diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/pack.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/pack.yaml
index 5327e85b3e..bad7af0d01 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/pack.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/pack.yaml
@@ -257,10 +257,18 @@ jobs:
           : "${GITEA_REPO:?GITEA_REPO not set}"
           T="${TOKEN:-${GITEA_TOKEN}}"
           [ -n "$T" ] || { echo "No token available"; exit 1; }
+          # Diagnostics: surface exactly what the runner resolves.
+          echo "GITEA_API=[${GITEA_API}]"
+          echo "GITEA_REPO=[${GITEA_REPO}]"
+          echo "pack-body.md bytes: $(wc -c < /tmp/pack-body.md 2>/dev/null || echo MISSING)"
+          echo "pack-body.md last bytes (xxd):"; tail -c 40 /tmp/pack-body.md 2>/dev/null | xxd | tail -3
           BODY="$(jq -Rs '.' < /tmp/pack-body.md)"
           PAYLOAD="$(jq -n --arg tag "${PACK_VERSION}" --arg name "${PACK_VERSION}" --arg body "$BODY" '{tag_name: $tag, name: $name, body: $body, draft: false, prerelease: false}')"
+          echo "PAYLOAD bytes: ${#PAYLOAD}"
+          echo "PAYLOAD head:"; echo "$PAYLOAD" | head -c 200; echo
           echo "Creating release via ${GITEA_API}/repos/${GITEA_REPO}/releases"
           HTTP="$(curl -s -w '%{http_code}' -o /tmp/pack-rel.json \
+            --retry 3 --retry-delay 3 \
             -X POST "${GITEA_API}/repos/${GITEA_REPO}/releases" \
             -H "Authorization: token ${T}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "$PAYLOAD" || echo 000)"
           echo "Create release HTTP: ${HTTP}"