diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml
index e0e9f612..dcfee137 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -15,28 +15,27 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           set -e
 
-          # ── Checkout ────────────────────────────────────────────────
-          SRC="/tmp/epicnext-release"
-          rm -rf "$SRC"
-          git clone --branch "${VERSION}" --depth 1 \
-            /docker/gitea/gitea/git/repositories/remco/epicnext-cms.git \
-            "$SRC"
-          cd "$SRC"
+          REPO="/docker/gitea/gitea/git/repositories/remco/epicnext-cms.git"
 
-          # ── Generate Release Notes ───────────────────────────────────
-          PREV_TAG="$(git tag --sort=-creatordate | head -2 | tail -1 || echo '')"
+          # ── Generate changelog ────────────────────────────────────────
+          PREV_TAG="$(git -C "$REPO" tag --sort=-creatordate | head -2 | tail -1 || echo '')"
           if [ -n "$PREV_TAG" ]; then
             RANGE="${PREV_TAG}..${VERSION}"
-            NOTES="$(git log --oneline --no-decorate "${RANGE}" 2>/dev/null || git log --oneline --no-decorate -20)"
+            git -C "$REPO" log --oneline --no-decorate "${RANGE}" > /tmp/changelog.txt 2>/dev/null || \
+              git -C "$REPO" log --oneline --no-decorate -30 > /tmp/changelog.txt
           else
-            NOTES="$(git log --oneline --no-decorate -30)"
+            git -C "$REPO" log --oneline --no-decorate -30 > /tmp/changelog.txt
           fi
 
-          echo "=== Release Notes ==="
-          echo "$NOTES"
+          echo "=== Changelog ==="
+          cat /tmp/changelog.txt
+
+          # ── Build ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+          SRC="/tmp/epicnext-release"
+          rm -rf "$SRC"
+          git clone --branch "${VERSION}" --depth 1 "$REPO" "$SRC"
+          cd "$SRC"
 
-          # ── Build ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-          # Copy env for Prisma client generation and build
           if [ -f /var/www/atom-nexst/.env ]; then
             cp /var/www/atom-nexst/.env "$SRC/.env"
           fi
@@ -45,28 +44,49 @@ jobs:
           export SKIP_ENV_VALIDATION=1
           pnpm build
 
-          # ── Create Gitea Release ─────────────────────────────────────
-          BODY="## EpicNext-CMS ${VERSION}
+          # ── Create release (Python handles JSON properly) ─────────────
+          python3 << 'PYEOF'
+import json, os, urllib.request
 
-          ### Changes
-          ${NOTES}
+version = os.environ['VERSION']
+api = os.environ['GITEA_API']
+repo = os.environ['GITEA_REPO']
+token = "${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}"
 
-          ---
-          _Automated release from Gitea Actions_
-          "
+with open('/tmp/changelog.txt') as f:
+    notes = f.read()
 
-          curl -s -X POST "${GITEA_API}/repos/${GITEA_REPO}/releases" \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            -d "$(cat <<-ENDJSON
-          {
-            "tag_name": "${VERSION}",
-            "name": "${VERSION}",
-            "body": $(echo "$BODY" | jq -Rs '.'),
-            "draft": false,
-            "prerelease": false
-          }
-          ENDJSON
-          )"
+body = f"""## EpicNext-CMS {version}
 
-          echo "Release ${VERSION} created successfully!"
+### Changes
+{notes}
+---
+*Automated release from Gitea Actions*
+"""
+
+payload = json.dumps({
+    'tag_name': version,
+    'name': version,
+    'body': body,
+    'draft': False,
+    'prerelease': False,
+}).encode('utf-8')
+
+req = urllib.request.Request(
+    f'{api}/repos/{repo}/releases',
+    data=payload,
+    headers={
+        'Authorization': f'token {token}',
+        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+    },
+    method='POST',
+)
+
+try:
+    resp = urllib.request.urlopen(req)
+    result = json.loads(resp.read().decode('utf-8'))
+    print(f"Release created: {result.get('html_url', result.get('id', '?'))}")
+except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
+    print(f"API error {e.code}: {e.read().decode('utf-8')}")
+    raise
+PYEOF