hugo/docs/content/overview/usage.md

---
aliases:
- /doc/usage/
date: 2013-07-01
menu:
  main:
    parent: getting started
next: /overview/configuration
notoc: true
prev: /overview/installing
title: Using Hugo
weight: 30
---

Make sure either hugo is in your path or provide a path to it.


    $ hugo help
    A Fast and Flexible Static Site Generator
    built with love by spf13 and friends in Go.

    Complete documentation is available at http://hugo.spf13.com

    Usage:
      hugo [flags]
      hugo [command]

    Available Commands:
      server                    :: Hugo runs it's own a webserver to render the files
      version                   :: Print the version number of Hugo
      check                     :: Check content in the source directory
      benchmark                 :: Benchmark hugo by building a site a number of times
      new [path]                :: Create new content for your site
      help [command]            :: Help about any command

     Available Flags:
      -b, --baseUrl="": hostname (and path) to the root eg. http://spf13.com/
      -D, --buildDrafts=false: build content marked as draft
      -F, --buildFuture=false: build content with PublishDate in the future
          --config="": config file (default is path/config.yaml|json|toml)
      -d, --destination="": filesystem path to write files to
          --disableRSS=false: Do not build RSS files
          --disableSitemap=false: Do not build Sitemap file
          --log=false: Enable Logging
          --logFile="": Log File path (if set, logging enabled automatically)
      -s, --source="": filesystem path to read files relative from
          --stepAnalysis=false: display memory and timing of different steps of the program
      -t, --theme="": theme to use (located in /themes/THEMENAME/)
          --uglyUrls=false: if true, use /filename.html instead of /filename/
      -v, --verbose=false: verbose output
          --verboseLog=false: verbose logging
      -w, --watch=false: watch filesystem for changes and recreate as needed

    Use "hugo help [command]" for more information about that command.

## Common Usage Example:

The most common use is probably to run hugo with your current
directory being the input directory.

    $ hugo
    > X pages created
      in 8 ms

If you are working on things and want to see the changes
immediately, tell Hugo to watch for changes.

Hugo will watch the filesystem for changes, rebuild your site as soon as a file
is saved.

    $ hugo -s ~/mysite --watch
       28 pages created
       in 18 ms
       Watching for changes in /Users/spf13/Code/hugo/docs/content
       Press ctrl+c to stop

Hugo can even run a server and create your site at the same time! Hugo
implements [live reload](/extras/livereload) technology to automatically reload any open pages in
all browsers (including mobile).

    $ hugo server -ws ~/mysite
       Watching for changes in /Users/spf13/Code/hugo/docs/content
       Web Server is available at http://localhost:1313
       Press ctrl+c to stop
       28 pages created
       0 tags created
       in 18 ms
sanity: move from json to yaml 2013-07-06 23:36:30 +00:00			`---`
Converting front matter to YAML 2014-05-29 22:42:05 +00:00			`aliases:`
			`- /doc/usage/`
			`date: 2013-07-01`
Implementing new menu system in the docs site 2014-04-23 07:00:11 +00:00			`menu:`
			`main:`
Converting front matter to YAML 2014-05-29 22:42:05 +00:00			`parent: getting started`
			`next: /overview/configuration`
			`notoc: true`
			`prev: /overview/installing`
			`title: Using Hugo`
			`weight: 30`
YAML support similar to jekyll (start and end with '---') 2013-07-08 21:57:01 +00:00			`---`
adding hugo 2013-07-04 15:32:55 +00:00
			`Make sure either hugo is in your path or provide a path to it.`

Updating / Rewriting / Adding all of the documentation in preparation for the next release 2014-05-27 22:32:57 +00:00

Updating usage documentation to new interface 2013-10-01 02:39:06 +00:00			`$ hugo help`
			`A Fast and Flexible Static Site Generator`
			`built with love by spf13 and friends in Go.`

