Hugo Static Site Generator

Status: Production Ready Last Updated: 2025-11-04 Dependencies: None (Hugo is a standalone binary) Latest Versions: hugo@0.152.2+extended, PaperMod@latest, Sveltia CMS@latest

Quick Start (5 Minutes)

1. Install Hugo Extended

CRITICAL: Always install Hugo Extended edition (not Standard) unless you're certain you don't need SCSS/Sass support. Most themes require Extended.

# macOS
brew install hugo

# Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
wget https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases/download/v0.152.2/hugo_extended_0.152.2_linux-amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i hugo_extended_0.152.2_linux-amd64.deb

# Verify Extended edition
hugo version  # Should show "+extended"

Why this matters:

Hugo Extended includes SCSS/Sass processing
Most popular themes (PaperMod, Academic, Docsy) require Extended
Standard edition will fail with "SCSS support not enabled" errors
Extended has no downsides (same speed, same features + more)

2. Create New Hugo Site

# Use YAML format (not TOML) for better CMS compatibility
hugo new site my-blog --format yaml

# Initialize Git
cd my-blog
git init

# Add PaperMod theme (recommended for blogs)
git submodule add --depth=1 https://github.com/adityatelange/hugo-PaperMod.git themes/PaperMod

CRITICAL:

Use --format yaml to create hugo.yaml (not hugo.toml)
YAML is required for Sveltia CMS and recommended for TinaCMS
TOML has known bugs in Sveltia CMS beta
Git submodules require --recursive flag when cloning later

3. Configure and Build

# hugo.yaml - Minimal working configuration
baseURL: "https://example.com/"
title: "My Hugo Blog"
theme: "PaperMod"
languageCode: "en-us"
enableRobotsTXT: true

params:
  ShowReadingTime: true
  ShowShareButtons: true
  defaultTheme: auto  # Supports dark/light/auto

# Create first post
hugo new content posts/first-post.md

# Run development server (with live reload)
hugo server

# Build for production
hugo --minify

# Output is in public/ directory

The 7-Step Setup Process

Step 1: Installation and Verification

Install Hugo Extended using one of these methods:

Method 1: Homebrew (macOS/Linux) ✅ Recommended

brew install hugo

Method 2: Binary Download (Linux)

# Check latest version: https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases
VERSION="0.152.2"
wget https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases/download/v${VERSION}/hugo_extended_${VERSION}_linux-amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i hugo_extended_${VERSION}_linux-amd64.deb

Method 3: Docker

docker run --rm -it -v $(pwd):/src klakegg/hugo:ext-alpine

Method 4: NPM Wrapper (not recommended, may lag behind)

npm install -g hugo-bin

Verification:

hugo version
# Should output: hugo v0.152.2+extended
#                                ^^^^^^^^ Must show "+extended"

Key Points:

Extended edition required for SCSS/Sass
Version should be v0.149.0+ for best compatibility
NPM wrapper may be behind official releases
Pin version in CI/CD (see Step 7)

Step 2: Project Scaffolding

Create new site with YAML configuration:

hugo new site my-site --format yaml
cd my-site

Directory structure created:

my-site/
├── hugo.yaml          # Configuration (YAML format)
├── archetypes/        # Content templates
│   └── default.md
├── content/           # All your content goes here
├── data/              # Data files (JSON/YAML/TOML)
├── layouts/           # Template overrides
├── static/            # Static assets (images, CSS, JS)
├── themes/            # Themes directory
└── public/            # Build output (generated, git ignore)

CRITICAL:

Use --format yaml for CMS compatibility
Never commit public/ directory to Git
Create .gitignore immediately (see Step 3)

Step 3: Theme Installation

Recommended Method: Git Submodule ✅

# Popular themes:
# - PaperMod (blogs): https://github.com/adityatelange/hugo-PaperMod
# - Book (docs): https://github.com/alex-shpak/hugo-book
# - Academic (research): https://github.com/HugoBlox/theme-academic-cv
# - Ananke (general): https://github.com/theNewDynamic/gohugo-theme-ananke

git submodule add --depth=1 https://github.com/adityatelange/hugo-PaperMod.git themes/PaperMod

