Add a way to avoid copying from /static

[ghost]

I'm interested in having a 1GB+ staticDir under a consistent prefix, say /files.

It seems like however staticDir is set, it copies it into public/ and such. I'd rather hugo not manage that and copy it myself, while still being able to refer to the folder while running hugo server.

Would this be a useful new feature or is there already a way to do it?

Thank you!

[bep]

Would this be a useful new feature or is there already a way to do it?

• The /static folder is currently copy-as-is
• If you don't want that, then don't put anything in it
• If you, as an example, create a symlink in /public/mybigfiles that will work exactly like a /static setup; Hugo does not need to know about that.

[ghost]

Hi bep, thanks for replying.

If I make a symlink under content, I can see "mybigfiles" in hugo server. However, it gets copied when I hugo.

Is there a way that I can ignore that directory when running hugo or include content outside of content/ when running hugo server?

I guess I could symlink before hugo server and delete after hugo, potentially.

[bep]

So, the different folders in Hugo have different roles. If you put them below /my-site/foo then Hugo will not touch them.

[ghost]

But if it's below that directory hugo server won't serve them, right?

I have worked around this for myself by just avoiding hugo server and doing a local webserver.