exec-bin VS hugo-installer

When run from a package.json script, Hugo Installer checks for the presence of a Hugo binary — by default, in the project’s bin/ folder, although you can pick a different location — and, only if it doesn’t find the binary, downloads and installs a version, which you must specify. The check goes very quickly and, thus, I suggest you make a package.json script that does only the Hugo Installer part, and use it with your other Hugo-related scripts. Here are some examples, some of which use Müller’s exec-bin package so the installed Hugo binary will run as you would expect:

While I was helping someone resolve an apparent problem with his own Hugo site, I saw that his chosen theme installed and employed Hugo through just such an approach. In this case, the npm package was Hugo Installer, created and maintained by Dominique Müller.