Index: swh/model/cli.py
===================================================================
--- swh/model/cli.py
+++ swh/model/cli.py
@@ -52,11 +52,21 @@
     return swhid(CONTENT, object)
 
 
-def swhid_of_dir(path):
-    from swh.model.from_disk import Directory
+def swhid_of_dir(path, exclude_patterns=None):
+    from swh.model.from_disk import (
+        Directory,
+        accept_all_directories,
+        ignore_directories_patterns,
+    )
     from swh.model.identifiers import DIRECTORY, swhid
 
-    object = Directory.from_disk(path=path).get_data()
+    dir_filter = (
+        ignore_directories_patterns(path.decode(), exclude_patterns)
+        if exclude_patterns
+        else accept_all_directories
+    )
+
+    object = Directory.from_disk(path=path, dir_filter=dir_filter).get_data()
     return swhid(DIRECTORY, object)
 
 
@@ -96,7 +106,7 @@
     return str(SWHID(object_type="snapshot", object_id=snapshot_identifier(snapshot)))
 
 
-def identify_object(obj_type, follow_symlinks, obj):
+def identify_object(obj_type, follow_symlinks, exclude_patterns, obj):
     from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
     if obj_type == "auto":
@@ -125,7 +135,7 @@
         if obj_type == "content":
             swhid = swhid_of_file(path)
         elif obj_type == "directory":
-            swhid = swhid_of_dir(path)
+            swhid = swhid_of_dir(path, exclude_patterns)
     elif obj_type == "origin":
         swhid = swhid_of_origin(obj)
     elif obj_type == "snapshot":
@@ -160,6 +170,15 @@
     type=click.Choice(["auto", "content", "directory", "origin", "snapshot"]),
     help="type of object to identify (default: auto)",
 )
+@click.option(
+    "--exclude",
+    "-x",
+    "exclude_patterns",
+    metavar="PATTERN",
+    multiple=True,
+    help="Exclude directories using glob patterns \
+    (e.g., '*.git' to exclude all .git directories)",
+)
 @click.option(
     "--verify",
     "-v",
@@ -168,7 +187,9 @@
     help="reference identifier to be compared with computed one",
 )
 @click.argument("objects", nargs=-1, required=True)
-def identify(obj_type, verify, show_filename, follow_symlinks, objects):
+def identify(
+    obj_type, verify, show_filename, follow_symlinks, objects, exclude_patterns,
+):
     """Compute the Software Heritage persistent identifier (SWHID) for the given
     source code object(s).
 
@@ -203,7 +224,9 @@
     if verify and len(objects) != 1:
         raise click.BadParameter("verification requires a single object")
 
-    results = map(partial(identify_object, obj_type, follow_symlinks), objects)
+    results = map(
+        partial(identify_object, obj_type, follow_symlinks, exclude_patterns), objects,
+    )
 
     if verify:
         swhid = next(results)[1]
Index: swh/model/exceptions.py
===================================================================
--- swh/model/exceptions.py
+++ swh/model/exceptions.py
@@ -129,3 +129,7 @@
 
     def __repr__(self):
         return "ValidationError(%s)" % self
+
+
+class InvalidDirectoryPath(Exception):
+    pass
Index: swh/model/from_disk.py
===================================================================
--- swh/model/from_disk.py
+++ swh/model/from_disk.py
@@ -5,15 +5,20 @@
 
 import datetime
 import enum
+import fnmatch
+import glob
 import os
+from pathlib import Path
+import re
 import stat
-from typing import Any, Iterable, List, Optional, Tuple
+from typing import Any, Iterable, Iterator, List, Optional, Pattern, Tuple
 
 import attr
 from attrs_strict import type_validator
 from typing_extensions import Final
 
 from . import model
+from .exceptions import InvalidDirectoryPath
 from .hashutil import MultiHash
 from .identifiers import directory_entry_sort_key, directory_identifier
 from .identifiers import identifier_to_bytes as id_to_bytes
@@ -276,6 +281,54 @@
     return named_filter
 
 
+def extract_regex_objs(
+    root_path: Path, patterns: Iterable[str]
+) -> Iterator[Pattern[str]]:
+    """Generates a regex object for each pattern given in input and checks if
+       the path is a subdirectory or relative to the root path.
+
+       Yields:
+          an SRE_Pattern object
+    """
+    for pattern in patterns:
+        for path in glob.glob(pattern):
+            dirpath = Path(path)
+            if root_path not in dirpath.parents:
+                error_msg = (
+                    f'The path "{dirpath}" is not a subdirectory or relative '
+                    f'to the root directory path: "{root_path}"'
+                )
+                raise InvalidDirectoryPath(error_msg)
+
+        regex = fnmatch.translate((pattern))
+        yield re.compile(regex)
+
+
+def ignore_directories_patterns(root_path: str, patterns: Iterable[str]):
+    """Filter for :func:`directory_to_objects` to ignore directories
+    matching certain patterns.
+
+    Args:
+      patterns (list of str): pattern to ignore
+    Returns:
+      a directory filter for :func:`directory_to_objects`
+    """
+    full_root_path = Path(root_path).absolute()
+    patterns = [str(full_root_path / pattern) for pattern in patterns]
+    sre_patterns = set(extract_regex_objs(full_root_path, patterns))
+
+    def pattern_filter(
+        dirpath: bytes,
+        dirname: bytes,
+        entries: Iterable[Any],
+        patterns: Iterable[Any] = sre_patterns,
+    ):
+        candidate = str(Path(dirpath.decode()).absolute())
+        return not any([pattern.match(candidate) for pattern in patterns])
+
+    return pattern_filter
+
+
 def iter_directory(
     directory,
 ) -> Tuple[List[model.Content], List[model.SkippedContent], List[model.Directory]]: