diff --git a/src/core/rag/ragEngine.ts b/src/core/rag/ragEngine.ts
index 572cab8..a375a3d 100644
--- a/src/core/rag/ragEngine.ts
+++ b/src/core/rag/ragEngine.ts
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ export class RAGEngine {
       {
         chunkSize: this.settings.ragOptions.chunkSize,
         excludePatterns: this.settings.ragOptions.excludePatterns,
+        includePatterns: this.settings.ragOptions.includePatterns,
         reindexAll: options.reindexAll,
       },
       (indexProgress) => {
diff --git a/src/database/modules/vector/VectorManager.ts b/src/database/modules/vector/VectorManager.ts
index fa5cce5..3d79de3 100644
--- a/src/database/modules/vector/VectorManager.ts
+++ b/src/database/modules/vector/VectorManager.ts
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ export class VectorManager {
     options: {
       chunkSize: number
       excludePatterns: string[]
+      includePatterns: string[]
       reindexAll?: boolean
     },
     updateProgress?: (indexProgress: IndexProgress) => void,
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ export class VectorManager {
       filesToIndex = await this.getFilesToIndex({
         embeddingModel: embeddingModel,
         excludePatterns: options.excludePatterns,
+        includePatterns: options.includePatterns,
         reindexAll: true,
       })
       await this.repository.clearAllVectors(embeddingModel)
@@ -74,6 +76,7 @@ export class VectorManager {
       filesToIndex = await this.getFilesToIndex({
         embeddingModel: embeddingModel,
         excludePatterns: options.excludePatterns,
+        includePatterns: options.includePatterns,
       })
       await this.repository.deleteVectorsForMultipleFiles(
         filesToIndex.map((file) => file.path),
@@ -220,10 +223,12 @@ export class VectorManager {
   private async getFilesToIndex({
     embeddingModel,
     excludePatterns,
+    includePatterns,
     reindexAll,
   }: {
     embeddingModel: EmbeddingModel
     excludePatterns: string[]
+    includePatterns: string[]
     reindexAll?: boolean
   }): Promise<TFile[]> {
     let filesToIndex = this.app.vault.getMarkdownFiles()
@@ -232,6 +237,12 @@ export class VectorManager {
       return !excludePatterns.some((pattern) => minimatch(file.path, pattern))
     })
 
+    if (includePatterns.length > 0) {
+      filesToIndex = filesToIndex.filter((file) => {
+        return includePatterns.some((pattern) => minimatch(file.path, pattern))
+      })
+    }
+
     if (reindexAll) {
       return filesToIndex
     }
diff --git a/src/settings/SettingTab.tsx b/src/settings/SettingTab.tsx
index 2c6f0da..3a598b2 100644
--- a/src/settings/SettingTab.tsx
+++ b/src/settings/SettingTab.tsx
@@ -459,10 +459,45 @@ export class SmartCopilotSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
   renderRAGSection(containerEl: HTMLElement): void {
     new Setting(containerEl).setHeading().setName('RAG')
 
