Gitea on StartOS

Upstream docs: https://gitea.com/gitea/docs

Everything not listed in this document behaves identically to upstream Gitea. If a feature, setting, or behavior is not mentioned here, the upstream documentation is accurate and fully applicable.

Gitea is a community managed lightweight code hosting solution written in Go. This repository packages Gitea for StartOS.

Image and Container Runtime
Volume and Data Layout
Installation and First-Run Flow
Configuration Management
Network Access and Interfaces
Actions (StartOS UI)
SMTP / Email
Backups and Restore
Health Checks
Dependencies
Limitations and Differences
What Is Unchanged from Upstream
Contributing
Quick Reference for AI Consumers

Image and Container Runtime

Aspect	Standard Docker/Compose	StartOS
Image	`gitea/gitea` (upstream)	Same image, unmodified
Architectures	Depends on host	x86_64, aarch64, riscv64
Container orchestration	Docker / Docker Compose	StartOS SDK (`SubContainer`) — no user-facing `docker-compose.yml`
Entrypoint	Default Gitea entrypoint	Same (via `sdk.useEntrypoint()`)

The upstream Gitea image is used unmodified. No custom Dockerfile exists. StartOS wraps the container with its own lifecycle management, health checks, and action system.

Volume and Data Layout

Aspect	Standard Docker/Compose	StartOS
Primary volume	User-defined bind mount or named volume	Single managed volume `main`, mounted at `/data`
LFS storage	Configurable	Hardcoded to `/data/git/lfs`
Extra metadata	None	`/data/store.json` — StartOS-managed settings file (see Configuration Management)
Database	Configurable (SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL)	Defaults to SQLite inside `/data` (no external DB dependency)

All persistent state lives under /data on a single StartOS-managed volume. There is no separate database container.

Installation and First-Run Flow

Standard Gitea presents a web-based installation wizard on first launch where you configure the database, admin account, server URL, and more.

On StartOS, this wizard is skipped entirely. The wrapper handles setup automatically:

Pre-install: A store.json file is written with:
- A randomly generated 32-character SECRET_KEY
- ROOT_URL set to empty (populated during init)
- User registration disabled by default
- SMTP disabled by default
Init: The primary URL is auto-selected from available interface addresses (prefers .local).
First start: The environment variable GITEA__security__INSTALL_LOCK=true is set, which tells Gitea to skip its installation wizard.
Admin user creation: A oneshot task checks whether any admin users exist. If none are found, StartOS surfaces an "important" task prompting the user to create their first admin account (username, email). A strong 22-character password is auto-generated and displayed once.

Key difference: There is no web-based setup wizard. Admin account creation happens through the StartOS action system, not through the Gitea UI.

Configuration Management

Gitea normally uses app.ini or environment variables for configuration. On StartOS, a subset of settings are managed externally via environment variables injected at container start, with values persisted in /data/store.json.

Settings managed by StartOS (not `app.ini`)

These settings are controlled exclusively through StartOS actions and cannot be changed via app.ini or the Gitea admin panel:

Setting	Env Var	Managed Via
Server root URL	`GITEA__server__ROOT_URL`	"Set Primary URL" action
Install lock	`GITEA__security__INSTALL_LOCK`	Always `true` (hardcoded)
Secret key	`GITEA__security__SECRET_KEY`	Auto-generated at install, stored in `store.json`
User registration	`GITEA__service__DISABLE_REGISTRATION`	"Enable/Disable Registrations" action
LFS path	`GITEA__lfs__PATH`	Always `/data/git/lfs` (hardcoded)
SMTP/mailer	`GITEA__mailer__*`	"Configure SMTP" action

Settings NOT managed by StartOS

Everything else — repository settings, webhook configuration, OAuth, labels, user management, organization settings, etc. — works exactly as documented upstream via Gitea's admin panel or app.ini.

