diff --git a/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/gitignore.ts b/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/gitignore.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b52afd7cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/gitignore.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import type { Tree } from './types.js';
+
+const GITIGNORE_FILENAME = '.gitignore';
+const REPORTS_DIR = '.code-pushup';
+const REPORTS_DIR_ENTRIES = new Set([REPORTS_DIR, `**/${REPORTS_DIR}`]);
+const REPORTS_SECTION = `# Code PushUp reports\n${REPORTS_DIR}\n`;
+
+export async function resolveGitignore(tree: Tree): Promise<void> {
+  const content = await tree.read(GITIGNORE_FILENAME);
+  const updated = resolveGitignoreContent(content);
+
+  if (updated != null) {
+    await tree.write(GITIGNORE_FILENAME, updated);
+  }
+}
+
+function resolveGitignoreContent(content: string | null): string | null {
+  if (content == null) {
+    return REPORTS_SECTION;
+  }
+  if (gitignoreContainsEntry(content)) {
+    return null;
+  }
+  const separator = content.endsWith('\n\n')
+    ? ''
+    : content.endsWith('\n')
+      ? '\n'
+      : '\n\n';
+
+  return `${content}${separator}${REPORTS_SECTION}`;
+}
+
+function gitignoreContainsEntry(content: string): boolean {
+  return content.split('\n').some(raw => {
+    const line = raw.trim();
+    return (
+      line !== '' && !line.startsWith('#') && REPORTS_DIR_ENTRIES.has(line)
+    );
+  });
+}
diff --git a/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/gitignore.unit.test.ts b/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/gitignore.unit.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..16e544927
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/gitignore.unit.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+import { vol } from 'memfs';
+import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { MEMFS_VOLUME } from '@code-pushup/test-utils';
+import { resolveGitignore } from './gitignore.js';
+import { createTree } from './virtual-fs.js';
+
+describe('resolveGitignore', () => {
+  it('should create .gitignore with comment when it does not exist', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON({ 'package.json': '{}' }, MEMFS_VOLUME);
+    const tree = createTree(MEMFS_VOLUME);
+
+    await resolveGitignore(tree);
+
+    expect(tree.listChanges()).toStrictEqual([
+      {
+        type: 'CREATE',
+        path: '.gitignore',
+        content: '# Code PushUp reports\n.code-pushup\n',
+      },
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('should update .gitignore with blank line separator when it already exists', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON({ '.gitignore': 'node_modules\n' }, MEMFS_VOLUME);
+    const tree = createTree(MEMFS_VOLUME);
+
+    await resolveGitignore(tree);
+
+    expect(tree.listChanges()).toStrictEqual([
+      {
+        type: 'UPDATE',
+        path: '.gitignore',
+        content: 'node_modules\n\n# Code PushUp reports\n.code-pushup\n',
+      },
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('should preserve existing blank line before appending', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON({ '.gitignore': 'node_modules\n\n' }, MEMFS_VOLUME);
+    const tree = createTree(MEMFS_VOLUME);
+
+    await resolveGitignore(tree);
+
+    expect(tree.listChanges()).toStrictEqual([
+      {
+        type: 'UPDATE',
+        path: '.gitignore',
+        content: 'node_modules\n\n# Code PushUp reports\n.code-pushup\n',
+      },
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('should add double newline separator when .gitignore has no trailing newline', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON({ '.gitignore': 'node_modules' }, MEMFS_VOLUME);
+    const tree = createTree(MEMFS_VOLUME);
+
+    await resolveGitignore(tree);
+
+    expect(tree.listChanges()).toStrictEqual([
+      {
+        type: 'UPDATE',
+        path: '.gitignore',
+        content: 'node_modules\n\n# Code PushUp reports\n.code-pushup\n',
+      },
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('should skip if entry already in .gitignore', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON({ '.gitignore': '.code-pushup\n' }, MEMFS_VOLUME);
+    const tree = createTree(MEMFS_VOLUME);
+
+    await resolveGitignore(tree);
+
+    expect(tree.listChanges()).toStrictEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('should skip if **/.code-pushup entry already in .gitignore', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON({ '.gitignore': '**/.code-pushup\n' }, MEMFS_VOLUME);
+    const tree = createTree(MEMFS_VOLUME);
+
+    await resolveGitignore(tree);
+
+    expect(tree.listChanges()).toStrictEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('should skip if entry exists among comments and other entries', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON(
+      { '.gitignore': '# build output\ndist\n\n# reports\n.code-pushup\n' },
+      MEMFS_VOLUME,
+    );
+    const tree = createTree(MEMFS_VOLUME);
+
+    await resolveGitignore(tree);
+
+    expect(tree.listChanges()).toStrictEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('should skip if entry has leading and trailing whitespace', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON({ '.gitignore': '  .code-pushup  \n' }, MEMFS_VOLUME);
+    const tree = createTree(MEMFS_VOLUME);
+
+    await resolveGitignore(tree);
+
+    expect(tree.listChanges()).toStrictEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('should not match commented-out entry', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON({ '.gitignore': '# .code-pushup\n' }, MEMFS_VOLUME);
+    const tree = createTree(MEMFS_VOLUME);
+
+    await resolveGitignore(tree);
+
+    expect(tree.listChanges()).toStrictEqual([
+      {
+        type: 'UPDATE',
+        path: '.gitignore',
+        content: '# .code-pushup\n\n# Code PushUp reports\n.code-pushup\n',
+      },
+    ]);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('resolveGitignore - flush', () => {
+  it('should write .gitignore file to disk on flush', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON({ 'package.json': '{}' }, MEMFS_VOLUME);
+    const tree = createTree(MEMFS_VOLUME);
+
+    await resolveGitignore(tree);
+    await tree.flush();
+
+    await expect(readFile(`${MEMFS_VOLUME}/.gitignore`, 'utf8')).resolves.toBe(
+      '# Code PushUp reports\n.code-pushup\n',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should skip writing when entry already exists', async () => {
+    vol.fromJSON({ '.gitignore': '.code-pushup\n' }, MEMFS_VOLUME);
+    const tree = createTree(MEMFS_VOLUME);
+
+    await resolveGitignore(tree);
+    await tree.flush();
+
+    await expect(readFile(`${MEMFS_VOLUME}/.gitignore`, 'utf8')).resolves.toBe(
+      '.code-pushup\n',
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/wizard.int.test.ts b/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/wizard.int.test.ts
index 6d703dd34..0371cdf92 100644
--- a/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/wizard.int.test.ts
+++ b/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/wizard.int.test.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,18 @@
 import { readFile, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { cleanTestFolder } from '@code-pushup/test-utils';
+import { getGitRoot } from '@code-pushup/utils';
 import type { PluginSetupBinding } from './types.js';
 import { runSetupWizard } from './wizard.js';
 
