diff --git a/Templates/PythonToolGem/Template/.gitignore b/Templates/PythonToolGem/Template/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7a60b85e14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Templates/PythonToolGem/Template/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+__pycache__/
+*.pyc
diff --git a/Templates/PythonToolGem/template.json b/Templates/PythonToolGem/template.json
index 9f4aded036..6dc68de3fc 100644
--- a/Templates/PythonToolGem/template.json
+++ b/Templates/PythonToolGem/template.json
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@
     ],
     "icon_path": "preview.png",
     "copyFiles": [
+        {
+            "file": ".gitignore",
+            "origin": ".gitignore",
+            "isTemplated": false,
+            "isOptional": false
+        },
         {
             "file": "CMakeLists.txt",
             "origin": "CMakeLists.txt",