Build with Hexo

Deploy a Hexo site to an Azion domain from the Hexo Boilerplate template, a GitHub repository, or the Azion CLI.

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You can put a Hexo site on Azion three ways: deploy the Hexo template from Azion Console, import your own repository from GitHub, or run the Azion CLI. Each route leaves the site live on an Azion domain.

Azion serves a Hexo site as a static application. The Hexo build generates the site in ./public, and the deploy copies that folder to a storage bucket behind an application. To see which other frameworks Azion builds, refer to Frameworks compatibility.

Pick a route first. The prerequisites and the deploy steps on this page change with it.

Prerequisites

  • Access to Azion Console. To sign in, refer to How to access Azion Console.
  • A GitHub account. The template form connects it during the deploy when it asks for one.
  • Access to Azion Console. To sign in, refer to How to access Azion Console.
  • A GitHub account.
  • A GitHub repository with a Hexo project in it.
  • The Azion CLI, installed and logged in. To set it up, refer to Azion CLI quickstart.
  • Node.js 18 or later, with npm.
  • A terminal and a code editor.

Hexo templates

The Console route deploys a template, a Hexo project that is ready to build. It starts from this template:

TemplateUse
Hexo BoilerplateSingle-page application

Hexo Boilerplate has a guide of its own, linked in the table. For the template catalog, refer to Azion Marketplace. In the CLI route, the azion init template picker of the Hexo preset lists Hexo Boilerplate as its only entry.

Deploy the site

Every route builds the Hexo project and creates the Azion resources that serve it. Follow the panel for your route:

To create the project, run azion init with a project name. In the preset picker, select Hexo; in the template picker, select Hexo Boilerplate:

azion init --name my-site --auto -y

With -y, the command installs the dependencies. With --auto, it does not ask whether to start a local development server or deploy. For the questions it asks without these options, refer to Azion CLI init. The command prints:

Text
01> AI Studio
02 Angular
03 Astro
04 Docusaurus
05 Eleventy
06 Emscripten
07 Gatsby
08 Hexo
09 Hono
10 Hugo
11 Javascript
12 Jekyll
13 Next
14 Nuxt
15 OpenNextJS
16 Preact
17 Qwik
18 React
19 Rustwasm
20 Stencil
21 Svelte
22 Typescript
23 Vitepress
24 Vue
25 Vuepress
26? Choose a preset: Hexo
27? Choose a template: [Use arrows to move, type to filter]
28> Hexo Boilerplate
29? Choose a template: Hexo Boilerplate
30
31Fetching selected template...
32
33Template successfully fetched
34Template successfully configured
35Installing application dependencies
36…
37added 241 packages, and audited 242 packages in 13s
3842 packages are looking for funding
39run `npm fund` for details
407 high severity vulnerabilities
41
42To address all issues (including breaking changes), run:
43 npm audit fix --force
44
45Run `npm audit` for details.
46…
47[Azion] [Build] › ℹ info Using preset: hexo
48[Azion] [Build] › ✔ success Build completed successfully with only azion.config
49[Azion] [IaC] › ✔ success Manifest generated successfully at <project-dir>/my-site/.edge/manifest.json
50If you want to start a local development server later, run 'azion dev'
51Make sure to change to the new working directory before running building or deploying your project
52If you want to deploy your application later, run 'azion deploy'
53Make sure to change to the new working directory before running building or deploying your project
54Your application my-site was initialized successfully

The project is in the my-site folder. Its azion.config.cjs sets the hexo preset, and it uploads ./public to a storage bucket with read-only access for workloads. For the settings of that file, refer to azion.config.js.

To build the site, go to the project folder and run azion build:

Shell
01cd my-site
02azion build

Azion Bundler builds the project with the hexo preset, and Hexo writes the generated files to public. The template’s build script is hexo generate:

