hugo-dev

name	hugo-dev
description	Develop and preview Hugo static sites. Use when editing Hugo templates, content, CSS, or config. Covers starting the dev server, live preview workflow, content creation, theme development, and building for production.

Hugo Development

Dev Server

Always start the Hugo dev server in the background before making changes, so the user can see updates live in their browser.

Start Server

# Kill any existing Hugo server first
pkill -f 'hugo server' 2>/dev/null || true
sleep 1

# Start in background, fully detached
cd <project-root>
: > /tmp/hugo-server.log
nohup hugo server --buildDrafts --bind 0.0.0.0 -p 1313 &>/tmp/hugo-server.log & disown

# Poll for startup (don't use grep -m1 or tail -f — they block)
for i in $(seq 1 10); do
  if grep -q 'Web Server is available' /tmp/hugo-server.log 2>/dev/null; then
    echo "Hugo dev server running at http://localhost:1313/"
    break
  fi
  sleep 0.5
done

Important: Always use nohup ... & disown and poll with a for loop. Do NOT use or to wait — they block the terminal.