# CLI question

**URL:** <https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/cli-question/56884>\
**Category:** support\
**Created:** [March 18, 2026, 11:43am UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/cli-question/56884 "2026-03-18T11:43:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![softyoda](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.gohugo.io/softyoda/32/25772_2.png) [@softyoda](https://discourse.gohugo.io/u/softyoda)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 11:43am UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/cli-question/56884/1 "2026-03-18T11:43:05Z")

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Hi, do we have any idea why the command hugo server can’t be called from cmd, windows powershell or any other terminal of windows (just like python can be called from anywhere) ?

Is hugo server required to create a website ? (i only wish to “build” from markdown to theme / optimized html/css)

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**Author:** ![kijana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/cc9497/32.png) [@kijana](https://discourse.gohugo.io/u/kijana)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 12:50pm UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/cli-question/56884/2 "2026-03-18T12:50:26Z")

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> [@softyoda](#):
>
> Hi, do we have any idea why the command hugo server can’t be called from cmd, windows powershell

I think those two have some quirks with text encoding and how they handle certain commands, hence the original issue by OP. When I used Windows, I found Git Bash more intuitive to use than tinkering with Powershell or Windows Powershell

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**Author:** ![irkode](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.gohugo.io/irkode/32/26135_2.png) [@irkode](https://discourse.gohugo.io/u/irkode)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 1:05pm UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/cli-question/56884/3 "2026-03-18T13:05:06Z")

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Welcome to the Forum:

first a note: do not post new issues to yers old topics → please open a new one see [Requesting Help](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/requesting-help/9132/2)

you state two problems:

#### call from everywhere.

execution from everywhere depends on your PATH setting. Add the location of your `hugo.exe` to the PATH environment variable and it can be started from anywhere.

p.s. There is no restriction for executing `hugo` on that. all shells work fine. **BUT** the _shells_ behave different in some cases (f.e. file creation and encoding as @kijana mentioned). The Quickstart gives a guaranteed to work setup.

#### required to create a website.

hugo is not a markdown file to html file converter. It’s designed to generate websites (SSG). **and** you have to tell hugo how the final result HTML should look like. If you don’t tell it, you’ll get your input back 😉

the technical minimal requirement is:

- a configuration file

to get some output (md → html) additionally

- at least one template file for the home page
- a content source file

If you do not use additional config settings or command line arguments, these are expected in a special [directory structure](https://gohugo.io/getting-started/directory-structure/)

if you want something like a markdown converter, you could tweak hugo with a custom setup/config to behave like that. Maybe you’ll need to wrap that up in a script.

but details here depend on your usecase:

- content of input file(s) or folder(s)
- names and content of output file(s), target folder(s)
- …