This is a partial for a gulp file to zip up a folder conforming to WordPress requirements.

gulp-zip for wordpress

var gulp = require('gulp'),
    zip = require('gulp-zip'),
    pkg  = require('./package.json');

var zipDirs = [
    '*.*',
    'foldertoinclude/**',
    '!filetobeignored.txt'
];

/**
 * Creates a zip file to distribute the stage extension
 *
 * base option of gulp.src uses '../' to go up one level so the packaged zip has the folder name inside the zip
 * per WordPress theme zip requirements.
 */
gulp.task('zip', function() {
    return gulp.src(zipDirs, { base: "../" })
        .pipe(zip(pkg.name + '-' + pkg.version + '.zip'))
        .pipe(gulp.dest('./dist'));

});