			`Complete documentation is available at http://hugo.spf13.com`

			`Usage:`
			`hugo [flags]`
			`hugo [command]`

			`Available Commands:`
Updating / Rewriting / Adding all of the documentation in preparation for the next release 2014-05-27 22:32:57 +00:00			`server :: Hugo runs it's own a webserver to render the files`
			`version :: Print the version number of Hugo`
			`check :: Check content in the source directory`
			`benchmark :: Benchmark hugo by building a site a number of times`
			`new [path] :: Create new content for your site`
			`help [command] :: Help about any command`
Updating usage documentation to new interface 2013-10-01 02:39:06 +00:00
			`Available Flags:`
Updating / Rewriting / Adding all of the documentation in preparation for the next release 2014-05-27 22:32:57 +00:00			`-b, --baseUrl="": hostname (and path) to the root eg. http://spf13.com/`
Add future details to documentation 2014-05-29 05:00:06 +00:00			`-D, --buildDrafts=false: build content marked as draft`
			`-F, --buildFuture=false: build content with PublishDate in the future`
Adding proper command line option parsing 2013-07-19 07:38:24 +00:00			`--config="": config file (default is path/config.yaml\|json\|toml)`
Updating a bunch of the docs 2013-08-03 07:30:34 +00:00			`-d, --destination="": filesystem path to write files to`
Updating / Rewriting / Adding all of the documentation in preparation for the next release 2014-05-27 22:32:57 +00:00			`--disableRSS=false: Do not build RSS files`
			`--disableSitemap=false: Do not build Sitemap file`
Adding support for logging & verbose logging. Consolidation of error handling. Integration of jWalterWeatherman library. Fixed #137 2014-03-31 17:23:34 +00:00			`--log=false: Enable Logging`
Updating / Rewriting / Adding all of the documentation in preparation for the next release 2014-05-27 22:32:57 +00:00			`--logFile="": Log File path (if set, logging enabled automatically)`
Adding proper command line option parsing 2013-07-19 07:38:24 +00:00			`-s, --source="": filesystem path to read files relative from`
Updating / Rewriting / Adding all of the documentation in preparation for the next release 2014-05-27 22:32:57 +00:00			`--stepAnalysis=false: display memory and timing of different steps of the program`
			`-t, --theme="": theme to use (located in /themes/THEMENAME/)`
			`--uglyUrls=false: if true, use /filename.html instead of /filename/`
Adding proper command line option parsing 2013-07-19 07:38:24 +00:00			`-v, --verbose=false: verbose output`
Updating / Rewriting / Adding all of the documentation in preparation for the next release 2014-05-27 22:32:57 +00:00			`--verboseLog=false: verbose logging`
Adding proper command line option parsing 2013-07-19 07:38:24 +00:00			`-w, --watch=false: watch filesystem for changes and recreate as needed`
adding hugo 2013-07-04 15:32:55 +00:00
Updating usage documentation to new interface 2013-10-01 02:39:06 +00:00			`Use "hugo help [command]" for more information about that command.`

adding hugo 2013-07-04 15:32:55 +00:00			`## Common Usage Example:`

Updating a bunch of the docs 2013-08-03 07:30:34 +00:00			`The most common use is probably to run hugo with your current`
adding hugo 2013-07-04 15:32:55 +00:00			`directory being the input directory.`

			`$ hugo`
			`> X pages created`
Updating a bunch of the docs 2013-08-03 07:30:34 +00:00			`in 8 ms`
adding hugo 2013-07-04 15:32:55 +00:00
Updating a bunch of the docs 2013-08-03 07:30:34 +00:00			`If you are working on things and want to see the changes`
Updating / Rewriting / Adding all of the documentation in preparation for the next release 2014-05-27 22:32:57 +00:00			`immediately, tell Hugo to watch for changes.`

			`Hugo will watch the filesystem for changes, rebuild your site as soon as a file`
			`is saved.`
adding hugo 2013-07-04 15:32:55 +00:00
Fix example in docs that wouldn't work in practice The pflag package used in hugo has to use the "=" sign for double dash options such as --source. Thus the original example `--source ~/mysite` is already incorrect. Adding the = sign though woul not fix things in this case, since `--source=~/mysite` does not get resolved to /home/username/mysite, but looks for the ./~/mysite directory within the current directory. To resolve this, either the directory name has to be changed in the docs not to use the "~" sign, or have to change to use the single dash version of the command line flag. The latter seems to be more in line with the rest of the example. Leaving `--watch` as a double dash option to minimize the change, though it could be either way, since the follow up example uses the single dash version of both. 2013-08-05 13:45:01 +00:00			`$ hugo -s ~/mysite --watch`
Updating usage documentation to new interface 2013-10-01 02:39:06 +00:00			`28 pages created`
Switching docs highlighting to highlight.js .. Docs build super fast again! 2014-05-15 13:58:55 +00:00			`in 18 ms`
Updating usage documentation to new interface 2013-10-01 02:39:06 +00:00			`Watching for changes in /Users/spf13/Code/hugo/docs/content`
			`Press ctrl+c to stop`
adding hugo 2013-07-04 15:32:55 +00:00
Updating / Rewriting / Adding all of the documentation in preparation for the next release 2014-05-27 22:32:57 +00:00			`Hugo can even run a server and create your site at the same time! Hugo`
Add future details to documentation 2014-05-29 05:00:06 +00:00			`implements [live reload](/extras/livereload) technology to automatically reload any open pages in`
Updating / Rewriting / Adding all of the documentation in preparation for the next release 2014-05-27 22:32:57 +00:00			`all browsers (including mobile).`
adding hugo 2013-07-04 15:32:55 +00:00
Updating usage documentation to new interface 2013-10-01 02:39:06 +00:00			`$ hugo server -ws ~/mysite`
			`Watching for changes in /Users/spf13/Code/hugo/docs/content`
adding hugo 2013-07-04 15:32:55 +00:00			`Web Server is available at http://localhost:1313`
			`Press ctrl+c to stop`
Updating usage documentation to new interface 2013-10-01 02:39:06 +00:00			`28 pages created`
			`0 tags created`
Switching docs highlighting to highlight.js .. Docs build super fast again! 2014-05-15 13:58:55 +00:00			`in 18 ms`
adding hugo 2013-07-04 15:32:55 +00:00