diff --git a/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer.Test/ComponentDetectorTests.cs b/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer.Test/ComponentDetectorTests.cs
index b57789d..0c39e87 100644
--- a/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer.Test/ComponentDetectorTests.cs
+++ b/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer.Test/ComponentDetectorTests.cs
@@ -36,6 +36,22 @@ public void Workspace_root_members_and_auxiliary_flags()
         Assert.False(byPath["apps/web"].IsAuxiliary);
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void Sln_only_directory_is_not_a_phantom_component()
+    {
+        using var repo = new TempRepo();
+        repo.Write("Makefile", "all:\n\tcc -o app src/main.c\n")
+            .Write("src/main.c", "int main(void){return 0;}\n")
+            .Write("proj/vs2022/app.sln", "Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File\n")
+            .Write("proj/vs2022/app.vcxproj", "<Project></Project>\n");
+
+        var comps = Detect(repo);
+        // proj/vs2022 holds only build files (no owned source / manifest) — it must
+        // not be emitted as a standalone empty workspace-root component.
+        Assert.DoesNotContain(comps, c => c.RelativePath == "proj/vs2022");
+        Assert.Contains(comps, c => c.RelativePath == ".");
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public void Follows_msbuild_import_for_shared_packagereferences()
     {
diff --git a/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer.Test/FileSystemScannerTests.cs b/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer.Test/FileSystemScannerTests.cs
index 0b76aae..a32a464 100644
--- a/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer.Test/FileSystemScannerTests.cs
+++ b/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer.Test/FileSystemScannerTests.cs
@@ -17,6 +17,27 @@ private static TempRepo Sample()
         return repo;
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void GitAttributes_linguist_overrides_flag_files()
+    {
+        using var repo = new TempRepo();
+        repo.Write(".gitattributes",
+                "tests/data/** linguist-vendored\nschemas/*.gen.cs linguist-generated\nrefmanual/** linguist-documentation\n")
+            .Write("src/App.cs", "class A {}\n")
+            .Write("tests/data/fixture.tex", "\\documentclass{article}\n")
+            .Write("schemas/Model.gen.cs", "class M {}\n")
+            .Write("refmanual/guide.cs", "class D {}\n");
+
+        var scan = new FileSystemScanner(Harness.Data, new AnalyzerOptions()).Scan(repo.Root);
+        var byPath = scan.Files.ToDictionary(f => f.RelativePath);
+
+        Assert.False(byPath["src/App.cs"].IsVendored);
+        Assert.False(byPath["src/App.cs"].IsDocumentation);
+        Assert.True(byPath["tests/data/fixture.tex"].IsVendored);   // linguist-vendored
+        Assert.True(byPath["schemas/Model.gen.cs"].IsVendored);     // linguist-generated
+        Assert.True(byPath["refmanual/guide.cs"].IsDocumentation);  // linguist-documentation
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public void Prunes_vendored_dirs_and_gitignored_files_by_default()
     {
diff --git a/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer/Components/ComponentDetector.cs b/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer/Components/ComponentDetector.cs
index 83e871a..742b233 100644
--- a/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer/Components/ComponentDetector.cs
+++ b/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer/Components/ComponentDetector.cs
@@ -125,6 +125,14 @@ public IReadOnlyList<ComponentContext> Detect(IReadOnlyList<ClassifiedFile> file
             });
         }
 
+        // Drop phantom workspace-root components: a directory promoted to a root
+        // only by a bare `.sln`/`.slnx` (or workspace declarator) that owns no
+        // source and no parsed manifest is a build artifact of a real root, not a
+        // component. The repo root (".") is always kept.
+        components.RemoveAll(c =>
+            c.RelativePath != "." && c.IsWorkspaceRoot
+            && c.Languages.Count == 0 && c.Manifests.Count == 0);
+
         return components;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer/Scanning/FileSystemScanner.cs b/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer/Scanning/FileSystemScanner.cs
index eff0e80..dd0372a 100644
--- a/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer/Scanning/FileSystemScanner.cs
+++ b/src/Ivy.StackAnalyzer/Scanning/FileSystemScanner.cs
@@ -24,9 +24,14 @@ public ScanResult Scan(string repoRoot, CancellationToken ct = default)
         var files = new List<ScannedFile>();
         var ignoredDirs = new SortedSet<string>(StringComparer.Ordinal);
         var gitignore = new GitignoreMatcher();
+        // .gitattributes linguist overrides (the repo's own language-stat hints):
+        // `linguist-vendored`/`-generated` exclude like vendored; `-documentation`
+        // flags as docs. Reuses the gitignore glob engine (same pattern syntax).
+        var attrVendored = new GitignoreMatcher();
+        var attrDocumentation = new GitignoreMatcher();
         int total = 0;
 
