QRknit — Private Git Repository Setup

Notes for setting up and securing https://git.qrknit.com/ to distribute the private instance source to Pro and Team plan customers.

Recommended Stack: Gitea (or Forgejo)

Gitea is a lightweight self-hosted Git service — single binary, runs in Docker, low resource footprint. Forgejo is a community-maintained fork with the same API; either works.

Why it fits:

Private repos by default
Per-user access tokens (customers clone with a token, not a password)
Organisation/team support for managing customer access in bulk
Runs behind existing Cloudflare/Nginx Proxy Manager setup
Web UI for repo management
Gitea API allows automating account and token creation on subscription

Docker Compose

services:
  gitea:
    image: gitea/gitea:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - GITEA__server__DOMAIN=git.qrknit.com
      - GITEA__server__ROOT_URL=https://git.qrknit.com
      - GITEA__server__DISABLE_SSH=true            # HTTPS-only
      - GITEA__service__DISABLE_REGISTRATION=true  # no public sign-ups
      - GITEA__service__REQUIRE_SIGNIN_VIEW=true   # repo browser requires login
    volumes:
      - gitea-data:/data
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"

Point Nginx Proxy Manager or Cloudflare proxy host at port 3000, issue a Let's Encrypt cert, done.

Security Configuration

Disable public registration — the env var above does this, or set it in the admin panel after first run. Customer accounts are created manually or via the Gitea API.

Keep the repo private — set repository visibility to Private in Gitea. REQUIRE_SIGNIN_VIEW=true ensures the repo is not visible to unauthenticated requests.

Per-customer access tokens — when a customer subscribes to Pro/Team, create them a Gitea account and generate a personal access token scoped to read:repository only. Their clone URL:

https://<username>:<token>@git.qrknit.com/qrknit/qrknit.git

Revocation — when a subscription lapses, disable or delete the Gitea account. Their token stops working immediately.

Behind Cloudflare — Cloudflare's WAF and rate limiting rules apply at the edge before any request reaches Gitea, which handles brute-force attempts on the token endpoint.

What to Avoid

Public GitHub repo — even a private GitHub repo exposes metadata and depends on GitHub's access controls rather than your own.
SSH with shared keys — harder to revoke per-customer without rotating keys for everyone.
Embedding credentials in docs — INSTALL.md shows the clone URL without credentials, which is correct. Credentials should be communicated out-of-band (welcome email, customer portal).

Customer Onboarding Flow

Payment confirmed → create Gitea account (manually or via Gitea API)
Generate a read-only personal access token (read:repository scope)
Send welcome email with their clone URL and a link to INSTALL.md
Subscription cancelled → disable or delete Gitea account

Font Bundling Note (OFL-1.1)

If a future release bundles Google Font files locally (e.g. for air-gapped private instances), the OFL-1.1 licence requires the licence text to be included alongside the .woff2 files. The current CDN delivery path has no such requirement. See NOTICES.md for full licence texts.

3.3 KiB Raw Permalink Blame History