Draft _index.md gives "invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference"

[JVimes]

What version of Hugo are you using?

hugo v0.118.2-da7983ac4b94d97d776d7c2405040de97e95c03d+extended windows/amd64 BuildDate=2023-08-31T11:23:51Z VendorInfo=gohugoio

Does this issue reproduce with the latest release?

Yes

Summary

When I use a draft _index.md at the root level I get:

invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference

The error goes away if I change draft to false for _index.md.

Repro

hugo new site foo
cd foo
git init
git submodule add https://github.com/theNewDynamic/gohugo-theme-ananke.git themes/ananke
echo "theme = 'ananke'" >> hugo.toml
hugo new _index.md
hugo server

Final output:

Error: error building site:
render: render of "404" failed: "C:\foo\themes\ananke\layouts\404.html:1:24":
execute of template failed: template: 404.html:1:24:
executing "header" at <partial "page-header.html" .>:
error calling partial: "C:\foo\themes\ananke\layouts\partials\page-header.html:22:9":
execute of template failed: template: partials/page-header.html:22:9:
executing "partials/page-header.html" at <partial "site-navigation.html" .>:
error calling partial: "C:\foo\themes\ananke\layouts\partials\site-navigation.html:3:21":
execute of template failed: template: partials/site-navigation.html:3:21:
executing "partials/site-navigation.html" at <.Site.Home.RelPermalink>:
error calling RelPermalink:
runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference

Other themes

Same error from different file/lines.

PaperMod:

Error: error building site:
render: render of "404" failed: "C:\foo\themes\PaperMod\layouts\_default\baseof.html:16:8":
execute of template failed: template: 404.html:16:8:
executing "404.html" at <partialCached "header.html" . .Page>:
error calling partialCached: "C:\foo\themes\PaperMod\layouts\partials\header.html:101:29":
execute of template failed: template: partials/header.html:101:29:
executing "partials/header.html" at <site.Home.AllTranslations>:
error calling AllTranslations:
runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference

Blowfish:

Error: error building site: render: render of "404" failed: "C:\foo\themes\Blowfish\layouts\_default\baseof.html:20:5":
execute of template failed: template: 404.html:20:5:
executing "404.html" at <partial $header .>:
error calling partial: "C:\foo\themes\Blowfish\layouts\partials\header\basic.html:21:30":
execute of template failed: template: partials/header/basic.html:21:30:
executing "partials/header/basic.html" at <markdownify>:
error calling markdownify: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference

[jmooring]

When a page is in draft mode, it does not exist. So in your case, the home page (_index.md) does not exist. Which means that the .Site.Home object does not exist.

• Ananke calls the .Site.Home object directly
• PaperMod: calls site.Home which returns .Site.Home
• Blowfish: calls the markdownify function, which is aliased to .Site.Home.RenderString

The short answer is, "Don't do that." Perhaps we should just ignore the draft setting on the home page.

[JVimes]

Thanks. A memory error isn't an appropriate way to handle it. Draft is conceptually valid for the home page. I want to use it while I work on the home page text.

[jmooring]

A memory error isn't an appropriate way to handle it.

I agree this could be better, but what you've done is uncommon.

Draft is conceptually valid for the home page.

If draft is true on the home page, none of the content is published. So conceptually, the only way it makes sense to keep the home page in draft mode is if you are running hugo --buildDrafts or hugo server --buildDrafts, which works fine.

[JVimes]

Well, that's not entirely true. My home page is the Recent Articles section. The index file is for a bit of marketing text at the top, I'm working on.

[jmooring]

Closing as duplicate of #11809.

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