diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8822720
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+*.php  text diff=php
+*.phpt text diff=php
+
+# Exclude non-essential files from dist to minimize package size.
+/.github/ export-ignore
+/bin/ export-ignore
+/example/ export-ignore
+/tests/ export-ignore
+/.editorconfig export-ignore
+/.gitattributes export-ignore
+/.gitignore export-ignore
+/readme.md export-ignore