This page explains how Hugo determines the URL for each page. Get URL management right from the start. Broken links damage a site more than almost anything else, so plan your approach early.
Default URL Rules Link to this heading
Hugo automatically generates a URL based on the file path under content/:
content/posts/my-first-post.md → /posts/my-first-post/
content/about.md → /about/The default URL rules already fit most practical use cases, unless you have a clear, specific need.
Custom URLs (Permalinks) Link to this heading
To change how URLs are generated, configure permalinks in hugo.yaml:
[permalinks]
posts = '/:year-:month-:slugorcontentbasename/'The setting above makes URLs under posts include the year and month, for example:
content/posts/my-first-post.md → /2026-08-my-first-post/For the full configuration reference, see the permalinks documentation (external link).
Manually Setting a Single Page's URL Link to this heading
To change the URL of just one post, add slug to that post's front matter:
---
title: 'My Post'
slug: 'custom-slug'
---This changes only the final segment of the URL to custom-slug. To change the preceding path as well, use url to set the full path instead, for example url: '/blog/post1'.