Configuration

All site configuration lives in config.toml at the project root.

Any option documented as a list of strings also accepts a single string, which is read as a one-item list: sections = "posts" means sections = ["posts"]. An empty string, such as exclude = "${SITEMAP_EXCLUDE:-}" with the variable unset, counts as not set and keeps the default. A value that is neither a string nor a list (fields = true) is ignored with a warning.

Unknown top-level keys are reported instead of silently ignored. A typo'd [markdonw] or titel = "…" would otherwise disable a feature with no feedback. Hwaro warns with a suggestion when one is close to a real key:

Unknown key 'markdonw' in config.toml — hwaro does not read it. Did you mean 'markdown'?

The check covers top-level keys only: a misspelled key nested inside a section ([markdown] emoij = true) is not reported, so double-check nested keys against the tables below. A known section written in the wrong shape, such as highlight = false instead of a [highlight] table or taxonomies = ["tags"] instead of [[taxonomies]] entries, is ignored with a warning as well. sitemap = true is the one short form still accepted: it means [sitemap] enabled = true.

Site Settings

title = "My Site"
description = "Site description for SEO"
base_url = "https://example.com"

Environment Variables

You can reference environment variables in config.toml. Values are substituted before TOML parsing.

base_url = "${SITE_URL}"
title = "$SITE_TITLE"
description = "${SITE_DESC:-My awesome site}"

Missing variables without defaults are left as-is and produce a build warning. See Environment Variables for template usage.

Build Options

[build]
output_dir = "public"
drafts = false
parallel = true
cache = false
hooks.pre = ["npm install", "npx tsc"]
hooks.post = ["npm run minify"]

output_dir, drafts, parallel and cache each back a hwaro build flag, and the flag wins:

command-line flag  >  config.toml  >  built-in default

So hwaro build -o dist overrides output_dir in config, and hwaro build --drafts still includes drafts when drafts = false. The reverse does not exist: there is no --no-drafts or --no-cache to turn a config value back off, so set those keys only when you want them on for every build. --no-parallel is the one exception, and it overrides parallel = true.

These apply to hwaro serve as well, which builds into (and serves from) output_dir. hwaro deploy follows it too: when [deployment] source_dir is not set, it deploys output_dir rather than assuming public.

output_dir may be relative to the project or absolute. A path that escapes the project (../out) is refused, because the dev server will not serve from outside the project and the build would otherwise write somewhere serve never reads.

See Build Hooks for error handling and use cases.

Markdown

[markdown]
safe = false
lazy_loading = false
emoji = false
footnotes = true
task_lists = true
definition_lists = true
mermaid = false
math = false
math_engine = "katex"

See Markdown Extensions for syntax details and examples.

Content

[content]
summary_length = 70
summary_ellipsis = "…"
backlinks = false

See Content Summary for how page.summary is chosen. [content.files], [content.new], [[content.generate]] and [[content.schema]] are documented in the feature reference below.

Permalinks

Rewrite content directory paths to custom URL paths. Useful for site restructuring without breaking links.

[permalinks]
"old/posts" = "posts"
"2023/drafts" = "archive/2023"

Rules are evaluated in declaration order and the first source that matches the page's directory (exactly or as a parent prefix) wins. Later rules are never consulted for that page. Declare specific prefixes before broad ones ("posts/tech" before "posts"), or the broad rule shadows the specific one. This applies to token patterns too, and especially to the "" catch-all: put it last, after every other rule.

Token patterns

A target containing :token segments is a Hugo-style pattern that rebuilds the whole URL instead of remapping the directory:

[permalinks]
"posts" = "/:year/:month/:day/:slug/"

With content/posts/hello.md dated 2026-03-05, the page is published at /2026/03/05/hello/.