+    new Setting(containerEl)
+      .setName('Include patterns')
+      .setDesc(
+        'If any patterns are specified, ONLY files matching at least one pattern will be included in indexing. One pattern per line. Uses glob patterns (e.g., "notes/*", "*.md"). Leave empty to include all files not excluded by exclude patterns. After changing this, use the command "Rebuild entire vault index" to apply changes.',
+      )
+      .addButton((button) =>
+        button.setButtonText('Test patterns').onClick(async () => {
+          const patterns = this.plugin.settings.ragOptions.includePatterns
+          const includedFiles = await findFilesMatchingPatterns(
+            patterns,
+            this.plugin.app.vault,
+          )
+          new IncludedFilesModal(this.app, includedFiles, patterns).open()
+        }),
+      )
+    new Setting(containerEl)
+      .setClass('smtcmp-settings-textarea')
+      .addTextArea((text) =>
+        text
+          .setValue(this.plugin.settings.ragOptions.includePatterns.join('\n'))
+          .onChange(async (value) => {
+            const patterns = value
+              .split('\n')
+              .map((p) => p.trim())
+              .filter((p) => p.length > 0)
+            await this.plugin.setSettings({
+              ...this.plugin.settings,
+              ragOptions: {
+                ...this.plugin.settings.ragOptions,
+                includePatterns: patterns,
+              },
+            })
+          }),
+      )
+
     new Setting(containerEl)
       .setName('Exclude patterns')
       .setDesc(
-        'Files matching these patterns will be excluded from indexing. One pattern per line. Uses glob patterns (e.g., "private/*", "*.tmp"). After changing this, use the command "Rebuild entire vault index" to apply changes.',
+        'Files matching ANY of these patterns will be excluded from indexing. One pattern per line. Uses glob patterns (e.g., "private/*", "*.tmp"). Leave empty to exclude nothing. After changing this, use the command "Rebuild entire vault index" to apply changes.',
       )
       .addButton((button) =>
         button.setButtonText('Test patterns').onClick(async () => {
@@ -474,7 +509,6 @@ export class SmartCopilotSettingTab extends PluginSettingTab {
           new ExcludedFilesModal(this.app, excludedFiles).open()
         }),
       )
-
     new Setting(containerEl)
       .setClass('smtcmp-settings-textarea')
       .addTextArea((text) =>
@@ -676,3 +710,45 @@ class ExcludedFilesModal extends Modal {
     contentEl.empty()
   }
 }
+
+class IncludedFilesModal extends Modal {
+  private files: TFile[]
+  private patterns: string[]
+
+  constructor(app: App, files: TFile[], patterns: string[]) {
+    super(app)
+    this.files = files
+    this.patterns = patterns
+  }
+
+  onOpen() {
+    const { contentEl } = this
+    contentEl.empty()
+
+    this.titleEl.setText(`Included Files (${this.files.length})`)
+
+    if (this.patterns.length === 0) {
+      contentEl.createEl('p', {
+        text: 'No inclusion patterns specified - all files will be included (except those matching exclusion patterns)',
+      })
+      return
+    }
+
+    if (this.files.length === 0) {
+      contentEl.createEl('p', {
+        text: 'No files match the inclusion patterns',
+      })
+      return
+    }
+
+    const list = contentEl.createEl('ul')
+    this.files.forEach((file) => {
+      list.createEl('li', { text: file.path })
+    })
+  }
+
+  onClose() {
+    const { contentEl } = this
+    contentEl.empty()
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/types/settings.test.ts b/src/types/settings.test.ts
index 4cba376..f3be14b 100644
--- a/src/types/settings.test.ts
+++ b/src/types/settings.test.ts
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ describe('parseSmartCopilotSettings', () => {
         minSimilarity: 0.0,
         limit: 10,
         excludePatterns: [],
+        includePatterns: [],
       },
     })
   })
@@ -114,6 +115,7 @@ describe('settings migration', () => {
         minSimilarity: 0.0,
         limit: 10,
         excludePatterns: [],
+        includePatterns: [],
       },
     })
   })
diff --git a/src/types/settings.ts b/src/types/settings.ts
index 8df9e35..9246327 100644
--- a/src/types/settings.ts
+++ b/src/types/settings.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ const ragOptionsSchema = z.object({
   minSimilarity: z.number().catch(0.0),
   limit: z.number().catch(10),
   excludePatterns: z.array(z.string()).catch([]),
+  includePatterns: z.array(z.string()).catch([]),
 })
 
 const smartCopilotSettingsSchema = z.object({
@@ -90,6 +91,7 @@ const smartCopilotSettingsSchema = z.object({
     minSimilarity: 0.0,
     limit: 10,
     excludePatterns: [],
+    includePatterns: [],
   }),
 })