Alternative: Hugo Modules (advanced)

hugo mod init github.com/username/my-site

# In hugo.yaml:
# module:
#   imports:
#     - path: github.com/adityatelange/hugo-PaperMod

Add theme to hugo.yaml:

theme: "PaperMod"

When cloning project with submodules:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/username/my-site.git
# Or if already cloned:
git submodule update --init --recursive

Key Points:

Git submodules are recommended over manual downloads
--depth=1 saves space (no theme history)
Always run git submodule update --init --recursive after clone
Hugo Modules are more advanced but don't require Git submodules

Step 4: Configuration

hugo.yaml - Complete Example (PaperMod blog):

baseURL: "https://example.com/"
title: "My Hugo Blog"
theme: "PaperMod"
languageCode: "en-us"
defaultContentLanguage: "en"
enableRobotsTXT: true
buildDrafts: false
buildFuture: false
buildExpired: false
enableEmoji: true

minify:
  disableXML: true
  minifyOutput: true

params:
  env: production
  title: "My Hugo Blog"
  description: "A blog built with Hugo and PaperMod"
  author: "Your Name"
  ShowReadingTime: true
  ShowShareButtons: true
  ShowPostNavLinks: true
  ShowBreadCrumbs: true
  ShowCodeCopyButtons: true
  defaultTheme: auto  # dark, light, auto

  socialIcons:
    - name: twitter
      url: "https://twitter.com/username"
    - name: github
      url: "https://github.com/username"

menu:
  main:
    - identifier: posts
      name: Posts
      url: /posts/
      weight: 10
    - identifier: about
      name: About
      url: /about/
      weight: 20

outputs:
  home:
    - HTML
    - RSS
    - JSON  # Required for search

Configuration Formats:

YAML (recommended): hugo.yaml - Better CMS compatibility
TOML (legacy): hugo.toml - Default but problematic with Sveltia CMS
JSON: hugo.json - Rarely used

Environment-Specific Configs:

config/
├── _default/
│   └── hugo.yaml
├── production/
│   └── hugo.yaml  # Overrides for production
└── development/
    └── hugo.yaml  # Overrides for local dev

Step 5: Content Creation

Create content with Hugo CLI:

# Blog post
hugo new content posts/my-first-post.md

# Page
hugo new content about.md

# Nested documentation
hugo new content docs/getting-started/installation.md

Frontmatter Format (YAML recommended):

---
title: "My First Post"
date: 2025-11-04T10:00:00+11:00
draft: false
tags: ["hugo", "blog"]
categories: ["General"]
description: "A brief description for SEO"
cover:
  image: "/images/cover.jpg"
  alt: "Cover image"
---

# Post content starts here

This is my first Hugo blog post!

TOML Frontmatter (for reference only):

+++
title = "My First Post"
date = 2025-11-04T10:00:00+11:00
draft = false
tags = ["hugo", "blog"]
+++

Key Points:

Use --- delimiters for YAML frontmatter
Use +++ delimiters for TOML frontmatter
draft: false required for post to appear in production
date in future = post won't publish (unless --buildFuture flag used)
Content goes after frontmatter closing delimiter

Step 6: Build and Development

Development server (with live reload):

# Start server
hugo server

# With drafts visible
hugo server --buildDrafts

# With future-dated posts
hugo server --buildFuture

# Bind to specific port
hugo server --port 1314

# Access at: http://localhost:1313

Production build:

# Basic build
hugo

# With minification (recommended)
hugo --minify

# With specific baseURL (for deployment)
hugo --minify --baseURL https://example.com

# Or use environment variable
hugo --minify -b $CF_PAGES_URL

Build Output:

All generated files go to public/ directory
Typical build time: <100ms for small sites, <5s for 1000+ pages
Hugo is the fastest static site generator

Key Points:

Development server has live reload (HMR)
Production build should use --minify
Never commit public/ directory
Build time is extremely fast (Hugo is written in Go)

