MajorWiki/03-opensource/alternatives/gitea.md

title, domain, category, tags, status, created, updated

title	domain	category	tags	status	created	updated
Gitea — Self-Hosted Git	opensource	alternatives	gitea git self-hosting docker ci-cd	published	2026-04-02	2026-04-02

Gitea — Self-Hosted Git

Problem

GitHub is the default home for code, but it's a Microsoft-owned centralized service. Your repositories, commit history, issues, and CI/CD pipelines are all under someone else's control. For personal projects and private infrastructure, there's no reason to depend on it.

Solution

Gitea is a lightweight, self-hosted Git service. It provides the full GitHub-style workflow — repositories, branches, pull requests, webhooks, and a web UI — in a single binary or Docker container that runs comfortably on low-spec hardware.

---

Deployment (Docker)

services:
  gitea:
    image: docker.gitea.com/gitea:latest
    container_name: gitea
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3002:3000"
      - "222:22"    # SSH git access
    volumes:
      - ./gitea:/data
    environment:
      - USER_UID=1000
      - USER_GID=1000
      - GITEA__database__DB_TYPE=sqlite3

SQLite is fine for personal use. For team use, swap in PostgreSQL or MySQL.

Caddy reverse proxy

git.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3002
}

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Initial Setup

1. Browse to your Gitea URL — the first-run wizard handles configuration
2. Set the server URL to your public domain
3. Create an admin account
4. Configure SSH access if you want git@git.yourdomain.com cloning

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Webhooks

Gitea's webhook system is how automated pipelines get triggered on push. Example use case — auto-deploy a MkDocs wiki on every push:

1. Go to repo → Settings → Webhooks → Add Webhook
2. Set the payload URL to your webhook endpoint (e.g. https://notes.yourdomain.com/webhook)
3. Set content type to application/json
4. Select Push events

The webhook fires on every git push, allowing the receiving server to pull and rebuild automatically. See MajorWiki Setup & Pipeline for a complete example.

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Migrating from GitHub

Gitea can mirror GitHub repos and import them directly:

# Clone from GitHub, push to Gitea
git clone --mirror https://github.com/user/repo.git
cd repo.git
git remote set-url origin https://git.yourdomain.com/user/repo.git
git push --mirror

Or use the Gitea web UI: + → New Migration → GitHub

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Why Not Just Use GitHub?

For public open source — GitHub is fine, the network effects are real. For private infrastructure code, personal projects, and anything you'd rather not hand to Microsoft:

• Full control over your data and access
• No rate limits, no storage quotas on your own hardware
• Webhooks and integrations without paying for GitHub Actions minutes
• Works entirely over Tailscale — no public exposure required

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