gohugoio/hugo · error

wrong number of arguments, expecting at most 2, got

Error message

wrong number of arguments, expecting at most 2, got %d

What it means

lang.Translate (the 'T' / i18n function) accepts an id and at most one templateData argument (two total). When more than one variadic arg is supplied, Translate rejects it. See lang.go:49-52.

Solutions

1. Pass data as a single object: a struct, map (dict), or slice that the translation catalog can interpolate.
2. Reduce to at most two total arguments (id + one templateData).
3. Move multiple values into a single dict passed as templateData.

Example fix

// before
{{ T "welcome" .Name .Date }}

// after
{{ T "welcome" (dict "name" .Name "date" .Date) }}

// Limit Translate to at most 2 total arguments.
if len(args) > 1 {
    return "", fmt.Errorf("Translate accepts id plus at most one data arg, got %d", len(args)+1)
}

When it happens

Trigger: {{ T "welcome" .Name .Date }} passing three total arguments instead of two.

Common situations: Assuming Translate supports printf-style variadic substitution; refactoring a printf call into T and leaving extra positional args.

Related errors

• language merge not supported for %T
• must not provide more arguments than Resource and hash…
• must provide a Resource and optionally an options map
• must provide a Resource object
• must provide an URL and optionally an options map

AI-assisted analysis of gohugoio/hugo@52c9bd7908 (2026-08-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d61e974be26a3428. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at tpl/lang/lang.go:51

	return &Namespace{
		translator: translator,
		deps:       deps,
	}
}

// Namespace provides template functions for the "lang" namespace.
type Namespace struct {
	translator golocales.Translator
	deps       *deps.Deps
}

// Translate returns a translated string for id.
func (ns *Namespace) Translate(ctx context.Context, id any, args ...any) (string, error) {
	var templateData any

	if len(args) > 0 {
		if len(args) > 1 {
			return "", fmt.Errorf("wrong number of arguments, expecting at most 2, got %d", len(args)+1)
		}
		templateData = args[0]
	}

	sid, err := cast.ToStringE(id)
	if err != nil {
		return "", err
	}

	return ns.deps.Translate(ctx, sid, templateData), nil
}

// FormatNumber formats number with the given precision for the current language.
func (ns *Namespace) FormatNumber(precision, number any) (string, error) {
	p, n, err := ns.castPrecisionNumber(precision, number)
	if err != nil {
		return "", err
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to 52c9bd7908)