Network Access and Interfaces

StartOS exposes two network interfaces for Gitea:

HTTP Interface (port 3000)

Purpose: Web UI and git-over-HTTP
Protocols available:
- HTTPS over .local (LAN via mDNS)
- HTTP over .onion (Tor — encrypted by Tor itself)

SSH Interface (port 22)

Purpose: git-over-SSH
Username: git

Network access summary

Access method	Supported
LAN IP:port	Yes
`.local:port` (mDNS)	Yes
`.onion` (Tor)	Yes
Public/private custom domains	Yes — can be configured in StartOS and selected as primary URL
SSH over LAN	Yes (via LAN IP:port or custom domain)
SSH over Tor	Yes

Each interface gets a unique port on the LAN. You can access Gitea via <lan-ip>:<port> or <hostname>.local:<port>. Public or private domains can be added in StartOS and selected as the primary URL via the "Set Primary URL" action.

Using git over HTTP/Tor

Requires a Tor proxy running on port 9050 on the client machine.

# Global config
git config --global http.proxy "socks5h://127.0.0.1:9050"

# Per-repo clone
git clone http://<onion-address>/<user>/<repo> \
  --config "http.proxy=socks5h://127.0.0.1:9050"

# Or via environment variable
http_proxy=socks5h://127.0.0.1:9050 git clone http://<onion-address>/<user>/<repo>

Using git over SSH/Tor

Add to ~/.ssh/config:

Host *.onion
  ProxyCommand /usr/bin/nc -x localhost:9050 -X5 %h %p

Requires netcat (nc) installed on the client.

Actions (StartOS UI)

StartOS adds management actions accessible from the service's page in the StartOS UI. These have no equivalent in standard Gitea's admin panel.

Action	Visibility	Availability	Purpose
Create Admin User	Hidden	Running only	Create first admin account (auto-triggered if none exist)
Reset Admin Password	Visible	Running only	Generate new password for an existing admin
Set Primary URL	Visible	Any	Choose which URL serves as Gitea's `ROOT_URL`
Enable/Disable Registrations	Visible	Any	Toggle user self-registration
Configure SMTP	Visible	Any	Set up email sending

Create Admin User

Inputs: Username, email
Outputs: Username and auto-generated 22-character password (displayed once)
Runs gitea admin user create internally

Reset Admin Password

Inputs: Select from list of existing admin users
Outputs: Username and new auto-generated 22-character password
Runs gitea admin user change-password internally

Set Primary URL

Inputs: Select from available HTTP interface URLs (.local, .onion, custom domains)
Outputs: None (takes effect on next start)
Affects generated links, clone URLs, email links, etc.

Enable/Disable Registrations

Inputs: None (toggle action)
Outputs: None (takes effect on next start)
Shows warning when enabling: anyone with the URL can create an account
Disabled by default for security

Configure SMTP

Inputs: Mode (disabled, system SMTP, or custom), plus credentials if custom
Outputs: None (takes effect on next start)
Custom mode supports overriding the "from" address

SMTP / Email

Aspect	Standard Gitea	StartOS
Configuration	`app.ini` `[mailer]` section	"Configure SMTP" action in StartOS UI
System SMTP	N/A	Can use StartOS system-level SMTP credentials
Custom SMTP	Via `app.ini`	Via action form (server, port, from, login, password)
Default state	Disabled unless configured	Disabled

SMTP settings configured through the Gitea admin panel or app.ini will be overridden by the environment variables set by StartOS on each restart.

Backups and Restore

Aspect	Standard Gitea	StartOS
Backup method	`gitea dump` or manual file copy	StartOS backup system — full volume snapshot of `/data`
Backup scope	Configurable	Entire `/data` volume (repos, DB, LFS, config, `store.json`)
Restore	Manual	StartOS restore flow — volume is fully restored before service starts
Scheduling	Manual or via cron	Managed through StartOS backup settings

The gitea dump command is not used. StartOS backs up the raw volume contents.

Health Checks

Aspect	Standard Gitea	StartOS
Endpoint	N/A (or custom Docker healthcheck)	`GET /api/healthz` on port 3000
Grace period	N/A	120 seconds
Display	N/A	"Web Interface" status shown in StartOS UI
Failure message	N/A	"Gitea is still starting. If this persists, please check the logs."

