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