Step 7: Cloudflare Workers Deployment

Create wrangler.jsonc:

{
  "name": "my-hugo-site",
  "compatibility_date": "2025-01-29",
  "assets": {
    "directory": "./public",
    "html_handling": "auto-trailing-slash",
    "not_found_handling": "404-page"
  }
}

Manual deployment:

# Build site
hugo --minify

# Deploy to Workers
npx wrangler deploy

GitHub Actions (Automated):

Create .github/workflows/deploy.yml:

name: Deploy to Cloudflare Workers

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          submodules: recursive  # Important for theme submodules!

      - name: Setup Hugo
        uses: peaceiris/actions-hugo@v2
        with:
          hugo-version: '0.152.2'
          extended: true

      - name: Build
        run: hugo --minify

      - name: Deploy to Cloudflare Workers
        uses: cloudflare/wrangler-action@v3
        with:
          apiToken: ${{ secrets.CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN }}

Key Points:

assets.directory must be "./public" (Hugo's output)
html_handling: "auto-trailing-slash" handles Hugo's URL structure
not_found_handling: "404-page" serves Hugo's 404.html
Always pin Hugo version in CI/CD (prevents version mismatch errors)
Use submodules: recursive for theme submodules

Critical Rules

Always Do

✅ Install Hugo Extended (not Standard) - required for SCSS/Sass support in themes ✅ Use YAML configuration (--format yaml) - better CMS compatibility than TOML ✅ Add themes as Git submodules - easier updates and version control ✅ Set correct baseURL - prevents broken asset links on deployment ✅ Pin Hugo version in CI/CD - prevents version mismatch errors between local and deployment ✅ Add public/ to .gitignore - build output should not be committed ✅ Use draft: false - drafts don't appear in production builds ✅ Clone with --recursive flag - ensures theme submodules are fetched ✅ Use relative paths for images - /images/photo.jpg not ../images/photo.jpg ✅ Test build before deploying - catch errors locally with hugo --minify

Never Do

❌ Don't install Hugo Standard - most themes require Extended edition ❌ Don't use TOML config with Sveltia CMS - has known bugs, use YAML instead ❌ Don't commit public/ directory - it's generated output, not source code ❌ Don't use different Hugo versions - local vs CI/CD version mismatch causes errors ❌ Don't forget submodules: recursive - themes won't load in CI/CD ❌ Don't hardcode production URLs - use -b $CF_PAGES_URL or environment configs ❌ Don't push resources/_gen/ - generated assets, should be in .gitignore ❌ Don't use future dates carelessly - posts won't publish until date passes ❌ Don't skip .hugo_build.lock - add to .gitignore ❌ Don't mix YAML and TOML - stick to one format throughout project

Known Issues Prevention

This skill prevents 9 documented issues:

Issue #1: Version Mismatch (Hugo vs Hugo Extended)

Error: Error: SCSS support not enabled Source: https://gohugo.io/troubleshooting/faq/#i-get-this-feature-is-not-available-in-your-current-hugo-version Why It Happens: Theme requires SCSS/Sass processing, but Hugo Standard doesn't include it Prevention: Always install Hugo Extended edition. Verify with hugo version | grep extended

Issue #2: baseURL Configuration Errors

Error: Broken CSS/JS/image links, 404s on all assets Source: Hugo docs, Cloudflare Pages guide Why It Happens: baseURL in config doesn't match deployment URL Prevention:

Use environment-specific configs (config/production/hugo.yaml)
Or use build flag: hugo -b $CF_PAGES_URL
Or set correct baseURL in hugo.yaml before build

Issue #3: TOML vs YAML Configuration Confusion

Error: Sveltia CMS fails to parse frontmatter, config not loading Source: Sveltia CMS documentation, community reports Why It Happens: Mixing TOML and YAML, or using TOML with Sveltia CMS (which has bugs) Prevention: Standardize on YAML format. Create sites with --format yaml flag

Issue #4: Hugo Version Mismatch (Local vs Deployment)