Text
01Building your Application. This process may take a few minutes
02Running build step command:
03
04$ npx --yes @aziontech/bundler@1.1.4 build --preset hexo
05…
06[Azion] [Build] › ℹ info Using preset: hexo
07[Azion] [Pre-Build] › ℹ info Starting pre-build...
08…
09[Hexo] › ℹ info INFO
10[Hexo] › ℹ info Validating config
11
12[Hexo] › ℹ info INFO
13[Hexo] › ℹ info Start processing
14
15[Hexo] › ℹ info INFO Files loaded in 154 ms
16
17[Hexo] › ℹ info INFO Generated: archives/index.html
18INFO Generated: archives/2026/index.html
19INFO Generated: archives/2026/10/index.html
20
21[Hexo] › ℹ info INFO Generated: index.html
22
23[Hexo] › ℹ info INFO Generated: js/jquery-3.6.4.min.js
24
25[Hexo] › ℹ info INFO Generated: fancybox/jquery.fancybox.min.css
26INFO Generated: css/images/azion.svg
27INFO Generated: fancybox/jquery.fancybox.min.js
28INFO Generated: js/script.js
29INFO Generated: css/style.css
30INFO Generated: css/images/discord.svg
31INFO Generated: css/images/medium.svg
32
33[Hexo] › ℹ info INFO Generated: css/images/x-twitter.svg
34INFO Generated: css/images/vector-bg.svg
35INFO Generated: 2026/10/03/Hexo-Boilerplate/index.html
36INFO Generated: css/images/banner.jpg
37
38[Hexo] › ℹ info INFO
39[Hexo] › ℹ info Generated: 2026/10/03/hello-world/index.html
40INFO 17 files generated in 111 ms
41
42[Azion] [Pre-Build] › ℹ info Pre-build completed successfully
43[Azion] [Build] › ℹ info Using built-in handler from "hexo" preset.
44[Azion] [Build] › ℹ info Starting build...
45[Azion] [Build] › ✔ success Build completed successfully
46[Azion] [Post-Build] › ℹ info Starting post-build...
47[Azion] [Post-Build] › ✔ success Post-build completed successfully
48[Azion] [Storage] › ℹ info Using provided prefix for storage '$BUCKET_NAME': $BUCKET_PREFIX
49[Azion] [IaC] › ✔ success Manifest generated successfully at <project-dir>/my-site/.edge/manifest.json
50Your Application was built successfully

To deploy the site, run azion deploy from the project folder:

azion deploy

The deploy uploads the project and opens the Azion Console page that tracks it. If the browser does not open, use the URL of that page in the output. At the end, the command prints the URL of the site’s domain. For the full output and the deploy flags, refer to Azion CLI deploy.

To preview the site locally before a deploy, refer to Azion CLI dev. For a Hexo project you already have, run azion link in its folder and select the Hexo preset, as described in Azion CLI link.

To deploy the Hexo template from Azion Console:

Open the templates

Access Azion Console > Create > Templates.

Find the Hexo template

In Search by name, framework, or keyword, enter Hexo.

Select Hexo Boilerplate
Connect your GitHub account

If the form shows GitHub Connection, select Connect with GitHub and install the Azion GitHub App.

Select a Git Scope

In Git Scope, select the scope for the template.

Fill in the settings the template asks for
Select Deploy

While the project builds, the deploy page shows the Deploy Log. A successful deploy shows Successfully created!, the domain URL, and a Manage button that opens the application.

To deploy a Hexo project from your GitHub repository:

Open Import from GitHub

Access Azion Console > Create > Import from GitHub.

Select the import card

Select the card in the Import from GitHub tab. The Import from GitHub page opens.

Connect your GitHub account

If no GitHub account is connected, in GitHub Connection, select Connect with GitHub.

Select the repository

Select a Git Scope, then the Repository with the Hexo project.

Name the application

In General, enter an Application Name. The repository name fills the field first, and the storage bucket and the function get the same name.

Select the Hexo preset

Set Preset to Hexo.

Set the root directory

In Root Directory, keep / if the Hexo project is at the root of the repository.

Enter the install command

In Install Command, enter npm install.

Select Deploy

The deploy page opens. Its title is Deploy: and the application name, and it shows the Deploy Log while the project builds. A successful deploy shows Successfully created! and the domain URL.

For the Variables section and the other fields of the form, refer to Import a project from GitHub.

Check the site

Each route gives you the URL of the site’s Azion domain, in the form https://xxxxxxxxxx.map.azionedge.net. In Azion Console, the deploy page shows it; in the CLI route, azion deploy prints it at the end. Open that URL in a browser to load the Hexo site.

The first deploy can take several minutes to answer from every location; later deploys take about two minutes. A location that does not have the site yet answers with a 404 page that reads There's nothing here yet. If you get that page, wait, then load the URL again.

Next steps

Frameworks compatibilitySee the frameworks and presets that Azion builds.Azion CLI deployRead the deploy output and the flags that change a deploy.Import a project from GitHubSet each field of the GitHub import, variables included.azion.config.jsChange the bucket, cache, and rules that the Hexo preset generates.