Gitea REST API

Gitea is a self-hosted Git service with a comprehensive REST API covering repositories, issues, pull requests, releases, CI/CD (Gitea Actions), users, and organizations — a GitHub-like API for on-premises or private cloud deployments.

Evaluated Mar 06, 2026 (0d ago) vcurrent

Homepage ↗ Repo ↗ Developer Tools gitea git self-hosted open-source rest-api repositories issue-tracking ci-cd

⚙ Agent Friendliness

/ 100

Can an agent use this?

🔒 Security

/ 100

Is it safe for agents?

⚡ Reliability

/ 100

Does it work consistently?

Score Breakdown

⚙ Agent Friendliness

MCP Quality

Documentation

Error Messages

Auth Simplicity

Rate Limits

🔒 Security

TLS Enforcement

Auth Strength

Scope Granularity

Dep. Hygiene

Secret Handling

TLS is standard for deployed instances but not enforced by the software itself — administrators must configure HTTPS. Token scopes are granular (read/write per resource category). OAuth2 support follows RFC standards. Security is highly dependent on self-hosted deployment configuration and patching discipline.

⚡ Reliability

Uptime/SLA

Version Stability

Breaking Changes

Error Recovery

Best When

An agent needs GitHub-like Git operations in an air-gapped, self-hosted, or privacy-first environment where data must stay on-premises.

Avoid When

You are already using GitHub or GitLab and don't need a self-hosted alternative — migrating ecosystems adds friction without benefit.

Use Cases

• Automating repository creation, forking, and configuration on a private or on-premises Git server
• Managing issues and pull requests programmatically in a self-hosted environment where GitHub is not permitted
• Triggering and monitoring Gitea Actions CI/CD workflows from an agent
• Reading repository contents and commit history for code analysis without sending data to third-party services
• Managing users, teams, and organizations in an internal developer platform

Not For

• Teams using GitHub or GitLab — Gitea has a similar API but integrations and ecosystem are separate
• Massive scale installations without dedicated admin resources — Gitea needs self-managed infrastructure
• Rich project management features like roadmaps, Epics, or advanced boards (use GitLab or Linear instead)

Interface

REST API

Yes

GraphQL

gRPC

MCP Server

SDK

Yes

Webhooks

Yes

OpenAPI Spec ↗

Authentication

Methods: api_key basic_auth oauth

OAuth: Yes Scopes: Yes

Supports API tokens (recommended), HTTP Basic Auth, and OAuth2. Tokens created per-user in Settings > Applications. OAuth2 applications configurable for third-party access. Token scopes include read/write per resource type (repository, issue, user, etc.). The base URL is instance-specific (e.g., https://your-gitea.example.com/api/v1).

Pricing

Model: open_source

Free tier: Yes

Requires CC: No

Self-hosted Gitea is free forever. Gitea Cloud is a managed option if self-hosting is not desired. Forgejo is an active community fork with the same API.

Agent Metadata

Pagination

page_limit

Idempotent

Partial

Retry Guidance

Not documented

Known Gotchas

⚠ Base API URL is instance-specific — agents must be configured with the correct Gitea instance URL
⚠ Default admin configuration may disable user self-registration, requiring admin token for user management
⚠ Repository visibility (public/private) defaults differ from GitHub — check instance-level defaults
⚠ Gitea Actions (CI/CD) API is newer and may differ between Gitea versions — pin to a known version
⚠ Pagination uses page + limit query params (not cursor-based) — agents must handle multi-page traversal

Alternatives

github-mcp-server gitlab-api forgejo-api

Full Evaluation Report

Detailed scoring breakdown, competitive positioning, security analysis, and improvement recommendations for Gitea REST API.

$99

API endpoint ↗ Agent guide ↗ Report inaccuracy

Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-06.