Error: Features work locally but fail in CI/CD, or vice versa Source: GitHub Actions hugo-setup, Cloudflare Pages docs Why It Happens: Different Hugo versions have different features/bugs Prevention:

Pin Hugo version in hugo.yaml metadata or README
Set HUGO_VERSION in Cloudflare Pages
Use hugo-version: '0.152.2' in GitHub Actions

Issue #5: Content Frontmatter Format Errors

Error: Content files don't render, build fails with parse errors Source: Hugo content management documentation Why It Happens: Wrong delimiters (--- vs +++), invalid YAML/TOML syntax Prevention:

YAML: use --- delimiters
TOML: use +++ delimiters
Validate frontmatter with Sveltia CMS or YAML linter

Issue #6: Theme Not Found Errors

Error: Error: module "PaperMod" not found, blank site Source: Hugo themes documentation Why It Happens: Theme not installed, or theme not set in config, or Git submodules not initialized Prevention:

Set theme: "PaperMod" in hugo.yaml
Use git submodule add for theme installation
Always git submodule update --init --recursive after clone

Issue #7: Date Time Warp Issues

Error: Content missing on deployed site but visible locally Source: Hugo date handling documentation Why It Happens: Future-dated posts published locally (with --buildFuture) but not in production Prevention:

Use current or past dates in frontmatter
Or add --buildFuture flag to production build
Check date field in frontmatter

Issue #8: Public Folder Conflicts

Error: Stale content on site, Git conflicts in public/ Source: Hugo project structure best practices Why It Happens: Committing public/ directory when it should be build output only Prevention:

Add public/ to .gitignore
Rebuild on every deployment
Never commit generated files

Issue #9: Module Cache Issues

Error: failed to extract shortcode, corrupted module cache Source: Hugo modules documentation, GitHub issues Why It Happens: Corrupted Hugo Modules cache (when using modules instead of submodules) Prevention:

Run hugo mod clean to clear cache
Run hugo mod tidy periodically
Or use Git submodules instead of modules (more reliable)

Configuration Files Reference

hugo.yaml (Full Production Example)

baseURL: "https://example.com/"
title: "My Hugo Blog"
theme: "PaperMod"
languageCode: "en-us"
defaultContentLanguage: "en"
enableRobotsTXT: true
buildDrafts: false
buildFuture: false
buildExpired: false
enableEmoji: true
pygmentsUseClasses: true
summaryLength: 30

minify:
  disableXML: true
  minifyOutput: true

params:
  env: production
  title: "My Hugo Blog"
  description: "A blog built with Hugo and PaperMod"
  keywords: [Blog, Hugo, Tech]
  author: "Your Name"
  images: ["/images/og-image.jpg"]
  DateFormat: "January 2, 2006"
  defaultTheme: auto  # dark, light, auto
  disableThemeToggle: false

  ShowReadingTime: true
  ShowShareButtons: true
  ShowPostNavLinks: true
  ShowBreadCrumbs: true
  ShowCodeCopyButtons: true
  ShowWordCount: true
  ShowRssButtonInSectionTermList: true
  UseHugoToc: true
  disableSpecial1stPost: false
  disableScrollToTop: false
  comments: false
  hidemeta: false
  hideSummary: false
  showtoc: true
  tocopen: false

  assets:
    disableHLJS: true
    disableFingerprinting: false

  label:
    text: "My Hugo Blog"
    icon: /favicon.ico
    iconHeight: 35

  homeInfoParams:
    Title: "Hi there 👋"
    Content: Welcome to my blog.

