Building This Blog with Hugo and AI Tools: What I Learned.

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From WordPress to Hugo

For years, I worked in WordPress—developing and customizing themes for businesses big and small. It was a familiar way to get a website launched quickly and keep content easy to update. But lately, my work has shifted: I’ve been doing more programming in Python and diving deep into AI tools.

I wanted something faster. Simpler. A framework that respected my desire to write and publish with precision and minimal overhead.

That’s when I asked ChatGPT for recommendations for lightweight blogging frameworks—and found Hugo.

Why Hugo?

Hugo is a static site generator designed for speed, simplicity, and control. Instead of using a database or server-rendered CMS like WordPress, Hugo compiles Markdown files into a fully static website—built in milliseconds.

That makes it ideal for blogs, documentation, and personal sites where performance and portability matter.

Some of Hugo’s key benefits:

✅ Speed — Hugo can build thousands of pages in under a second
✅ Version Control — Every post is just a Markdown file in your Git repo
✅ Custom Layouts — Fine-tune templates without bloated theme builders
✅ Free Hosting — Works seamlessly with GitHub + Netlify

My First Hugo Build

It took me a minute to understand the directory structure and how everything fits together—layouts, templates, content folders. But once it clicked, I was off and running.

Within minutes, I had a theme installed and a local development server running. I deployed the site to Netlify for free, pointed a domain at it, and boom—website.

Hugo’s structure and simple Markdown-based editing make it a developer’s playground. No database. No dashboard. Just text files and lightning-fast builds.

Using AI Tools to Customize Hugo

While Hugo is powerful, some parts of its layout system (like layouts/_default/) can feel intimidating at first. This is where AI development tools shine.

Tools I Use

🧠 Cursor — An AI-powered code editor that understands the context of your project and helps you write, edit, and refactor code
💬 ChatGPT / GPT-4 — Used for generating blog post drafts, layout snippets, and debugging template logic
📄 OpenAI API — Powers automated blog generation workflows

Examples of What AI Helped Me Build

  • Homepage customization
    Prompt: “Add a 3-column grid with headings, text, and links under the hero section.”
    Result: AI inserted the correct HTML and Hugo templating in seconds.

  • Blog post automation
    I now generate daily blog posts from a content calendar using GPT-4, store them as .md files with draft: true, and receive them via email for approval.

  • Custom CMS concept
    I’m working on a lightweight interface to list, edit, and publish Hugo posts with a WYSIWYG editor—all powered by a local Git workflow.

Why This Workflow Works

By combining Hugo with AI tools, I get:

✅ Full control over the structure of my site
✅ Fast, Git-based publishing without external platforms
✅ AI-assisted development and content generation
✅ A creative workflow that feels like coding and writing at the same time

It’s not just a blog—it’s a system. One I understand, own, and evolve.

And the best part? I’ve got a ton of AI integrations in the works—and I can’t wait to share them as they evolve.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking to build a fast, flexible blog—and enjoy hands-on control over your content and layout—Hugo is a solid foundation.

Pair it with tools like Cursor and OpenAI, and you can customize every piece of it: from layout logic to post creation. Whether you’re a developer looking to move fast or a writer who wants automation without losing quality, this combo is worth exploring.

Want to try it? I’ll share my starter template.