github-action/guides/credentials.md

Workflow credentials

The sync workflow uses two secrets. Give each the least privilege that works, store it only as a Gitea secret, and rotate it when a person with access leaves.

Secret	Content	Used for
TOKEN_FOR_GITEA	A bare token, a JSON string, or JSON with GITEA_TOKEN	Reading the repository (description, topics) and its push mirrors
CREDENTIALS_FOR_GITHUB	JSON object with a non-empty GITHUB_PAT	Changing the description and topics of the GitHub mirror

Minimum permissions

These come from the Gitea and GitHub documentation and the API calls the workflow makes. They have not been confirmed with a minimal token on this instance yet; S05 should confirm them when the tokens are created.

Gitea token (a personal access token of a user, not a deploy key; deploy keys do not work for the REST API):

• scope read:repository
• the user must be allowed to read the repository's push mirrors, which Gitea limits to repository administrators

Calls made: GET /repos/{owner}/{repo} and GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/push_mirrors.

GitHub token (fine-grained personal access token):

• Resource owner: the owner of the mirror repository
• Repository access: only the mirror repository
• Repository permission: Administration: Read and write (no other permission)
• Set an expiry date

Calls made: GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}, PATCH /repos/{owner}/{repo} (description) and PUT /repos/{owner}/{repo}/topics.

Format of CREDENTIALS_FOR_GITHUB:

{"GITHUB_PAT": "<token>"}

What the workflow checks before it changes anything

The workflow runs a preflight and writes nothing to GitHub unless it passes:

1. Both secrets exist and have the expected shape.
2. Gitea accepts the token and the repository is visible with it.
3. At most one GitHub push mirror is configured. With none, the run ends successfully without syncing and the GitHub secret is not read.
4. GitHub accepts the token for the mirror repository and the token reports administration access to it.

On success the log says Preflight passed: Gitea and GitHub accepted the credentials. Failures start with a category such as [credentials] or [permissions]; see troubleshooting.md. No secret value is ever printed.

Wiki publishing secret

The workflow Publish wiki (this repository only) copies wiki/ to the Gitea wiki when a change to wiki/ is merged to main. It uses TOKEN_FOR_GITEA_WIKI when that secret exists and otherwise reuses TOKEN_FOR_GITEA.

Secret	Content	Used for
TOKEN_FOR_GITEA_WIKI (optional)	A bare token, a JSON string, or JSON with GITEA_TOKEN	Writing the wiki pages of this repository

• The token that is used needs scope write:repository, and its user needs write access to this repository. Gitea has no wiki-only scope.
• TOKEN_FOR_GITEA is documented above with read:repository only. Reusing it for the wiki means raising its scope, which also gives the metadata sync write access. A separate TOKEN_FOR_GITEA_WIKI for a dedicated user keeps the sync token read-only. S05 decides which, and S03 stores the secret.
• Calls made: GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}, GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/wiki/pages, GET, POST and PATCH /repos/{owner}/{repo}/wiki/... and, for a page that no longer exists in wiki/, DELETE /repos/{owner}/{repo}/wiki/page/{name}.
• The wiki must be enabled in the repository settings. The workflow refuses to run when it is not.
• The wiki always equals wiki/: pages edited or added in the Gitea web UI are overwritten or removed on the next publish.

Rotating a token

1. Create the new token with the permissions above.
2. Replace the secret value in the repository or organization settings.
3. Run the workflow manually and wait for Preflight passed.
4. Revoke the old token.