diff --git a/.gitea/maven-settings.xml b/.gitea/maven-settings.xml
index 7f3e66e..fed26fe 100644
--- a/.gitea/maven-settings.xml
+++ b/.gitea/maven-settings.xml
@@ -3,22 +3,22 @@
           xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/settings-1.0.0.xsd">
     <!--
       Used only by .gitea/workflows/publish-maven.yml (mvn -s .gitea/maven-settings.xml deploy).
-      Not used for local builds. The token is read from the GITEA_TOKEN env var the workflow
-      already exports (Gitea Actions' built-in per-job token, scoped to this repo/org — see
-      https://docs.gitea.com/usage/packages/maven#configuring-the-package-registry), never
-      written to disk.
+      Not used for local builds. PACKAGES_TOKEN is a real personal access token (write:package
+      scope) on the Relism account, read from the env var the workflow exports — never written
+      to disk. Deliberately not Gitea's own per-job GITEA_TOKEN: that token can't publish to
+      any package registry at all, a known unimplemented limitation
+      (https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/issues/23642) — confirmed here by testing: it
+      authenticated fine against the plain API but still got 401 from this endpoint.
 
-      Basic auth (username/password), not the <httpHeaders> form Gitea's own docs show: that
-      form is honored by Maven's resolver (used for reading <repositories>) but not reliably
-      by the wagon-http provider maven-deploy-plugin actually uploads through, which silently
-      dropped it and deployed unauthenticated (401). Basic auth is wagon-http's oldest,
-      always-supported path.
+      Basic auth (username/password): the <httpHeaders> form Gitea's own docs show for this is
+      honored by Maven's resolver (used for reading <repositories>) but not reliably by the
+      wagon-http provider maven-deploy-plugin actually uploads through.
     -->
     <servers>
         <server>
             <id>gitea</id>
             <username>Relism</username>
-            <password>${env.GITEA_TOKEN}</password>
+            <password>${env.PACKAGES_TOKEN}</password>
         </server>
     </servers>
 </settings>
diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/publish-maven.yml b/.gitea/workflows/publish-maven.yml
index 093f997..1d4ef73 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/publish-maven.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/publish-maven.yml
@@ -17,11 +17,6 @@ on:
 jobs:
   publish:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    # Deploy got a 401 without this: this repo's default Actions token permission mode is
-    # Restricted (read-only on packages), not Permissive — see
-    # https://docs.gitea.com/usage/actions/token-permissions.
-    permissions:
-      packages: write
     # No actions/checkout here on purpose: it's a Node-based action, and this container
     # (chosen for its preinstalled mvn/JDK 21) has no Node — checkout would fail with
     # "node: executable file not found". A plain git clone needs neither.
@@ -40,22 +35,14 @@ jobs:
           mvn -B versions:set -DnewVersion="2.1.0-${SHORT_SHA}" -DprocessAllModules=true -DgenerateBackupPoms=false
           echo "Publishing as 2.1.0-${SHORT_SHA}"
 
-      # Diagnostic for the 401s seen so far: confirms GITEA_TOKEN actually reaches this step
-      # non-empty, and whether the token itself authenticates against the API at all —
-      # independent of whatever Maven/wagon-http does with it. Remove once deploy is green.
-      - name: Debug token
-        env:
-          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
-        run: |
-          apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends curl >/dev/null
-          echo "token length: ${#GITEA_TOKEN}"
-          echo "whoami via token header:"
-          curl -s -o /dev/null -w "  token header -> %{http_code}\n" -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_TOKEN}" https://git.pixel-services.com/api/v1/user
-          curl -s -o /dev/null -w "  basic auth   -> %{http_code}\n" -u "Relism:${GITEA_TOKEN}" https://git.pixel-services.com/api/v1/user
-
       - name: Deploy to the Gitea Maven registry
         env:
-          GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }}
+          # Not GITEA_TOKEN: Gitea's own job token can't publish to package registries at
+          # all (a known, still-unimplemented limitation — see
+          # https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/issues/23642). Confirmed by testing: GITEA_TOKEN
+          # authenticated fine against the plain API but still got 401 from this endpoint no
+          # matter the auth style. PACKAGES_TOKEN is a real PAT with write:package scope.
+          PACKAGES_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PACKAGES_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           mvn -B -s .gitea/maven-settings.xml -DskipTests deploy \
             -DaltReleaseDeploymentRepository=gitea::https://git.pixel-services.com/api/packages/Relism/maven \