ADR-009 Accepted 2026-05-23

Hugo Docs Server

ADR documents are served by a Hugo dev server at port 1318; supersedes the file:// constraint in ADR-003.

Context

ADR-003 established that all research and ADR documents must be openable directly from file:// with no running server, because the backend did not exist yet and prototypes needed zero-setup sharing.

The project now has a running backend (SAM local + LocalStack), a tmuxinator-managed dev session, and a Hugo site at docs/site/. The prototype phase is complete. The team always works inside the same tmux session, so a running Hugo server is a natural part of the dev environment.

The docs/site/ Hugo site provides ADR navigation, live reload, module-mounted research docs, and consistent styling through shared layout templates — none of which are achievable from file://.

Decision

The canonical docs experience is the Hugo dev server at http://localhost:1318, started via task docs:dev (pane 6 of the tmux session). This supersedes the requirement in ADR-003 that docs must work without a server.

The standalone HTML files under docs/adr/ and docs/research/ are retained as a file:// fallback. They continue to be mounted as static assets in the Hugo site and must be kept in sync with their Hugo content counterparts under docs/site/content/.

New ADRs must be created in both locations: a standalone HTML file in docs/adr/adr-NNN-*/index.html and a Hugo content file in docs/site/content/adr/NNN-*.html.

Consequences

Positive
  • Proper ADR index with navigation between documents
  • Live reload during authoring (task docs:dev)
  • Consistent styling via shared Hugo layout templates
  • Module mounts expose research docs at stable URLs
  • file:// fallback is preserved for the raw HTML files
Negative
  • Canonical experience requires task docs:dev to be running
  • Hugo must be installed (already a project dependency)
  • New ADRs require two files — standalone HTML and Hugo content — that must stay in sync

Alternatives Considered

OptionWhy not chosen
Keep file:// only (ADR-003 unchanged) No navigation index, no live reload, no cross-ADR linking via Hugo; the Hugo site already exists and is in the tmux session
Migrate docs into the Hugo catalog site (port 1317) Keeps ADR/research content separate from the product demo site; a dedicated docs server is easier to restart independently
Single source of truth: Hugo only, drop the standalone HTML files Loses the zero-setup sharing property that is still useful for ad-hoc review; the standalone files cost little to maintain