+vi.mock('@code-pushup/utils', async () => {
+  const actual = await vi.importActual('@code-pushup/utils');
+  return {
+    ...actual,
+    getGitRoot: vi.fn(),
+  };
+});
+
 const TEST_BINDINGS: PluginSetupBinding[] = [
   {
     slug: 'alpha',
@@ -51,6 +60,7 @@ describe('runSetupWizard', () => {
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
     await cleanTestFolder(outputDir);
+    vi.mocked(getGitRoot).mockResolvedValue(path.resolve(outputDir));
   });
 
   it('should write a valid ts config file with provided bindings', async () => {
@@ -167,4 +177,47 @@ describe('runSetupWizard', () => {
       "
     `);
   });
+
+  it('should create .gitignore with .code-pushup entry', async () => {
+    await runSetupWizard(TEST_BINDINGS, {
+      yes: true,
+      'config-format': 'ts',
+      'target-dir': outputDir,
+    });
+
+    await expect(
+      readFile(path.join(outputDir, '.gitignore'), 'utf8'),
+    ).resolves.toBe('# Code PushUp reports\n.code-pushup\n');
+  });
+
+  it('should append .code-pushup to existing .gitignore', async () => {
+    await writeFile(path.join(outputDir, '.gitignore'), 'node_modules\n');
+
+    await runSetupWizard(TEST_BINDINGS, {
+      yes: true,
+      'config-format': 'ts',
+      'target-dir': outputDir,
+    });
+
+    await expect(
+      readFile(path.join(outputDir, '.gitignore'), 'utf8'),
+    ).resolves.toBe('node_modules\n\n# Code PushUp reports\n.code-pushup\n');
+  });
+
+  it('should not modify .gitignore if .code-pushup already present', async () => {
+    await writeFile(
+      path.join(outputDir, '.gitignore'),
+      'node_modules\n.code-pushup\n',
+    );
+
+    await runSetupWizard(TEST_BINDINGS, {
+      yes: true,
+      'config-format': 'ts',
+      'target-dir': outputDir,
+    });
+
+    await expect(
+      readFile(path.join(outputDir, '.gitignore'), 'utf8'),
+    ).resolves.toBe('node_modules\n.code-pushup\n');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/wizard.ts b/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/wizard.ts
index 8764e1972..4ed26ef72 100644
--- a/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/wizard.ts
+++ b/packages/create-cli/src/lib/setup/wizard.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,16 @@
-import { asyncSequential, formatAsciiTable, logger } from '@code-pushup/utils';
+import {
+  asyncSequential,
+  formatAsciiTable,
+  getGitRoot,
+  logger,
+} from '@code-pushup/utils';
 import { generateConfigSource } from './codegen.js';
 import {
   promptConfigFormat,
   readPackageJson,
   resolveConfigFilename,
 } from './config-format.js';
+import { resolveGitignore } from './gitignore.js';
 import { promptPluginOptions } from './prompts.js';
 import type {
   CliArgs,
@@ -14,7 +20,12 @@ import type {
 } from './types.js';
 import { createTree } from './virtual-fs.js';
 
-/** Runs the interactive setup wizard that generates a Code PushUp config file. */
+/**
+ * Runs the interactive setup wizard that generates a Code PushUp config file.
+ *
+ * All file changes are buffered in a virtual tree rooted at the git root,
+ * then flushed to disk in one step (or skipped on `--dry-run`).
+ */
 export async function runSetupWizard(
   bindings: PluginSetupBinding[],
   cliArgs: CliArgs,
@@ -32,24 +43,26 @@ export async function runSetupWizard(
     resolveBinding(binding, cliArgs),
   );
 
-  const tree = createTree(targetDir);
+  const gitRoot = await getGitRoot();
+  const tree = createTree(gitRoot);
   await tree.write(filename, generateConfigSource(pluginResults, format));
+  await resolveGitignore(tree);
 
-  const changes = tree.listChanges();
+  logChanges(tree.listChanges());
 
   if (cliArgs['dry-run']) {
-    logChanges(changes);
     logger.info('Dry run — no files written.');
-  } else {
-    await tree.flush();
-    logChanges(changes);
-    logger.info('Setup complete.');
-    logger.newline();
-    logNextSteps([
-      ['npx code-pushup', 'Collect your first report'],
-      ['https://github.com/code-pushup/cli#readme', 'Documentation'],
-    ]);
+    return;
   }
+
+  await tree.flush();
+
+  logger.info('Setup complete.');
+  logger.newline();
+  logNextSteps([
+    ['npx code-pushup', 'Collect your first report'],
+    ['https://github.com/code-pushup/cli#readme', 'Documentation'],
+  ]);
 }
 
 async function resolveBinding(