gohugoio/hugo · error

{jekyllRoot} is not a directory

Error message

{jekyllRoot} is not a directory

What it means

In copyJekyllFilesAndFolders, after os.Stat on jekyllRoot, if it is not a directory the import fails because it expects to walk a Jekyll site root directory (import.go:345-351).

Source

Thrown at commands/import.go:350

		return fmt.Errorf("failed to convert content for file %q: %s", filename, err)
	}

	fs := hugofs.Os
	if err := helpers.WriteToDisk(targetFile, strings.NewReader(content), fs); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to save file %q: %s", filename, err)
	}
	return nil
}

func (c *importCommand) copyJekyllFilesAndFolders(jekyllRoot, dest string, jekyllPostDirs map[string]bool) (err error) {
	fs := hugofs.Os

	fi, err := fs.Stat(jekyllRoot)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	if !fi.IsDir() {
		return errors.New(jekyllRoot + " is not a directory")
	}
	err = os.MkdirAll(dest, fi.Mode())
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	entries, err := os.ReadDir(jekyllRoot)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	for _, entry := range entries {
		sfp := filepath.Join(jekyllRoot, entry.Name())
		dfp := filepath.Join(dest, entry.Name())
		if entry.IsDir() {
			if entry.Name()[0] != '_' && entry.Name()[0] != '.' {
				if _, ok := jekyllPostDirs[entry.Name()]; !ok {
					err = hugio.CopyDir(fs, sfp, dfp, nil)
					if err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to 52c9bd7908)

Solutions

1. Point the first argument at the Jekyll site root directory (the folder containing _posts and _config.yml)
2. Verify with `ls <root>` that it is a directory
3. Resolve symlinks before passing the path

Example fix

# before
hugo import jekyll ~/blog/_config.yml ./out
# after
hugo import jekyll ~/blog ./out

fi, err := os.Stat(root)
if err != nil || !fi.IsDir() {
    return errors.New("root must be a directory")
}

When it happens

Trigger: `hugo import jekyll <root> <target>` where <root> is a file path, not a directory.

Common situations: Passing a path to _config.yml or a file instead of the Jekyll site root; a broken symlink at the root.

Related errors

• target path "{targetDir}" exists but is not a directory
• target path "{targetDir}" exists and is not empty
• abort: jekyll root contains neither posts nor drafts
• filename not match
• must not be run from the file system root

AI-assisted analysis of gohugoio/hugo@52c9bd7908 (2026-08-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4fd6f3931508940b. Report an issue: GitHub.