diff --git a/tree_structurer/cpp/tree_structurer.cpp b/tree_structurer/cpp/tree_structurer.cpp
index 028cdb0..a2af3cb 100644
--- a/tree_structurer/cpp/tree_structurer.cpp
+++ b/tree_structurer/cpp/tree_structurer.cpp
@@ -3,16 +3,23 @@
 #include <filesystem>
 
 namespace fs = std::filesystem;
-
 bool TreeStructurer::should_ignore_dir(const std::string& dirname) {
     static const std::vector<std::string> ignore_list = {
         "build", "venv", "myenv", "dist", "node_modules", "CMakeFiles",
         ".git", ".idea", ".vscode", "__pycache__"
     };
-    
-    return dirname[0] == '.' || 
-           dirname[0] == '_' ||  // This will catch __pycache__ and _directories
-           std::find(ignore_list.begin(), ignore_list.end(), dirname) != ignore_list.end();
+
+    // Ignore directories in the ignore list
+    if (std::find(ignore_list.begin(), ignore_list.end(), dirname) != ignore_list.end()) {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    // Ignore directories starting with '.' or '_'
+    if (!dirname.empty() && (dirname[0] == '.' || dirname[0] == '_')) {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    return false;
 }
 
 bool TreeStructurer::should_ignore_file(const std::string& filename) {
@@ -20,45 +27,61 @@ bool TreeStructurer::should_ignore_file(const std::string& filename) {
         ".pyc", ".pyo", ".pyd", ".so", ".dll", ".dylib",
         ".o", ".obj", ".a", ".lib"
     };
-    
-    if (filename[0] == '.') return true;
-    
+
+    // Ignore files starting with '.' or '_'
+    if (!filename.empty() && (filename[0] == '.' || filename[0] == '_')) {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    // Ignore files with specific extensions
     fs::path path(filename);
     std::string ext = path.extension().string();
-    return std::find(ignore_extensions.begin(), ignore_extensions.end(), ext) != ignore_extensions.end();
+    if (std::find(ignore_extensions.begin(), ignore_extensions.end(), ext) != ignore_extensions.end()) {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    return false;
 }
 
 std::vector<fs::path> TreeStructurer::get_filtered_paths(const fs::path& start) {
-        std::vector<fs::path> paths;
-    
-        for(const auto& entry : fs::recursive_directory_iterator(start)) {
+    std::vector<fs::path> paths;
+
+    for (const auto& entry : fs::recursive_directory_iterator(start)) {
         const auto& path = entry.path();
-        bool should_include = true;
-        
-        for(auto it = path.begin(); it != path.end(); ++it) {
-            if(should_ignore_dir(it->string())) {
-                should_include = false;
+
+        // Skip any path that contains an ignored directory
+        bool contains_ignored_dir = false;
+        for (auto it = path.begin(); it != path.end(); ++it) {
+            if (should_ignore_dir(it->string())) {
+                contains_ignored_dir = true;
                 break;
+            }
         }
+
+        if (contains_ignored_dir) {
+            continue;
         }
-        
-        if(should_include) {
-            if(fs::is_directory(path)) {
-                if(!should_ignore_dir(path.filename().string())) {
-                    paths.push_back(path);
+
+        // Handle directories
+        if (fs::is_directory(path)) {
+            if (!should_ignore_dir(path.filename().string())) {
+                paths.push_back(path);
+            }
         }
-            } else {
-                if(!should_ignore_file(path.filename().string())) {
-                    paths.push_back(path);
-    }
-}
+        // Handle files
+        else {
+            if (!should_ignore_file(path.filename().string())) {
+                paths.push_back(path);
+            }
         }
     }
-    
+
     std::sort(paths.begin(), paths.end());
     return paths;
 }
 
+
+
 std::string TreeStructurer::create_indent(int level) {
     if (level == 0) return "";