diff --git a/.deepwork/.gitignore b/.deepwork/.gitignore
index e597ebbd..febee622 100644
--- a/.deepwork/.gitignore
+++ b/.deepwork/.gitignore
@@ -4,6 +4,6 @@
 .last_head_ref
 job.schema.json
 
-# Temporary files (but keep the directory via .gitkeep)
+# Temporary files (tmp/.gitignore handles ignoring its own contents)
 tmp/*
-!tmp/.gitkeep
+!tmp/.gitignore
diff --git a/.deepwork/tmp/.gitignore b/.deepwork/tmp/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0f950cee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.deepwork/tmp/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Ignore everything in this directory
+*
+# But keep this .gitignore
+!.gitignore
diff --git a/.deepwork/tmp/.gitkeep b/.deepwork/tmp/.gitkeep
deleted file mode 100644
index 971fbd5c..00000000
--- a/.deepwork/tmp/.gitkeep
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-# This file ensures the .deepwork/tmp directory exists in version control.
-# The tmp directory is used for temporary files during DeepWork operations.
-# Do not delete this file.
diff --git a/src/deepwork/cli/serve.py b/src/deepwork/cli/serve.py
index bd4817c7..54b77916 100644
--- a/src/deepwork/cli/serve.py
+++ b/src/deepwork/cli/serve.py
@@ -118,6 +118,13 @@ def _serve_mcp(
     tmp_dir = project_path / ".deepwork" / "tmp"
     tmp_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
+    # Ensure .deepwork/tmp/.gitignore exists to keep tmp contents out of git
+    tmp_gitignore = tmp_dir / ".gitignore"
+    if not tmp_gitignore.exists():
+        tmp_gitignore.write_text(
+            "# Ignore everything in this directory\n*\n# But keep this .gitignore\n!.gitignore\n"
+        )
+
     # Create and run server
     from deepwork.jobs.mcp.server import create_server