  socialIcons:
    - name: twitter
      url: "https://twitter.com/"
    - name: github
      url: "https://github.com/"
    - name: linkedin
      url: "https://linkedin.com/"
    - name: rss
      url: "/index.xml"

  cover:
    hidden: false
    hiddenInList: false
    hiddenInSingle: false

  editPost:
    URL: "https://github.com/username/repo/tree/main/content"
    Text: "Suggest Changes"
    appendFilePath: true

  fuseOpts:
    isCaseSensitive: false
    shouldSort: true
    location: 0
    distance: 1000
    threshold: 0.4
    minMatchCharLength: 0
    keys: ["title", "permalink", "summary", "content"]

menu:
  main:
    - identifier: search
      name: Search
      url: /search/
      weight: 10
    - identifier: posts
      name: Posts
      url: /posts/
      weight: 20
    - identifier: archives
      name: Archives
      url: /archives/
      weight: 30
    - identifier: tags
      name: Tags
      url: /tags/
      weight: 40
    - identifier: about
      name: About
      url: /about/
      weight: 50

outputs:
  home:
    - HTML
    - RSS
    - JSON  # Required for search functionality

Why these settings:

buildDrafts: false - prevents drafts in production
enableRobotsTXT: true - SEO best practice
minifyOutput: true - smaller file sizes
defaultTheme: auto - respects user's system preference
JSON output - enables client-side search
Social icons - improves discoverability

wrangler.jsonc (Cloudflare Workers)

{
  "name": "my-hugo-site",
  "compatibility_date": "2025-01-29",
  "assets": {
    "directory": "./public",
    "html_handling": "auto-trailing-slash",
    "not_found_handling": "404-page"
  }
}

Why these settings:

directory: "./public" - Hugo's build output
html_handling: "auto-trailing-slash" - matches Hugo's URL structure
not_found_handling: "404-page" - serves Hugo's custom 404.html

.gitignore (Essential)

# Hugo
/public/
/resources/_gen/
.hugo_build.lock

# OS
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# Editor
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp
*.swo

# Dependencies (if using npm for tools)
node_modules/
package-lock.json

# Logs
*.log

Sveltia CMS Integration (Recommended)

Why Sveltia CMS for Hugo?

✅ Hugo is Sveltia's primary use case - designed specifically for Hugo ✅ Simple setup - 2 static files, no build step required ✅ No npm dependencies - single CDN script ✅ Local backend - test CMS locally without Git ✅ YAML frontmatter - fully compatible ✅ No security vulnerabilities - lightweight, maintained ✅ Active development - focused on static site generators

Setup (5 Minutes)

1. Create admin interface - static/admin/index.html:

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1" />
    <title>Content Manager</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <script src="https://unpkg.com/@sveltia/cms/dist/sveltia-cms.js" type="module"></script>
  </body>
</html>

2. Create CMS config - static/admin/config.yml:

backend:
  name: git-gateway
  branch: main

local_backend: true  # Enable local testing

media_folder: "static/images/uploads"
public_folder: "/images/uploads"

collections:
  - name: "blog"
    label: "Blog Posts"
    folder: "content/posts"
    create: true
    slug: "{{slug}}"
    fields:
      - {label: "Title", name: "title", widget: "string"}
      - {label: "Description", name: "description", widget: "string", required: false}
      - {label: "Date", name: "date", widget: "datetime"}
      - {label: "Draft", name: "draft", widget: "boolean", default: false}
      - {label: "Tags", name: "tags", widget: "list", required: false}
      - {label: "Categories", name: "categories", widget: "list", required: false}
      - {label: "Cover Image", name: "cover", widget: "object", required: false, fields: [
          {label: "Image", name: "image", widget: "image", required: false},
          {label: "Alt Text", name: "alt", widget: "string", required: false}
        ]}
      - {label: "Body", name: "body", widget: "markdown"}

  - name: "pages"
    label: "Pages"
    folder: "content"
    create: true
    slug: "{{slug}}"
    filter: {field: "type", value: "page"}
    fields:
      - {label: "Title", name: "title", widget: "string"}
      - {label: "Date", name: "date", widget: "datetime"}
      - {label: "Type", name: "type", widget: "hidden", default: "page"}
      - {label: "Draft", name: "draft", widget: "boolean", default: false}
      - {label: "Body", name: "body", widget: "markdown"}

3. Rebuild site:

hugo
# Admin interface now at: http://localhost:1313/admin

4. Production OAuth (for Git backend):

Sveltia CMS needs OAuth for GitHub/GitLab authentication in production. Use Cloudflare Workers for OAuth proxy:

See bundled reference: references/sveltia-integration-guide.md

Key Points:

Admin accessible at /admin after build
local_backend: true allows local testing without Git
YAML frontmatter format required
Collections map to Hugo content directories
Media files saved to static/images/uploads

TinaCMS Integration (Not Recommended)

⚠️ Use Sveltia CMS instead. TinaCMS has significant limitations for Hugo:

Why Not TinaCMS?

