Hugo Pagination: Limiting Query Size with .Paginate and .Where

Goal

To bound the number of items per page in a large content set while still applying a filter (e.g., draft exclusion) before pagination.

Constraints & Uncertainty

• .Paginate accepts only PageCollections; it cannot paginate arbitrary slices.
• The order of operations matters: .Where must precede .Paginate.
• When the filtered collection is empty, Hugo still renders the pagination UI, potentially producing broken links.
• Inside partials, the .Paginator object may not expose the current page number unless the parent page supplies a .Paginator context.

Specific Questions

1. What pattern can reliably suppress pagination controls when the filtered collection contains zero items?
2. Does Hugo provide a way to apply .Where directly to a slice before invoking .Paginate, or must one always work with PageCollections?
3. When rendering a paginator inside a partial, how can the partial access the current page number without leaking the parent page’s paginator state?