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github-action/guides/credentials.md
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Tirsvad 0c06789a27 Skip metadata sync successfully when no GitHub mirror exists
Not every Gitea repository has a GitHub push mirror. Zero GitHub mirrors
now ends the run successfully without reading the GitHub secret; several
mirrors still fail. Tests, guides, README, BC-001, PP-001 and MIL-001
are updated to match.

Task: MIL-001#1
Task: MIL-001#5
2026-10-10 07:57:58 +08:00

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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.

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.