gohugoio/hugo · error

deployment target not found

Error message

deployment target %q not found

What it means

deploy.New (deploy/deploy.go:88) selects the deployment target by name (from the --target flag). If a name is given and no entry in dcfg.Targets (the [[deployment.targets]] list) matches it, Hugo cannot proceed and returns this error. With an empty name it defaults to the first target.

Solutions

1. List the [[deployment.targets]] names in your config and correct the --target spelling/whitespace/case.
2. Add the missing [[deployment.targets]] entry with the desired name.
3. Omit --target to deploy to the first defined target.
4. Ensure at least one target is configured (otherwise you get the separate 'no deployment targets found' error).

Example fix

# before
$ hugo deploy --target=prod   # config only defines 'production'

# after
$ hugo deploy --target=production

// Verify a target name exists in config before `hugo deploy --target=...`.
func ValidateDeployTarget(targets []deployconfig.Target, name string) error {
    if name == "" { return nil } // empty -> first target
    for _, t := range targets {
        if t.Name == name { return nil }
    }
    return fmt.Errorf("deployment target %q not found", name)
}

d, err := deploy.New(cfg, fs, targetName, logger)
if err != nil {
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: `hugo deploy --target=foo` where 'foo' is not among the configured [[deployment.targets]] names; deploying before any target is defined; case/whitespace mismatch in the name.

Common situations: Typo in the --target value; forgetting to add the target to config; renaming a target but not the flag; copy-pasting a deploy command from a different project.

Related errors

• empty deployment matcher
• empty deployment target
• invalid deployment.matchers.pattern
• invalid deployment.orderings.pattern
• invalid deployment.target.exclude

AI-assisted analysis of gohugoio/hugo@52c9bd7908 (2026-08-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/827cb9e05e7cb88f. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at deploy/deploy.go:98

	if len(dcfg.Targets) == 0 {
		return nil, errors.New("no deployment targets found")
	}
	mediaTypes := cfg.GetConfigSection("mediaTypes").(media.Types)

	// Find the target to deploy to.
	var tgt *deployconfig.Target
	if targetName == "" {
		// Default to the first target.
		tgt = dcfg.Targets[0]
	} else {
		for _, t := range dcfg.Targets {
			if t.Name == targetName {
				tgt = t
			}
		}
		if tgt == nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("deployment target %q not found", targetName)
		}
	}

	return &Deployer{
		localFs:    localFs,
		target:     tgt,
		quiet:      cfg.BuildExpired(),
		mediaTypes: mediaTypes,
		cfg:        dcfg,
	}, nil
}

func (d *Deployer) openBucket(ctx context.Context) (*blob.Bucket, error) {
	if d.bucket != nil {
		return d.bucket, nil
	}
	d.logger.Printf("Deploying to target %q (%s)\n", d.target.Name, d.target.URL)
	return blob.OpenBucket(ctx, d.target.URL)

View on GitHub (pinned to 52c9bd7908)