths = ['dems-example', 'dems-fixture-with-ignores'];
 
-    rmdirSync(dir);
-  }
+  fixturePaths.forEach((fixturePath) => {
+    const dir = resolve(fixturePath);
+    deleteDirectory(dir);
+  });
 }
diff --git a/test/cli.test.ts b/test/cli.test.ts
index 0e63535..43ac28b 100644
--- a/test/cli.test.ts
+++ b/test/cli.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { mocked } from 'ts-jest/utils';
-import { promises as fsp } from 'fs';
+import { promises as fsp, existsSync } from 'fs';
 import { resolve } from 'path';
 import { cli } from '../src/cli';
 import { prompt } from '../src/prompt';
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ describe('cli', () => {
         promptMock.mockResolvedValueOnce('foo');
         promptMock.mockResolvedValueOnce('bar');
 
-        const args = ['github:robcresswell/dems-example'];
+        const args = [url];
         const { code } = await cli(args);
 
         expect(writeMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(4);
@@ -88,5 +88,32 @@ describe('cli', () => {
         expect(code).toBe(0);
       });
     });
+
+    it('handles .demsignore files', async () => {
+      promptMock.mockResolvedValueOnce('foo');
+      promptMock.mockResolvedValueOnce('bar');
+
+      const args = ['robcresswell/dems-fixture-with-ignores'];
+      const { code } = await cli(args);
+
+      expect(writeMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(4);
+      expect(writeMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        resolve('dems-fixture-with-ignores', 'LICENSE.md'),
+        expect.any(String),
+      );
+      expect(writeMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        resolve('dems-fixture-with-ignores', 'README.md'),
+        expect.any(String),
+      );
+
+      // Assert that this file exists, but was not written to
+      const fixtureTestFile = resolve(
+        'dems-fixture-with-ignores',
+        'test/test-file.js',
+      );
+      expect(existsSync(fixtureTestFile)).toBe(true);
+      expect(writeMock).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(fixtureTestFile);
+      expect(code).toBe(0);
+    });
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/get-scm-info.test.ts b/test/get-scm-info.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 22b4c4d..0000000
--- a/test/get-scm-info.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,79 +0,0 @@
-import { getScmInfo } from '../src/get-scm-info';
-import { SCMType } from '../src/types';
-
-jest.mock('../src/exec-promise');
-
-const validSourceFixtures: {
-  [key: string]: {
-    type: SCMType;
-    url: string;
-  };
-} = {
-  'robcresswell/dems-example-1': {
-    type: 'github',
-    url: 'https://github.com/robcresswell/dems-example-1',
-  },
-  'github:robcresswell/dems-example-2': {
-    type: 'github',
-    url: 'https://github.com/robcresswell/dems-example-2',
-  },
-  'https://github.com/robcresswell/dems-example-3': {
-    type: 'github',
-    url: 'https://github.com/robcresswell/dems-example-3',
-  },
-  'git@github.com:robcresswell/dems-example-4.git': {
-    type: 'github',
-    url: 'https://github.com/robcresswell/dems-example-4',
-  },
-  'gitlab:robcresswell/dems-example-5': {
-    type: 'gitlab',
-    url: 'https://gitlab.com/robcresswell/dems-example-5',
-  },
-  'https://gitlab.com/robcresswell/dems-example-6': {
-    type: 'gitlab',
-    url: 'https://gitlab.com/robcresswell/dems-example-6',
-  },
-  'git@gitlab.com:robcresswell/dems-example-7.git': {
-    type: 'gitlab',
-    url: 'https://gitlab.com/robcresswell/dems-example-7',
-  },
-  'bitbucket:robcresswell/dems-example-8': {
-    type: 'bitbucket',
-    url: 'https://bitbucket.org/robcresswell/dems-example-8',
-  },
-  'https://bitbucket.org/robcresswell/dems-example-9': {
-    type: 'bitbucket',
-    url: 'https://bitbucket.org/robcresswell/dems-example-9',
-  },
-};
-
-describe('get-scm-info', () => {
-  describe('parses SCM info correctly', () => {
-    Object.entries(validSourceFixtures).forEach(([sourceUrl, sourceInfo]) => {
-      it(sourceUrl, () => {
-        const { type, url } = getScmInfo(sourceUrl);
-
-        expect(type).toEqual(sourceInfo.type);
-        expect(url).toEqual(sourceInfo.url);
-      });
-    });
-  });
-
-  describe('throws an error if the source is invalid', () => {
-    it('throws an error if an empty source is provided', () => {
-      expect(() => getScmInfo('')).toThrow();
-    });
-
-    it('throws an error if there is no "/"', () => {
-      expect(() => getScmInfo('nonsense')).toThrow();
-    });
-
-    it('throws an error if the project name is missing', () => {
-      expect(() => getScmInfo('partial/')).toThrow();
-    });
-
-    it('throws an error if the user or org name is missing', () => {
-      expect(() => getScmInfo('/partial')).toThrow();
-    });
-  });
-});
diff --git a/test/walk.test.ts b/test/walk.test.ts
index 1f0ab22..08d8e18 100644
--- a/test/walk.test.ts
+++ b/test/walk.test.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ describe('walk', () => {
       name: 'foo',
       title: 'bar',
     };
-    await walkAndRender('./test/fixtures/test-dir', templateVariables);
+    await walkAndRender('./test/fixtures/test-dir', templateVariables, []);
 
     expect(writeMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
     expect(writeMock).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ describe('walk', () => {
       name: 'foo',
       title: 'bar',
     };
-    await walkAndRender('./test/fixtures/test-dir', templateVariables);
+    await walkAndRender('./test/fixtures/test-dir', templateVariables, []);
 
     expect(writeMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
 
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 03fcf25..bf19e10 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -360,6 +360,11 @@
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/json-schema/-/json-schema-7.0.3.tgz#bdfd69d61e464dcc81b25159c270d75a73c1a636"
   integrity sha512-Il2DtDVRGDcqjDtE+rF8iqg1CArehSK84HZJCT7AMITlyXRBpuPhqGLDQMowraqqu1coEaimg4ZOqggt6L6L+A==
 
+"@types/minimatch@^3.0.3":
+  version "3.0.3"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/minimatch/-/minimatch-3.0.3.tgz#3dca0e3f33b200fc7d1139c0cd96c1268cadfd9d"
+  integrity sha512-tHq6qdbT9U1IRSGf14CL0pUlULksvY9OZ+5eEgl1N7t+OA3tGvNpxJCzuKQlsNgCVwbAs670L1vcVQi8j9HjnA==
+
 "@types/mustache@^0.8.32":
   version "0.8.32"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/@types/mustache/-/mustache-0.8.32.tgz#7db3b81f2bf450bd38805f596d20eca97c4ed595"