Zalgorithm

Checking internal Hugo links with render link template

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The approach suggested on veriphor.com solved a problem I’d been struggling with for a few hours. I’ve added their template to my theme’s /layouts/_markup/render-link.html file. The code is fully documented.

In my site’s config I set the errorLevel for broken links to 'warning':

[params.render_hooks.link]
errorLevel = 'warning' # ignore (default), warning, or error (fails the build)

There’s also an option to set a highlightBroken boolean config value that will add a .broken class to broken links:

highlightBroken = true # true or false (default)

I haven’t gone through the code yet, but it works like a charm:

{{- /* Last modified: 2025-04-25T11:05:22-07:00 */}}

{{- /*
Copyright 2025 Veriphor LLC

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not
use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of
the License at

https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
the License.
*/}}

{{- /*
This render hook resolves internal destinations by looking for a matching:

  1. Content page
  2. Page resource (a file in the current page bundle)
  3. Section resource (a file in the current section)
  4. Global resource (a file in the assets directory)

It skips the section resource lookup if the current page is a leaf bundle.

External destinations are not modified.

You must place global resources in the assets directory. If you have placed
your resources in the static directory, and you are unable or unwilling to move
them, you must mount the static directory to the assets directory by including
both of these entries in your site configuration:

  [[module.mounts]]
  source = 'assets'
  target = 'assets'

  [[module.mounts]]
  source = 'static'
  target = 'assets'

By default, if this render hook is unable to resolve a destination, including a
fragment if present, it passes the destination through without modification. To
emit a warning or error, set the error level in your site configuration:

  [params.render_hooks.link]
  errorLevel = 'warning' # ignore (default), warning, or error (fails the build)

When you set the error level to warning, and you are in a development
environment, you can visually highlight broken internal links:

  [params.render_hooks.link]
  errorLevel = 'warning' # ignore (default), warning, or error (fails the build)
  highlightBroken = true # true or false (default)

This will add a "broken" class to anchor elements with invalid src attributes.
Add a rule to your CSS targeting the broken links:

  a.broken {
    background: #ff0;
    border: 2px solid #f00;
    padding: 0.1em 0.2em;
  }

This render hook may be unable to resolve destinations created with the ref and
relref shortcodes. Unless you set the error level to ignore you should not use
either of these shortcodes in conjunction with this render hook.

@context {string} Destination The link destination.
@context {page} Page A reference to the page containing the link.
@context {string} PlainText The link description as plain text.
@context {string} Text The link description.
@context {string} Title The link title.

@returns {template.html}
*/}}

{{- /* Initialize. */}}
{{- $renderHookName := "link" }}

{{- /* Verify minimum required version. */}}
{{- $minHugoVersion := "0.147.0" }}
{{- if lt hugo.Version $minHugoVersion }}
  {{- errorf "The %q render hook requires Hugo v%s or later." $renderHookName $minHugoVersion }}
{{- end }}

{{- /* Error level when unable to resolve destination: ignore, warning, or error. */}}
{{- $errorLevel := or site.Params.render_hooks.link.errorLevel "ignore" | lower }}

{{- /* If true, adds "broken" class to broken links. Applicable in development environment when errorLevel is warning. */}}
{{- $highlightBrokenLinks := or site.Params.render_hooks.link.highlightBroken false }}

{{- /* Validate error level. */}}
{{- if not (in (slice "ignore" "warning" "error") $errorLevel) }}
  {{- errorf "The %q render hook is misconfigured. The errorLevel %q is invalid. Please check your site configuration." $renderHookName $errorLevel }}
{{- end }}

{{- /* Determine content path for warning and error messages. */}}
{{- $contentPath := .Page.String }}

{{- /* Parse destination. */}}
{{- $u := urls.Parse .Destination }}

{{- /* Set common message. */}}
{{- $msg := printf "The %q render hook was unable to resolve the destination %q in %s" $renderHookName $u.String $contentPath }}