Notes:

• Tokens must be whole path segments; unknown tokens fail the config load.
• Patterns apply to leaf pages only. Section _index and bundle index pages skip pattern rules (they keep their directory URL, or a later plain remap rule).
• A page without a date that matches a pattern using :year/:month/:day fails the build. Add a date, set an explicit path in front matter, or drop the date tokens. Pages that never publish are exempt: drafts (without --drafts), expired/future-dated pages, and headless render: false pages don't block the build.
• An explicit path in front matter always wins over any permalink rule.
• An empty source key ("" or "/") makes a pattern rule a catch-all for every page. Declare it last, since first-match ordering means it would shadow any rule after it.
• For non-default languages the /lang/ prefix comes first: /ko/2026/03/05/hello/.

Links

Control how unresolved @/path.md internal links are treated during the build.

[links]
broken_internal = "error"
broken_anchors = "warn"

See Internal Links for the @/ link syntax and the --cache caveat in strict mode.

The anchor check reads each target page's output file after the render phase, so on --cache and serve rebuilds a target that was not re-rendered is checked as last written (no false positives). Only links in pages rendered in that pass are checked; run a cold build in CI for a complete check.

Taxonomies

[[taxonomies]]
name = "tags"
feed = true
paginate_by = 10

[[taxonomies]]
name = "categories"
feed = true

Term feeds stay reverse-chronological regardless of sort_by. See Taxonomies for the full sorting rules.

Menus

Named navigation menus, rendered in templates via site.menus / get_menu().

[[menus.main]]
name = "Posts"
url = "/posts/"
weight = 1

[[menus.main]]
name = "About"
url = "/about/"
weight = 2

Pages/sections can also join a menu from their own front matter (menus = ["main"]) without touching this file. A [languages.<code>] block with no menus table inherits this global set; declaring [[languages.<code>.menus.<name>]] replaces it for that language. See Menus for the full reference (hierarchy, per-language behavior, active_path styling).

To fill a menu from the top-level sections automatically (Hugo's sectionPagesMenu), name it under [menus]:

[menus]
auto_sections = "main"

Static Files

Everything under static/ is copied verbatim into the site root, preserving its directory structure, so static/css/app.css is served at /css/app.css. Hidden entries are included too, so static/.well-known/security.txt is published at /.well-known/security.txt. By default Hwaro filters out common OS, editor, and VCS cruft so it never ships to production.

[static]
use_default_excludes = true              # filter built-in cruft (default)
exclude = ["*.bak", "drafts/**"]         # extra patterns to skip

The built-in denylist only removes cruft. Legitimate dot-paths such as .well-known/ and .domains are never filtered and are always published, identically for cold and --cache/incremental builds. Set use_default_excludes = false to disable the built-in filtering entirely.

Development Server

Options for hwaro serve only. They never affect hwaro build output.

[serve]
fast = true                          # always serve in fast dev mode

[serve.headers]
X-Frame-Options = "SAMEORIGIN"
Cache-Control = "no-store"

See the serve command for the matching CLI flags.

Feature Configuration Reference

Each feature has its own documentation with full configuration details. Below is a quick reference of all config.toml sections.

Plugins

[plugins]
processors = ["markdown"]

Full Example

A complete config.toml with all core sections. Copy and adjust to your needs.

title = "My Blog"
description = "A blog about programming"
base_url = "https://myblog.com"
default_language = "en"

[build]
output_dir = "public"
drafts = false
parallel = true
cache = false
hooks.pre = ["npm ci"]
hooks.post = ["npm run optimize"]

[markdown]
safe = false
lazy_loading = true
emoji = false
footnotes = true
task_lists = true

[permalinks]
"old/posts" = "posts"
"posts" = "/:year/:month/:day/:slug/"

[plugins]
processors = ["markdown"]

[[taxonomies]]
name = "tags"
feed = true

[[taxonomies]]
name = "categories"

[[menus.main]]
name = "Posts"
url = "/posts/"

# Feature sections — see Feature Configuration Reference above
# [feeds], [sitemap], [robots], [og], [search], [highlight],
# [pagination], [auto_includes], [assets], [sass], [image_processing],
# [series], [related], [git], [llms], [pwa], [amp], [deployment], etc.

See Also

• CLI — Command-line options that override config
• Environment-Specific Config — Per-environment overrides (config.production.toml)