What it does
Gitea Actions is the built-in CI/CD workflow feature in Gitea. It reads YAML workflow files from repositories and sends jobs to Gitea Runner, a separate program registered with the Gitea instance. Its syntax is designed to be mostly compatible with GitHub Actions, but the server and runner are operated as part of a Gitea deployment.
To try it, enable Actions in the Gitea instance configuration, create a workflow under .gitea/workflows/, and register a Gitea Runner with the instance URL and runner token. A small push-triggered workflow that checks out the repository and runs make test is a practical first job; the runner accepts the job and Gitea records its result and step logs. This describes the documented flow, not a workflow run.
The documentation recommends keeping runners separate from the Gitea server and using Docker isolation; host execution is possible, but runner security and job trust become the operator's responsibility. The docs also caution that not every GitHub Action works correctly in Gitea. Gitea's pricing page includes Actions in its free self-hosted tier and lists paid Enterprise plans, so this is a self-managed feature rather than a hosted runner service by default.
Gitea's server LICENSE page identifies MIT terms, but the separate runner's LICENSE link redirected to a sign-in page during this check. This entry therefore does not assert that every component has one confirmed license.
Strengths
- Workflow automation is integrated with Gitea rather than requiring a separate CI server.
- Mostly compatible with GitHub Actions workflow syntax and actions.
- Runners can use Docker or Kubernetes job execution modes, as well as host mode.
Watch out for
- The Gitea instance and runner infrastructure are self-managed; this is not a hosted runner service by default.
- The documentation warns that not every GitHub Action works correctly in Gitea.
- Runner placement and job isolation require operational care, especially for untrusted workflow code.
Best for
- Teams hosting repositories on Gitea that want integrated CI/CD
- Self-hosters who want to reuse much of their GitHub Actions workflow knowledge
- Organizations that prefer to control runner infrastructure and job isolation
Sources
- Overview | Gitea Documentation (Oct 25, 2026)
- Quick Start | Gitea Documentation (Oct 25, 2026)
- GitHub - go-gitea/gitea: Gitea self-hosted software development service · GitHub (Oct 25, 2026)
- gitea/runner: Official runner for Gitea Actions - runner - Gitea (Oct 25, 2026)
- Gitea Official Website (Oct 25, 2026)
- gitea/LICENSE at main · go-gitea/gitea · GitHub (Oct 25, 2026)