{{- /* Set attributes for anchor element. */}}
{{- $attrs := dict "href" $u.String }}
{{- if $u.IsAbs }}
  {{- /* Destination is a remote resource. */}}
  {{- $attrs = merge $attrs (dict "rel" "external") }}
{{- else }}
  {{- with $u.Path }}
    {{- with $p := or ($.PageInner.GetPage .) ($.PageInner.GetPage (strings.TrimRight "/" .)) }}
      {{- /* Destination is a page. */}}
      {{- $href := .RelPermalink }}
      {{- with $u.RawQuery }}
        {{- $href = printf "%s?%s" $href . }}
      {{- end }}
      {{- with $u.Fragment }}
        {{- $ctx := dict
          "contentPath" $contentPath
          "errorLevel" $errorLevel
          "page" $p
          "parsedURL" $u
          "renderHookName" $renderHookName
        }}
        {{- partial "inline/h-rh-l/validate-fragment.html" $ctx }}
        {{- $href = printf "%s#%s" $href . }}
      {{- end }}
      {{- $attrs = dict "href" $href }}
    {{- else with $.PageInner.Resources.Get $u.Path }}
      {{- /* Destination is a page resource; drop query and fragment. */}}
      {{- $attrs = dict "href" .RelPermalink }}
    {{- else with (and (ne $.Page.BundleType "leaf") ($.Page.CurrentSection.Resources.Get $u.Path)) }}
      {{- /* Destination is a section resource, and current page is not a leaf bundle. */}}
      {{- $attrs = dict "href" .RelPermalink }}
    {{- else with resources.Get $u.Path }}
      {{- /* Destination is a global resource; drop query and fragment. */}}
      {{- $attrs = dict "href" .RelPermalink }}
    {{- else }}
      {{- if eq $errorLevel "warning" }}
        {{- warnf $msg }}
        {{- if and $highlightBrokenLinks hugo.IsDevelopment }}
          {{- $attrs = merge $attrs (dict "class" "broken") }}
        {{- end }}
      {{- else if eq $errorLevel "error" }}
        {{- errorf $msg }}
      {{- end }}
    {{- end }}
  {{- else }}
    {{- with $u.Fragment }}
      {{- /* Destination is on the same page; prepend relative permalink. */}}
      {{- $ctx := dict
        "contentPath" $contentPath
        "errorLevel" $errorLevel
        "page" $.Page
        "parsedURL" $u
        "renderHookName" $renderHookName
      }}
      {{- partial "inline/h-rh-l/validate-fragment.html" $ctx }}
      {{- $attrs = dict "href" (printf "%s#%s" $.Page.RelPermalink .) }}
    {{- else }}
      {{- if eq $errorLevel "warning" }}
        {{- warnf $msg }}
        {{- if and $highlightBrokenLinks hugo.IsDevelopment }}
          {{- $attrs = merge $attrs (dict "class" "broken") }}
        {{- end }}
      {{- else if eq $errorLevel "error" }}
        {{- errorf $msg }}
      {{- end }}
    {{- end }}
  {{- end }}
{{- end }}

{{- /* Render anchor element. */ -}}
<a
  {{- with .Title }} title="{{ . }}" {{- end -}}
  {{- range $k, $v := $attrs }}
    {{- if $v }}
      {{- printf " %s=%q" $k ($v | transform.HTMLEscape) | safeHTMLAttr }}
    {{- end }}
  {{- end -}}
>{{ .Text }}</a>

{{- define "_partials/inline/h-rh-l/validate-fragment.html" }}
  {{- /*
  Validates the fragment portion of a link destination.

  @context {string} contentPath The page containing the link.
  @context {string} errorLevel The error level when unable to resolve destination; ignore (default), warning, or error.
  @context {page} page The page corresponding to the link destination
  @context {struct} parsedURL The link destination parsed by urls.Parse.
  @context {string} renderHookName The name of the render hook.
  */}}

  {{- /* Initialize. */}}
  {{- $contentPath := .contentPath }}
  {{- $errorLevel := .errorLevel }}
  {{- $p := .page }}
  {{- $u := .parsedURL }}
  {{- $renderHookName := .renderHookName }}

  {{- /* Validate. */}}
  {{- with $u.Fragment }}
    {{- if $p.Fragments.Identifiers.Contains . }}
      {{- if gt ($p.Fragments.Identifiers.Count .) 1 }}
        {{- $msg := printf "The %q render hook detected duplicate heading IDs %q in %s" $renderHookName . $contentPath }}
        {{- if eq $errorLevel "warning" }}
          {{- warnf $msg }}
        {{- else if eq $errorLevel "error" }}
          {{- errorf $msg }}
        {{- end }}
      {{- end }}
    {{- else }}
      {{- /* Determine target path for warning and error message. */}}
      {{- $targetPath := "" }}
      {{- with $p.File }}
        {{- $targetPath = .Path }}
      {{- else }}
        {{- $targetPath = .Path }}
      {{- end }}
      {{- /* Set common message. */}}
      {{- $msg := printf "The %q render hook was unable to find heading ID %q in %s. See %s" $renderHookName . $targetPath $contentPath }}
      {{- if eq $targetPath $contentPath }}
        {{- $msg = printf "The %q render hook was unable to find heading ID %q in %s" $renderHookName . $targetPath }}
      {{- end }}
      {{- /* Throw warning or error. */}}
      {{- if eq $errorLevel "warning" }}
        {{- warnf $msg }}
      {{- else if eq $errorLevel "error" }}
        {{- errorf $msg }}
      {{- end }}
    {{- end }}
  {{- end }}
{{- end -}}

References

Mooring, Joe (jmooring). “Tutorial: How to Check Broken Links in Hugo. (post# 2).” (GoHugo forum, May, 2025.) https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/tutorial-how-to-check-broken-links-in-hugo/54750/2.

Veriphor. “Link and image render hooks.” (December 26, 2022.) https://www.veriphor.com/articles/link-and-image-render-hooks/#link-render-hook.

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