# Dart Sass timeout on Windows

**URL:** <https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/dart-sass-timeout-on-windows/56811>\
**Category:** support\
**Tags:** dart-sass\
**Created:** [March 6, 2026, 4:15pm UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/dart-sass-timeout-on-windows/56811 "2026-03-06T16:15:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![parakin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.gohugo.io/parakin/32/25738_2.png) [@parakin](https://discourse.gohugo.io/u/parakin)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2026, 4:15pm UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/dart-sass-timeout-on-windows/56811/1 "2026-03-06T16:15:42Z")

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When running a Hugo 0.157.0 build, it halts for about 30 seconds then ends with this error:

> TOCSS-DART: failed to transform “/css/website.scss” (text/x-scss): “:1:1”: timeout waiting for Dart Sass to respond; note that this project is only compatible with the Dart Sass Binary found here: [Releases · sass/dart-sass · GitHub](https://github.com/sass/dart-sass/releases/)

I did install the Dart Sass binary from that url indicated, and installed into a directory outside of my project and in my PATH. From `hugo env` it appears Hugo can find it:

> hugo v0.157.0-7747abbb316b03c8f353fd3be62d5011fa883ee6+extended windows/amd64 BuildDate=2026-02-25T16:38:33Z VendorInfo=gohugoio  
> GOOS=“windows”  
> GOARCH=“amd64”  
> GOVERSION=“go1.26.0”  
> [github.com/webmproject/libwebp=“v1.6.0”](http://github.com/webmproject/libwebp=%E2%80%9Cv1.6.0%E2%80%9D)  
> [github.com/sass/libsass=“3.6.6”](http://github.com/sass/libsass=%E2%80%9C3.6.6%E2%80%9D)  
> [github.com/sass/dart-sass/protocol=“3.2.0”](http://github.com/sass/dart-sass/protocol=%E2%80%9C3.2.0%E2%80%9D)  
> [github.com/sass/dart-sass/compiler=“1.97.3”](http://github.com/sass/dart-sass/compiler=%E2%80%9C1.97.3%E2%80%9D)  
> [github.com/sass/dart-sass/implementation=“1.97.3”](http://github.com/sass/dart-sass/implementation=%E2%80%9C1.97.3%E2%80%9D)

Note that the .zip file downloaded from the URL given above has sass.bat in the PATH folder and a ./src/dart.exe in a “src” subfolder. That’s how I have it in my PATH folder and it seems to get invoked, just that it times out. Any ideas? I’m stumped so far.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![parakin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.gohugo.io/parakin/32/25738_2.png) [@parakin](https://discourse.gohugo.io/u/parakin)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2026, 4:45pm UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/dart-sass-timeout-on-windows/56811/2 "2026-03-06T16:45:15Z")

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UPDATE #1: I decided to simplify the problem by simplifying my SCSS. I reduced it right down to just a pure CSS reset … and it worked! I slowly added my `@use` back in and finally found that it failed with timeout when calling an `@function` that I had defined. I added some SCSS syntax errors and they failed immediately with an informative message. Something about calling an `@function` causes Sass to hang. I’ll add more if I find anything (in case anyone else runs into this).

UPDATE #2: Silly me. My `@function` had an infinite loop. It all worked before when I was using standalone Sass as a separate pre-Hugo build step (as I’ve done since before Hugo supported Sass). I made a small tweak (bug, actually) to my `@function` just before I started working on having Hugo call Sass for me (eliminating the pre-build step). D-oh! For the curious, a loop in Sass is required because Sass doesn’t have a `string.replace($svg, “#”, “%23”)` function; you have to loop to do it yourself.

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**Author:** ![system](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.gohugo.io/system/32/1_2.png) [@system](https://discourse.gohugo.io/u/system)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2026, 4:45pm UTC](https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/dart-sass-timeout-on-windows/56811/3 "2026-03-08T16:45:56Z")

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