Docker Development Workflow for Hugo Themes

Setting up a consistent development environment across different machines is crucial for theme development. Here’s my Docker-based workflow.

The Setup

FROM hugomods/hugo:exts-0.120.4
WORKDIR /src
COPY . /src/themes/nomad-tech/
CMD ["hugo", "server", "--bind", "0.0.0.0", "--buildDrafts"]

Docker Compose Configuration

services:
  hugo:
    build: .
    volumes:
      - "./exampleSite:/src"
    ports:
      - "1313:1313"

Benefits

• Consistency: Same Hugo version everywhere
• Security: Pinned, official images only
• Isolation: No local Hugo installation needed
• Portability: Works on any machine with Docker

Development Commands

# Start development server
docker-compose up

# Build for production
docker-compose run hugo hugo --minify

# Clean up
docker-compose down

This workflow has saved me countless hours of environment setup!