Dependencies

None. Gitea runs with an embedded SQLite database and has no external service dependencies.

Limitations and Differences

No web-based installation wizard — setup is fully automated by StartOS.
No external database — uses embedded SQLite only. No PostgreSQL or MySQL option.
Certain settings are environment-locked — ROOT_URL, INSTALL_LOCK, SECRET_KEY, DISABLE_REGISTRATION, LFS_PATH, and mailer settings are injected as environment variables and override any app.ini values.
Registration disabled by default — must be explicitly enabled via action (standard Gitea defaults to enabled).

What Is Unchanged from Upstream

Everything not listed above works exactly as documented at https://gitea.com/gitea/docs. This includes but is not limited to:

Repository management (create, fork, mirror, archive, transfer)
Git operations (push, pull, fetch, LFS)
Issues, pull requests, milestones, labels, projects
Wiki pages
Organization and team management
Webhooks and integrations
OAuth2 / OpenID Connect authentication
Two-factor authentication
User and admin panel settings (except the env-locked settings above)
API (/api/v1/...)
Gitea Actions (CI/CD)
Package registry
RSS/Atom feeds
Markdown rendering, syntax highlighting
All app.ini settings not overridden by environment variables

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for build instructions and development workflow.

Quick Reference for AI Consumers

package_id: gitea
image: gitea/gitea
architectures: [x86_64, aarch64, riscv64]
volumes:
  main: /data
ports:
  http: 3000
  ssh: 22
dependencies: none
startos_managed_env_vars:
  - GITEA__server__ROOT_URL
  - GITEA__security__INSTALL_LOCK
  - GITEA__security__SECRET_KEY
  - GITEA__service__DISABLE_REGISTRATION
  - GITEA__lfs__PATH
  - GITEA__mailer__ENABLED
  - GITEA__mailer__SMTP_ADDR
  - GITEA__mailer__SMTP_PORT
  - GITEA__mailer__FROM
  - GITEA__mailer__USER
  - GITEA__mailer__PASSWD
actions:
  - create-admin
  - reset-admin
  - set-primary-url
  - registrations
  - manage-smtp

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 41 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
assets		assets
startos		startos
.dockerignore		.dockerignore
.gitignore		.gitignore
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
icon.svg		icon.svg
package-lock.json		package-lock.json
package.json		package.json
s9pk.mk		s9pk.mk
tsconfig.json		tsconfig.json

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Gitea on StartOS

Table of Contents

Image and Container Runtime

Volume and Data Layout

Installation and First-Run Flow

Configuration Management

Settings managed by StartOS (not `app.ini`)

Settings NOT managed by StartOS

Network Access and Interfaces

HTTP Interface (port 3000)

SSH Interface (port 22)

Network access summary

Using git over HTTP/Tor

Using git over SSH/Tor

Actions (StartOS UI)

Create Admin User

Reset Admin Password

Set Primary URL

Enable/Disable Registrations

Configure SMTP

SMTP / Email

Backups and Restore

Health Checks

Dependencies

Limitations and Differences

What Is Unchanged from Upstream

Contributing

Quick Reference for AI Consumers

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Gitea on StartOS

Table of Contents

Image and Container Runtime

Volume and Data Layout

Installation and First-Run Flow

Configuration Management

Settings managed by StartOS (not app.ini)

Settings NOT managed by StartOS

Network Access and Interfaces

HTTP Interface (port 3000)

SSH Interface (port 22)

Network access summary

Using git over HTTP/Tor

Using git over SSH/Tor

Actions (StartOS UI)

Create Admin User

Reset Admin Password

Set Primary URL

Enable/Disable Registrations

Configure SMTP

SMTP / Email

Backups and Restore

Health Checks

Dependencies

Limitations and Differences

What Is Unchanged from Upstream

Contributing

Quick Reference for AI Consumers

About

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Contributing

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Releases 12

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Settings managed by StartOS (not `app.ini`)