gohugoio/hugo · error

process: %w

Error message

process: %w

What it means

Wraps a failure of the process() step — the phase that parses sources and creates Page objects (full or partial). The %w is the underlying processing error (template/page/error aggregation).

Source

Thrown at hugolib/hugo_sites_build.go:172

				if len(events) > 0 || len(conf.WhatChanged.Changes()) > 0 {
					// Rebuild
					if err := h.initRebuild(conf); err != nil {
						return fmt.Errorf("initRebuild: %w", err)
					}
				} else {
					if err := h.initSites(); err != nil {
						return fmt.Errorf("initSites: %w", err)
					}
				}

				return nil
			}

			ctx := context.Background()

			if err := h.process(ctx, infol, conf, init, events...); err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("process: %w", err)
			}
			h.reportProgress(func() (state terminal.ProgressState, progress float64) {
				return terminal.ProgressNormal, 0.15
			})
			if err := h.assemble(ctx, infol, conf); err != nil {
				return fmt.Errorf("assemble: %w", err)
			}
			h.reportProgress(func() (state terminal.ProgressState, progress float64) {
				return terminal.ProgressNormal, 0.20
			})

			return nil
		}

		if prepareErr = prepare(); prepareErr != nil {
			h.SendError(prepareErr)
		}
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 52c9bd7908)

Solutions

1. Unwrap %w — it usually carries file/line context for the offending content or template.
2. Fix the named content file's front matter (YAML/TOML delimiters, unquoted colons).
3. Fix shortcodes/partials referenced by the failing page.
4. Run `hugo --verbose` to see which file process() choked on.

Example fix

<!-- before: broken shortcode call in a page -->
{{< myShortCode missing-arg >}}

<!-- after -->
{{< myShortCode arg="value" >}}

// Lint content front matter + shortcodes before building (e.g. via hugo --renderToMemory dry-run).
if err := validateContentFrontMatter(contentDir); err != nil { return err }

if err := h.process(ctx, l, conf, init, events...); err != nil {
    // process errors usually identify a single file; log and skip vs. abort per policy
    h.Log.Errorf("process failed: %v", err)
    return fmt.Errorf("process: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Raised at hugo_sites_build.go:172 when h.process(ctx, infol, conf, init, events...) errors. This covers reading/parsing content files, handling file events for rebuilds, and the init callback errors.

Common situations: A content file with a front matter parse error; a shortcode/templating error during page creation; an init error (initRebuild/initSites) propagated; module import resolution failure while processing.

Related errors

• error building site: %w
• assemble: %w
• no existing content directory configured for this project
• shortcode has no name
• error processing file %q

AI-assisted analysis of gohugoio/hugo@52c9bd7908 (2026-08-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/315f603e634acfcd. Report an issue: GitHub.