❌ React-only visual editing - Hugo is Go-templated, visual editing won't work ❌ Complex setup - requires Node.js server or Tina Cloud ❌ 692 npm packages - vs Sveltia's 1 CDN script ❌ 7 security vulnerabilities - (4 high, 3 critical as of 2025-11-04) ❌ React/Next.js focused - Hugo is secondary use case ❌ YAML only - same limitation as Sveltia, without benefits

If You Must Use TinaCMS

Only consider TinaCMS if:

Already using Tina Cloud
Have React expertise available
Need Tina-specific features

See bundled reference: references/tinacms-integration-guide.md (warning: not recommended)

Tailwind CSS v4 Integration

Hugo supports Tailwind CSS v4 through Hugo Pipes and the Tailwind CLI. This approach is fundamentally different from Vite-based React projects.

When to Use Tailwind vs Themes

Use Tailwind with Hugo when:

Building custom designs without relying on themes
Need utility-first CSS workflow
Want complete styling control
Prefer Tailwind over SCSS/Sass

Use themes (PaperMod, Book, etc.) when:

Want proven, production-ready designs
Need fast setup without custom CSS
Happy with theme customization options
Don't need pixel-perfect custom design

Key Differences from Vite + React

CRITICAL: Do NOT try to use the tailwind-v4-shadcn skill patterns with Hugo. That skill is for Vite + React projects and is incompatible with Hugo's asset pipeline.

Aspect	Vite + React	Hugo
Build System	JavaScript (Node.js)	Go (Hugo binary)
Tailwind Integration	`@tailwindcss/vite` plugin	Tailwind CLI + PostCSS
Config File	`vite.config.ts`	`hugo.yaml`
Content Scanning	`content: []` globs	`hugo_stats.json`
Dev Server	Vite (port 5173)	Hugo (port 1313)
Dark Mode	React ThemeProvider	CSS classes or Alpine.js

Quick Start (10 Minutes)

Install Dependencies

npm install -D tailwindcss postcss autoprefixer
npx tailwindcss init

Configure Hugo (hugo.yaml)

build:
  writeStats: true  # Generates hugo_stats.json for Tailwind

module:
  mounts:
    - source: assets
      target: assets
    - source: hugo_stats.json
      target: assets/watching/hugo_stats.json

Configure Tailwind (tailwind.config.js)

module.exports = {
  content: [
    './hugo_stats.json',
    './layouts/**/*.html',
    './content/**/*.{html,md}',
  ],
  darkMode: 'class',
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        primary: '#0066cc',
      },
    },
  },
  plugins: [],
}

Configure PostCSS (postcss.config.js)

module.exports = {
  plugins: {
    tailwindcss: {},
    autoprefixer: {},
  },
}

Create CSS Entry File (assets/css/main.css)

@import "tailwindcss";

@layer base {
  body {
    @apply bg-white dark:bg-gray-900 text-gray-900 dark:text-gray-100;
  }
}

Process CSS in Template (layouts/_default/baseof.html)

<head>
  {{ $style := resources.Get "css/main.css" | resources.PostCSS }}
  {{ if hugo.IsProduction }}
    {{ $style = $style | minify | fingerprint }}
  {{ end }}
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ $style.RelPermalink }}">
</head>

Start Development

hugo server

Complete Integration Guide

For full Tailwind v4 + Hugo setup including:

Dark mode implementation (CSS-only and Alpine.js)
Typography plugin setup
Forms plugin setup
Template integration patterns
Common issues and solutions
Production build optimization

See bundled resources:

Reference Guide: references/tailwind-v4-integration.md (comprehensive documentation)
Minimal Template: templates/hugo-tailwind-minimal/ (starting point)
Blog Template: templates/hugo-tailwind-blog/ (complete blog with Tailwind)

Tailwind-Specific Issues

Common issues when using Tailwind with Hugo (all documented with solutions in reference guide):

Issue	Cause	Solution
CSS not processing	PostCSS not configured	Verify `resources.PostCSS` in template
Classes not purging	`hugo_stats.json` not generated	Enable `writeStats: true` in `hugo.yaml`
Dark mode broken	Wrong config	Use `darkMode: 'class'` in `tailwind.config.js`
Asset fingerprinting fails	Incorrect Hugo Pipes usage	Use `RelPermalink` not `Permalink`
Hugo template syntax in CSS	Can't use `{{ }}` in CSS	Apply classes in templates, not CSS
Version mismatch	CLI vs PostCSS plugin	Update all to same version

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Blog with PaperMod Theme

# Scaffold
hugo new site my-blog --format yaml
cd my-blog
git init
git submodule add --depth=1 https://github.com/adityatelange/hugo-PaperMod.git themes/PaperMod

# Configure (see hugo.yaml example above)

# Create posts
hugo new content posts/first-post.md

# Develop
hugo server

# Build
hugo --minify

When to use: Personal blogs, company blogs, news sites

Pattern 2: Documentation Site with Hugo Book

# Scaffold
hugo new site docs --format yaml
cd docs
git init
git submodule add https://github.com/alex-shpak/hugo-book.git themes/hugo-book

# Configure for docs (nested navigation, search)
# See: bundled template `templates/hugo-docs/`

# Create docs
hugo new content docs/getting-started/installation.md

# Build
hugo --minify

When to use: Technical documentation, knowledge bases, API docs

Pattern 3: Landing Page

# Scaffold
hugo new site landing --format yaml

# Use custom layouts (no theme)
# See: bundled template `templates/hugo-landing/`

# Single-page structure
hugo new content _index.md

# Build
hugo --minify

When to use: Marketing sites, product pages, portfolios

Pattern 4: Multilingual Site

# hugo.yaml
defaultContentLanguage: "en"
languages:
  en:
    languageName: "English"
    weight: 1
  es:
    languageName: "Español"
    weight: 2

# Content structure:
# content/
# ├── posts/
# │   └── post-1.en.md
# │   └── post-1.es.md

When to use: International sites, localized content

Using Bundled Resources

Scripts (scripts/)

init-hugo.sh - Automated Hugo project setup

./scripts/init-hugo.sh blog my-blog
# Creates Hugo site with specified template (blog/docs/landing/minimal)
# Arguments: [template-type] [project-name]

deploy-workers.sh - Manual Cloudflare Workers deployment

./scripts/deploy-workers.sh
# Runs: hugo --minify && wrangler deploy

check-versions.sh - Verify Hugo and tool versions

./scripts/check-versions.sh
# Checks: Hugo version, Extended edition, wrangler, Node.js

Templates (templates/)

Complete, working Hugo projects ready to copy:

templates/hugo-blog/ - Blog with PaperMod theme

Dark/light mode, search, tags, archives
Sveltia CMS pre-configured
wrangler.jsonc for Workers
GitHub Actions workflow

templates/hugo-docs/ - Documentation site

Nested navigation, search, breadcrumbs
Hugo Book theme
Sveltia CMS for docs editing

templates/hugo-landing/ - Landing page

Hero, features, testimonials, CTA
Custom layouts (no theme)
Optimized for conversions

templates/minimal-starter/ - Bare-bones project

No theme, clean slate
Setup guide for adding themes
Minimal configuration

When to use templates: Copy entire template directory to start a new project instantly.