-        Walk(repoRoot, repoRoot, gitignore, files, ignoredDirs, ref total, ct);
+        Walk(repoRoot, repoRoot, gitignore, attrVendored, attrDocumentation, files, ignoredDirs, ref total, ct);
 
         files.Sort((a, b) => string.CompareOrdinal(a.RelativePath, b.RelativePath));
         return new ScanResult
@@ -39,11 +44,15 @@ public ScanResult Scan(string repoRoot, CancellationToken ct = default)
 
     private void Walk(
         string dir, string root, GitignoreMatcher gitignore,
+        GitignoreMatcher attrVendored, GitignoreMatcher attrDocumentation,
         List<ScannedFile> files, SortedSet<string> ignoredDirs,
         ref int total, CancellationToken ct)
     {
         ct.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
 
+        var dirRel = ToRelative(root, dir);
+        if (dirRel == ".") dirRel = "";
+
         // Load this directory's .gitignore before descending. At the repo root
         // ToRelative yields "." — normalize to "" so patterns aren't prefixed "./".
         if (_options.RespectGitignore)
@@ -51,13 +60,19 @@ private void Walk(
             var giPath = Path.Combine(dir, ".gitignore");
             if (File.Exists(giPath))
             {
-                var baseDir = ToRelative(root, dir);
-                if (baseDir == ".") baseDir = "";
-                try { gitignore.AddFile(baseDir, File.ReadAllText(giPath)); }
+                try { gitignore.AddFile(dirRel, File.ReadAllText(giPath)); }
                 catch (Exception ex) when (ex is IOException or UnauthorizedAccessException) { /* skip unreadable .gitignore */ }
             }
         }
 
+        // .gitattributes is independent of .gitignore (read regardless).
+        var gaPath = Path.Combine(dir, ".gitattributes");
+        if (File.Exists(gaPath))
+        {
+            try { AddGitAttributes(dirRel, File.ReadAllText(gaPath), attrVendored, attrDocumentation); }
+            catch (Exception ex) when (ex is IOException or UnauthorizedAccessException) { /* skip unreadable .gitattributes */ }
+        }
+
         string[] subDirs, dirFiles;
         try
         {
@@ -76,7 +91,8 @@ private void Walk(
             var rel = ToRelative(root, file);
             if (_options.RespectGitignore && gitignore.IsIgnored(rel, isDirectory: false)) continue;
 
-            bool vendored = IsVendored(rel);
+            // vendored: vendor.yml patterns OR a .gitattributes linguist-vendored/-generated override.
+            bool vendored = IsVendored(rel) || attrVendored.IsIgnored(rel, isDirectory: false);
             if (vendored && !_options.IncludeVendored)
             {
                 // counted as total, kept (flagged) so downstream can exclude from stats
@@ -85,7 +101,7 @@ private void Walk(
             // Documentation / example files are flagged but NEVER pruned from the
             // walk: example dirs must still surface as components. The flag only
             // excludes them from language statistics downstream.
-            bool documentation = IsDocumentation(rel);
+            bool documentation = IsDocumentation(rel) || attrDocumentation.IsIgnored(rel, isDirectory: false);
 
             long len;
             try { len = new FileInfo(file).Length; } catch { len = 0; }
@@ -126,10 +142,38 @@ private void Walk(
                 continue;
             }
 
-            Walk(sub, root, gitignore, files, ignoredDirs, ref total, ct);
+            Walk(sub, root, gitignore, attrVendored, attrDocumentation, files, ignoredDirs, ref total, ct);
         }
     }
 
+    // Parse a .gitattributes file: `pattern attr1 attr2 ...`. Positive linguist
+    // overrides feed the matchers; negated/`=false` forms are ignored (we never
+    // force-exclude on a negative). Pattern syntax matches .gitignore globs.
+    private static void AddGitAttributes(
+        string baseDir, string content, GitignoreMatcher vendored, GitignoreMatcher documentation)
+    {
+        foreach (var raw in content.Split('\n'))
+        {
+            var line = raw.Trim();
+            if (line.Length == 0 || line.StartsWith('#')) continue;
+            var sp = line.IndexOfAny([' ', '\t']);
+            if (sp < 0) continue;
+            var pattern = line[..sp];
+            var attrs = line[sp..];
+            if (HasAttr(attrs, "linguist-vendored") || HasAttr(attrs, "linguist-generated"))
+                vendored.AddFile(baseDir, pattern);
+            if (HasAttr(attrs, "linguist-documentation"))
+                documentation.AddFile(baseDir, pattern);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static bool HasAttr(string attrs, string name)
+    {
+        foreach (var tok in attrs.Split([' ', '\t'], StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries))
+            if (tok == name || tok == name + "=true") return true; // positive only
+        return false;
+    }
+
     private bool IsVendored(string relativePath)
     {
         foreach (var rx in _data.VendorPatterns)