I can't get token file to be ignored by git

[hooded-person]

Not sure if this is the right place too ask but I accidentally added my token file(tokens/webhook.token) to my first git commit and now i can't get .gitignore to ignore it. I have tried git rm --cached tokens/webhook.token but it keeps wanting too retrack the file when i then update the webhook token. How do i fix this?
My .gitignore:

# ignore files used for vs code configuration
/.emmyrc.json

# ignore tokens this time
tokens
tokens/webhook.token

# ignore files containing data
database/data.lon
completion/username/players.lon

# ignore temporary files
.autosave.sdoc
.temp.*

# ignore settings
.settings

the github repo: https://github.com/hooded-person/KGinfractions

[tuves]

Welcome to the GitHub Community, @hooded-person, we're happy you're here! You are more likely to get a useful response if you are posting your question(s) in the applicable category. I've gone ahead and moved it for you. Good luck!

[hooded-person]

I do not see why the API and webhooks catagory is more applicable, the contents of the file that is not being ignored by git should not change where the question goes i would assume

[tuves]

My fault! I meant to move it to the General category.

[ido83]

The issue is that the file tokens/webhook.token is already part of your Git history because it was included in your first commit. Even after removing it with git rm --cached, Git still “remembers” it as part of the repository history. .gitignore can only prevent untracked files from being added to Git, so it won’t work for files already tracked in your repository.

To Stop Tracking and Ignore the File do this:

1. Remove the File from Tracking Without Deleting It Locally
   Run:
   git rm --cached tokens/webhook.token

This command removes the file from the staging area but leaves it intact in your local working directory.

2. Edit your .gitignore file to include the path to tokens/webhook.token

3. Commit the removal of the file and the .gitignore update:
   git add .gitignore
   git commit -m "Stop tracking webhook token and add it to .gitignore"

4. Push the updated repository:

At this point, tokens/webhook.token will no longer be tracked in future commits, and .gitignore will prevent it from being added again.

If you want to completely remove the file from the repository history (e.g., for security reasons like removing sensitive tokens), you need to rewrite the Git history.

Warning: Rewriting history can cause problems.

To rewrite history do:

1. Run the following command:
   git filter-repo --path tokens/webhook.token --invert-paths

(If git filter-repo is not available, install it first or use git filter-branch or BFG Repo-Cleaner.)

2. Force-push the updated history:
   git push --force

After this, the file will be removed from the entire repository history.