diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3f9cdb6..7917295 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,7 +14,11 @@ __pycache__/
 .venv/
 
 # app runtime data (feeds, caches, scan state - regenerated each run)
-app/data/
+# matched per-entry (not as a directory) so the whitelist seed files
+# for Cloudflare and PaloAlto below can be re-included
+app/data/*
+!app/data/cloudflare/
+!app/data/paloalto/
 
 # generated reports
 app/reports/