gohugoio/hugo · error

no layout given

Error message

no layout given

What it means

Returned by pageContentOutput.Render when it is called with zero layout names. This method backs the template function `.Render` on a Page (e.g. `{{ .Render "summary" }}`), which renders the page through a named layout; with no layout name there is nothing to resolve, so Hugo fails immediately instead of guessing a default.

Source

Thrown at hugolib/page__per_output.go:109

	renderHooks *renderHooks
}

func (pco *pageContentOutput) trackDependency(idp identity.IdentityProvider) {
	pco.po.p.dependencyManagerOutput.AddIdentity(idp.GetIdentity())
}

func (pco *pageContentOutput) Reset() {
	if pco == nil {
		return
	}
	pco.contentRenderedVersion++
	pco.contentRendered.Store(false)
	pco.renderHooks = &renderHooks{}
}

func (pco *pageContentOutput) Render(ctx context.Context, layout ...string) (template.HTML, error) {
	if len(layout) == 0 {
		return "", errors.New("no layout given")
	}
	templ, found, err := pco.po.p.resolveTemplate(layout...)
	if err != nil {
		return "", pco.po.p.wrapError(err)
	}

	if !found {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("template %q not found", layout[0])
	}

	// Make sure to send the *pageState and not the *pageContentOutput to the template.
	res, err := executeToString(ctx, pco.po.p.s.GetTemplateStore(), templ, pco.po.p)
	if err != nil {
		return "", pco.po.p.wrapError(fmt.Errorf("failed to execute template %s: %w", templ.Name(), err))
	}
	return template.HTML(res), nil
}

View on GitHub ↗ (pinned to 8a468df065)

Solutions

1. Pass a layout name: `{{ .Render "summary" }}` (which resolves e.g. layouts/summary.html for the page).
2. If you just want the rendered content, use `{{ .Content }}` instead of `.Render`.
3. If the layout name comes from a variable/param, guard it: `{{ with $layout }}{{ $.Render . }}{{ end }}`.

Example fix

<!-- before -->
{{ range .Pages }}{{ .Render }}{{ end }}
<!-- after -->
{{ range .Pages }}{{ .Render "summary" }}{{ end }}

// Site author: ensure a layout exists for every kind/output format you enable
// e.g. layouts/page.html, layouts/list.html, layouts/home.html, layouts/baseof.html

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `.Render` in a template with no argument (`{{ .Render }}`) or with a variable that evaluates to an empty argument list; programmatic calls to pageContentOutput.Render(ctx) with an empty layout slice.

Common situations: Theme templates that call `{{ .Render }}` expecting default behavior like `.Content`, refactors that dropped the layout argument, or passing an unset variable as the layout name in list templates iterating pages.

Related errors

• template %q not found
• failed to execute template %s: %w
• error building site: %w
• failed to detect format from content
• failed to detect target data serialization format

AI-assisted analysis of gohugoio/hugo@8a468df065 (2026-07-31). Data as JSON: /data/errors/862361408ffd66dd.json. Report an issue: GitHub ↗.