diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 616acd5..591129f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ Checks one or more prompt files against a simple JSON rules file.
 promptdiff check prompts/*.md --rules promptdiff.rules.json --fail-on high
 ```
 
-Both commands parse options strictly. Unknown options and options missing their required values are errors, and `compare` accepts exactly two file arguments. For `check`, every file or glob supplied on the command line must match; PromptDiff does not emit a partial report when one input is unmatched. Globs support `*` and `?` within a path segment and recursive `**` matching, such as `examples/**/*.md`. Results are sorted and deduplicated before checking.
+Both commands parse options strictly. Unknown options and options missing their required values are errors, and `compare` accepts exactly two file arguments. For `check`, every file or glob supplied on the command line must match; PromptDiff does not emit a partial report when one input is unmatched. Globs support `*` and `?` within a path segment and recursive `**` matching, such as `examples/**/*.md`. Glob traversal skips `.git`, `dist`, and `node_modules` directories so broad patterns check project-owned inputs instead of VCS, generated, or dependency content. Explicit file inputs remain available for any path. Results are sorted and deduplicated before checking.
 
 The rules document must be a JSON object. `requiredPhrases`, `forbiddenPhrases`, and `requireSections`, when present, must be arrays containing only non-empty strings. `maxSeverity` must be one of `info`, `low`, `medium`, `high`, or `critical`. Invalid rules exit with code `1`, print a field-specific diagnostic to stderr, and do not emit a report.
 
diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index 1ea7621..e03271d 100755
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ const packageVersion = JSON.parse(
   readFileSync(new URL('../package.json', import.meta.url), 'utf8'),
 ) as { version: string };
 
+const ignoredGlobDirectories = new Set(['.git', 'dist', 'node_modules']);
+
 function parseArgs(argv: string[]): ParsedArgs {
   const [command, ...rest] = argv;
   const flags = new Map<string, string | boolean>();
@@ -102,7 +104,7 @@ async function listFiles(root: string): Promise<string[]> {
   const files: string[] = [];
   for (const entry of entries.sort((left, right) => left.name < right.name ? -1 : left.name > right.name ? 1 : 0)) {
     const path = join(root, entry.name);
-    if (entry.isDirectory()) files.push(...await listFiles(path));
+    if (entry.isDirectory() && !ignoredGlobDirectories.has(entry.name)) files.push(...await listFiles(path));
     else if (entry.isFile()) files.push(path);
   }
   return files;
diff --git a/tests/cli.test.mjs b/tests/cli.test.mjs
index 972a87c..48b3ea8 100644
--- a/tests/cli.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/cli.test.mjs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import test from 'node:test';
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
-import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { join } from 'node:path';
 
@@ -93,6 +93,37 @@ test('cli check expands recursive globs into sorted unique files', () => {
   assert.ok(report.files.includes('examples/prompts/safe.md'));
 });
 
+test('cli check recursive globs skip dependency, VCS, and generated directories', () => {
+  const directory = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'promptdiff-cli-globs-'));
+  const cliPath = join(process.cwd(), 'dist', 'cli.js');
+  for (const path of ['prompts/nested', 'node_modules/example', '.git/objects', 'dist/generated']) {
+    mkdirSync(join(directory, path), { recursive: true });
+  }
+  writeFileSync(join(directory, 'prompts', 'own.md'), '# Own\n');
+  writeFileSync(join(directory, 'prompts', 'nested', 'second.md'), '# Second\n');
+  writeFileSync(join(directory, 'node_modules', 'example', 'README.md'), '# Dependency\n');
+  writeFileSync(join(directory, '.git', 'objects', 'fixture.md'), '# VCS\n');
+  writeFileSync(join(directory, 'dist', 'generated', 'output.md'), '# Generated\n');
+
+  try {
+    const run = spawnSync(process.execPath, [cliPath, 'check', '**/*.md', '--format', 'json'], {
+      cwd: directory,
+      encoding: 'utf8',
+    });
+    assert.equal(run.status, 0);
+    assert.equal(run.stderr, '');
+    assert.deepEqual(JSON.parse(run.stdout).files, ['prompts/nested/second.md', 'prompts/own.md']);
+
+    const explicit = spawnSync(process.execPath, [
+      cliPath, 'check', 'dist/generated/output.md', '--format', 'json',
+    ], { cwd: directory, encoding: 'utf8' });
+    assert.equal(explicit.status, 0);
+    assert.deepEqual(JSON.parse(explicit.stdout).files, ['dist/generated/output.md']);
+  } finally {
+    rmSync(directory, { recursive: true });
+  }
+});
+
 test('cli rejects malformed rules without emitting a report', () => {
   const directory = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'promptdiff-cli-rules-'));
   const rulesPath = join(directory, 'rules.json');