Situation

TL;DR

I migrated this site from Nuxt 2 to Hugo to reduce complexity and improve build speed (static generation). Later I realized I missed component reuse and content flexibility, so I moved back to Nuxt 4. The lesson: understand the trade-offs between static generation and component systems, and don't over-engineer until the problem is real.

Context

I originally migrated this site from Nuxt 2 to Hugo to simplify a content‑first build and reduce runtime complexity. Later, I moved back to Nuxt to regain a richer component system, content tooling, and a more flexible UI layer.

Check the repo

This post documents that round‑trip and highlights an additional goal: exploring Cloudflare Pages as the hosting target, including build limits, cache behavior, and deployment ergonomics.

What changed

Decisions Made

What Changed

1. Content model
   • Hugo proved fast and lean for static content, but the authoring workflow and UI composition were more constrained than I wanted.
2. Rendering strategy
   • Moving back to Nuxt restored dynamic layouts, component reuse, and flexible data sourcing without sacrificing static performance.
3. Deploy & hosting
   • Cloudflare Pages made preview deployments frictionless, with simple caching rules and edge delivery that fit a static‑first site.

Tech used

• Frameworks: Hugo, Nuxt (Vue)
• Content: Markdown with front matter
• Styling: Tailwind CSS
• Hosting: Cloudflare Pages
• Tooling: pnpm, GitHub Actions

It's not DNS
It cannot be DNS
It was DNS

Good luck with your migration! If you hit a snag, it's probably DNS—check it anyway.

Outcome

The lesson wasn't about Hugo vs. Nuxt — it was about understanding the trade-offs. Hugo was the right tool for a content-first static site when the authoring workflow and deployment needed to be simple. Later, when I wanted richer components and more flexible content sourcing, Nuxt's component system and Nuxt Content justified the added complexity.

The hosted outcome: faster lighthouse scores, simpler preview deployments on Cloudflare Pages, and the freedom to embed rich Vue components directly in markdown when it makes sense. No over-engineering, just the right tool at the right moment.