gohugoio/hugo · error

both limit and seq must be provided

Error message

both limit and seq must be provided

What it means

The `after` and `first` collection functions require both a numeric limit and a sequence; if either argument is literally nil, Hugo returns this error before attempting conversion or iteration. It distinguishes 'you passed nothing' from 'you passed something un-iterable', which produces different errors further down.

Source

Thrown at tpl/collections/collections.go:67

		loc:      loc,
		sortComp: compare.New(loc, true),
		dCache:   dCache,
		deps:     deps,
	}
}

// Namespace provides template functions for the "collections" namespace.
type Namespace struct {
	loc      *time.Location
	sortComp *compare.Namespace
	dCache   *hmaps.Cache[dKey, []int]
	deps     *deps.Deps
}

// After returns all the items after the first n items in list l.
func (ns *Namespace) After(n any, l any) (any, error) {
	if n == nil || l == nil {
		return nil, errors.New("both limit and seq must be provided")
	}

	nv, err := cast.ToIntE(n)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	if nv < 0 {
		return nil, errors.New("sequence bounds out of range [" + cast.ToString(nv) + ":]")
	}

	lv := reflect.ValueOf(l)
	lv, isNil := hreflect.Indirect(lv)
	if isNil {
		return nil, errors.New("can't iterate over a nil value")
	}

	switch lv.Kind() {

View on GitHub ↗ (pinned to 8a468df065)

Solutions

1. Provide a default for the limit: `{{ first (.Params.limit | default 5) .Pages }}`.
2. Guard the sequence: `{{ with .Pages }}{{ first 5 . }}{{ end }}`.
3. Verify the config/front-matter key the limit is read from actually exists and is spelled correctly.

Example fix

<!-- before -->
{{ range first .Params.limit .Pages }}...{{ end }}
<!-- after -->
{{ range first (.Params.limit | default 5) .Pages }}...{{ end }}

{{ $n := 5 }}
{{ if and (isset $.Params "items") $n }}
  {{ range first $n .Params.items }}...{{ end }}
{{ end }}

When it happens

Trigger: `{{ first nil .Pages }}`, `{{ after $n $list }}` where `$n` or `$list` is an unset variable / missing param that evaluates to nil, e.g. `{{ first .Params.limit .Pages }}` when `limit` is absent from front matter or site config.

Common situations: Reading the limit from site/page params that don't exist (`.Site.Params.mainSections` era configs, missing `paginate`/`limit` keys), passing `.Pages` on a context where it's nil, or renamed config keys after a Hugo upgrade leaving the param lookup nil.

Related errors

• sequence must be provided
• can't iterate over a nil value
• nil is not a valid key to group by
• symdiff: failed to convert value: %w
• arguments to symdiff must be slices or arrays

AI-assisted analysis of gohugoio/hugo@8a468df065 (2026-07-31). Data as JSON: /data/errors/6aa7ef8d592d2152.json. Report an issue: GitHub ↗.