Step 3: Add a Theme

Hugo supports themes to control the look and layout of your site. The recommended way to add a theme in modern Hugo is via Hugo Modules (powered by Go modules).

Initialize your project as a Go module

hugo mod init github.com/youruser/mysite

This creates a go.mod file in your project root.

Import a theme

Open hugo.toml and add a module import. We will use the popular Ananke theme:

baseURL = 'https://example.org/'
languageCode = 'en-us'
title = 'My Site'

[module]
  [[module.imports]]
    path = 'github.com/theNewDynamic/gohugo-theme-ananke/v2'

Download the theme module

hugo mod get -u

This fetches the theme and creates a go.sum file. Both go.mod and go.sum should be committed to version control.

Why Hugo Modules instead of Git submodules?

Hugo Modules offer several advantages:

  • Version pinning — go.mod records the exact version
  • No nested Git repos — cleaner repository structure
  • Easy updates — hugo mod get -u updates to the latest version
  • Composable — you can import multiple modules and mount specific directories

You can browse more themes at themes.gohugo.io.