diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml
index 7ef17d2..3271a5c 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -16,10 +16,13 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         goarch: [amd64, arm64]
     steps:
-      - name: Checkout code
-        uses: actions/checkout@34e114876b0b11c390a56381ad16ebd13914f8d5
-        with:
-          submodules: true
+      # Checkout step removed due to checkout failures. Replaced with manual clone below.
+      - name: Clone repository with auth
+        run: |
+          git config --local http.extraheader "Authorization: Bearer ${{ gitea.token }}"
+          git clone --recursive https://${{ gitea.server_url }}/hainzero/WGRplane.git app
+          git config --unset http.extraheader  # Reset after use
+          ls -la app  # Debug
 
       - name: Setup Go
         uses: actions/setup-go@40f1582b2485089dde7abd97c1529aa768e1baff
@@ -55,10 +58,13 @@ jobs:
     needs: build
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - name: Checkout code
-        uses: actions/checkout@34e114876b0b11c390a56381ad16ebd13914f8d5
-        with:
-          submodules: true
+      # Checkout step removed due to checkout failures. Replaced with manual clone below.
+      - name: Clone repository with auth
+        run: |
+          git config --local http.extraheader "Authorization: Bearer ${{ gitea.token }}"
+          git clone --recursive https://${{ gitea.server_url }}/hainzero/WGRplane.git app
+          git config --unset http.extraheader  # Reset after use
+          ls -la app  # Debug
 
       - name: Download all artifacts
         uses: actions/download-artifact@d3f86a106a0bac45b974a628896c90dbdf5c8093