diff --git a/scripts/release.sh b/scripts/release.sh
index 35990f6..59ee27b 100755
--- a/scripts/release.sh
+++ b/scripts/release.sh
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ for env_file in "$REPO_ROOT/.env" "$PWD/.env" "./.env"; do
   fi
 done
 
+# --- gitea repo resolution ------------------------------------------------
+# REPO is the tea-CLI repo slug (owner/repo). tea resolves login from its
+# config (~/.config/tea/config.yml) and the repo slug from --repo.
+REPO="${GITEA_OWNER:-coreci}/${GITEA_REPO:-orca}"
+
 # --- helpers --------------------------------------------------------------
 
 err() { echo "release: error: $*" >&2; exit 1; }