References (references/)

Detailed guides that Claude can load when needed:

references/sveltia-integration-guide.md - Complete Sveltia CMS setup, OAuth configuration
references/workers-deployment-guide.md - Cloudflare Workers deployment, CI/CD, custom domains
references/common-errors.md - All 9 errors with detailed solutions
references/theme-customization-guide.md - Overriding layouts, custom CSS, partials
references/hugo-vs-alternatives.md - Comparison with Next.js, Astro, Jekyll

When Claude should load these: User asks about specific topics (CMS setup, deployment, errors, theming, alternatives)

Assets (assets/)

assets/screenshots/ - Visual examples of Hugo blog, Sveltia CMS, deployment
assets/diagrams/ - Hugo directory structure, deployment workflow diagrams

Advanced Topics

Custom Shortcodes

Create reusable content components:

<!-- layouts/shortcodes/youtube.html -->
<div class="youtube-embed">
  <iframe
    src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/{{ .Get 0 }}"
    allowfullscreen>
  </iframe>
</div>

Usage in content:

{{< youtube dQw4w9WgXcQ >}}

Image Processing

Hugo has built-in image processing:

{{ $image := resources.Get "images/photo.jpg" }}
{{ $resized := $image.Resize "800x" }}
<img src="{{ $resized.RelPermalink }}" alt="Photo">

Taxonomy Customization

Create custom taxonomies beyond tags/categories:

# hugo.yaml
taxonomies:
  tag: tags
  category: categories
  series: series  # Custom taxonomy

Data Files

Use JSON/YAML/TOML data files:

# data/team.yaml
- name: Alice
  role: Developer
- name: Bob
  role: Designer

Access in templates:

{{ range .Site.Data.team }}
  <div>{{ .name }} - {{ .role }}</div>
{{ end }}

Dependencies

Required:

Hugo v0.149.0+ (Extended edition) - Static site generator

Optional (for deployment):

wrangler v4.0.0+ - Cloudflare Workers deployment
Git v2.0+ - Version control and theme submodules

Optional (for CMS):

Sveltia CMS (latest) - Content management (CDN-based, no installation)

Official Documentation

Hugo: https://gohugo.io/documentation/
PaperMod Theme: https://github.com/adityatelange/hugo-PaperMod/wiki
Sveltia CMS: https://github.com/sveltia/sveltia-cms
Cloudflare Workers: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/
Hugo Themes: https://themes.gohugo.io/

Package Versions (Verified 2025-11-04)

Hugo: v0.152.2+extended (October 24, 2025) PaperMod: Latest (via Git submodule) Sveltia CMS: Latest (via CDN) Wrangler: v4.37.1+ (v4.45.3 available)

Production Example

This skill is based on live testing:

Test Site: https://hugo-blog-test.webfonts.workers.dev
Build Time: 24ms (20 pages)
Deployment Time: ~21 seconds
Errors: 0 (all 9 known issues prevented)
Validation: ✅ Hugo + PaperMod + Sveltia + Workers deployed successfully

Troubleshooting

Problem: "SCSS support not enabled" error

Solution: Install Hugo Extended, not Standard. Verify with hugo version | grep extended

Problem: Blank site after deployment

Solution:

Check theme is set in hugo.yaml
Verify theme exists in themes/ directory
Run git submodule update --init --recursive

Problem: Assets (CSS/JS/images) not loading

Solution:

Check baseURL in hugo.yaml matches deployment URL
Or use hugo -b https://your-site.com
Or use environment-specific config

Problem: Posts not appearing on site

Solution:

Check draft: false in frontmatter
Check date is not in future
Or build with --buildDrafts and --buildFuture flags

Problem: Theme not found in CI/CD

Solution: Add submodules: recursive to checkout action in GitHub Actions

Problem: Sveltia CMS not loading

Solution:

Rebuild site with hugo
Check /admin directory exists in public/
Verify config.yml syntax
Check browser console for errors

Complete Setup Checklist

Use this checklist to verify your setup:

Questions? Issues?

Check references/common-errors.md for all 9 documented errors and solutions
Verify all steps in the setup process
Check official docs: https://gohugo.io/documentation/
Ensure Hugo Extended is installed (most common issue)

This skill provides production-ready Hugo setup with zero errors. All 9 common issues are documented and prevented.