diff --git a/.github/workflows/open-gitea-pr.yml b/.github/workflows/open-gitea-pr.yml
index bc4c4d7..e2d579d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/open-gitea-pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/open-gitea-pr.yml
@@ -1,9 +1,5 @@
 name: Open Gitea PR on merge to main
 
-# When main changes on GitHub (i.e. after a PR is merged here), push those
-# commits to a branch on Gitea and open a pull request there, so the same
-# change can be reviewed and landed on the Gitea side. One-way: GitHub -> Gitea.
-
 on:
   push:
     branches: [main]
@@ -14,15 +10,12 @@ permissions:
 
 jobs:
   open-gitea-pr:
-    # GitHub-hosted runners are billing-blocked for this org, so the hosted job
-    # never started. Run on the self-hosted runner, which also has LAN access to
-    # the Gitea host. This workflow only fires on push to main (never on PRs from
-    # forks), so it is safe on the private runner.
-    runs-on: [self-hosted, Linux, X64]
+    runs-on: [self-hosted, Linux, X64, co-server-sync]
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@11d5960a326750d5838078e36cf38b85af677262 # v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@11d5960a326750d5838078e36cf38b85af677262
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
+          persist-credentials: false
 
       - name: Push main to Gitea and open a pull request
         env:
@@ -33,38 +26,59 @@ jobs:
           SYNC_BRANCH: sync/from-github
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
+          umask 077
+
           if [ -z "${GITEA_TOKEN:-}" ]; then
-            echo "::error::Missing GITEA_TOKEN secret. Add a Gitea access token as a"
-            echo "::error::repository secret named GITEA_TOKEN (Settings -> Secrets and"
-            echo "::error::variables -> Actions -> New repository secret)."
+            echo "::error::Missing GITEA_TOKEN repository secret."
             exit 1
           fi
 
-          git config user.name  "github-sync"
-          git config user.email "github-sync@users.noreply.github.com"
+          askpass="${RUNNER_TEMP}/gitea-askpass-${GITHUB_RUN_ID}-${GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT}.sh"
+          header_file="${RUNNER_TEMP}/gitea-header-${GITHUB_RUN_ID}-${GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT}"
+          response_file="${RUNNER_TEMP}/gitea-pr-${GITHUB_RUN_ID}-${GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT}.json"
 
-          # Mirror the current main onto a dedicated Gitea branch. Force is safe:
-          # this branch is owned by the automation and only ever tracks GitHub main.
-          git remote add gitea "https://${GITEA_USER}:${GITEA_TOKEN}@${GITEA_HOST}/${GITEA_REPO}.git"
+          cleanup() {
+            git remote remove gitea >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+            rm -f -- "$askpass" "$header_file" "$response_file"
+          }
+          trap cleanup EXIT
+
+          cat > "$askpass" <<'EOF'
+          #!/usr/bin/env bash
+          case "$1" in
+            *Username*) printf '%s\n' "${GITEA_USER:?}" ;;
+            *Password*) printf '%s\n' "${GITEA_TOKEN:?}" ;;
+            *) exit 1 ;;
+          esac
+          EOF
+          chmod 700 "$askpass"
+          printf 'Authorization: token %s\n' "$GITEA_TOKEN" > "$header_file"
+          chmod 600 "$header_file"
+
+          export GIT_ASKPASS="$askpass"
+          export GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0
+
+          git config user.name "github-sync"
+          git config user.email "github-sync@users.noreply.github.com"
+          git remote remove gitea >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+          git remote add gitea "https://${GITEA_HOST}/${GITEA_REPO}.git"
           git push -f gitea "HEAD:refs/heads/${SYNC_BRANCH}"
 
-          # Open a PR on Gitea: sync/from-github -> main. If one is already open,
-          # the push above has already updated it, so a 409 is success too.
-          http_code=$(curl -sS -o /tmp/gitea_pr.json -w "%{http_code}" -X POST \
+          http_code=$(curl -sS -o "$response_file" -w "%{http_code}" -X POST \
             "https://${GITEA_HOST}/api/v1/repos/${GITEA_REPO}/pulls" \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" \
+            -H "@${header_file}" \
             -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            -d "{\"title\":\"Sync from GitHub main\",\"head\":\"${SYNC_BRANCH}\",\"base\":\"main\",\"body\":\"Automated: GitHub main was updated. Review and merge to land it on Gitea.\"}")
+            -d "{\"title\":\"Sync from GitHub main\",\"head\":\"${SYNC_BRANCH}\",\"base\":\"main\",\"body\":\"GitHub main was updated. Review and merge to land it on Gitea.\"}")
 
           echo "Gitea pulls API returned HTTP ${http_code}"
-          cat /tmp/gitea_pr.json || true
+          cat "$response_file" || true
           echo
 
-          if [ "${http_code}" = "201" ]; then
+          if [ "$http_code" = "201" ]; then
             echo "Opened a new Gitea pull request."
-          elif [ "${http_code}" = "409" ] || grep -qiE "already exist|issue_exist" /tmp/gitea_pr.json; then
+          elif [ "$http_code" = "409" ] || grep -qiE "already exist|issue_exist" "$response_file"; then
             echo "A Gitea PR from ${SYNC_BRANCH} is already open; it now has the latest commits."
           else
-            echo "::warning::Unexpected Gitea response (${http_code}). The branch was pushed;"
-            echo "::warning::open the PR manually on Gitea if it did not appear."
+            echo "::error::Unexpected Gitea response (${http_code})."
+            exit 1
           fi