Coder

Coder is a minimalist, responsive blog theme for the Hugo static site generator, built to produce clean, content-focused personal blogs. The theme is maintained by Luiz de Prá, released under the MIT license, and has earned over 3,100 stars on GitHub.

What is Coder?

Coder is a Hugo theme that takes Markdown content and renders it into a static, responsive website. It runs on Hugo, the Go-based static site generator, and is distributed through its GitHub repository. The theme focuses on simplicity and readability, with a clean layout that puts your writing first.

Key Features

• Minimalist design — A stripped-down layout that emphasizes typography and content, ideal for reading-focused blogs.
• Responsive layout — Adapts to different screen sizes, from mobile phones to wide desktop monitors, with a consistent experience.
• Custom pagination — Uses techniques from Glenn McComb's article on custom Hugo pagination to split post listings across pages.
• Straightforward installation — Installs by adding the repository as a git submodule, then configuring hugo.toml and running hugo server.
• Example site included — The repository contains an exampleSite folder with a complete configuration file you can use as a starting point.
• Documentation — A dedicated docs folder explains every configuration option, from basic setup to the full example.
• MIT license — The theme is free to use, modify, and distribute, including in commercial projects.

Who should use Coder?

• Personal bloggers — Publish a clean, no-frills blog without the complexity of a full CMS.
• Developers — Set up a fast, static blog using the Hugo toolchain and manage content with Git.
• Technical writers — Write documentation or tutorials in Markdown and generate a responsive site with minimal effort.

What can you do with Coder?

• Start a blog in minutes — Add the theme as a submodule, copy the example configuration, and run hugo server to preview your site at http://localhost:1313/.
• Publish long-form articles — The minimal layout keeps focus on your writing, with pagination to organize archive pages.
• Deploy anywhere Hugo works — Output is static HTML, so you can host it on Netlify, GitHub Pages, or any web server.

How does Coder work?

Coder follows Hugo's standard theme structure. You add it to your project as a git submodule, point your hugo.toml at the theme, and Hugo renders your Markdown files into static HTML. The exampleSite provides a working reference, and the docs folder covers all settings in detail.

Pricing

Coder is free and open source under the MIT license. There are no paid tiers or premium features; you can download and use it without cost.

FAQ

Is Coder free?

Yes, Coder is released under the MIT license, which means it is completely free to use, even for commercial projects.

How do I install Coder?

Add the repository as a git submodule with the command git submodule add https://github.com/luizdepra/hugo-coder.git themes/hugo-coder. Then configure your hugo.toml based on the example and run hugo server.

Does Coder support pagination?

Yes, Coder includes custom pagination for splitting blog post listings. It was built following Glenn McComb's guide on custom Hugo pagination, and you can see how it works in the documentation.

What license does Coder use?

Coder uses the MIT license, allowing you to use, modify, and distribute the theme freely with attribution.