diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/build.yml b/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
index b91e57e..cada12b 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/build.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
 name: build
 
-# Every push to main is released: it gets the next patch tag (v0.1.3 -> v0.1.4)
-# and a Gitea release with the deb/rpm. Pushing a v* tag by hand releases that
-# exact version instead (use it to bump minor/major).
 on:
   push:
     branches: ["**"]
@@ -17,8 +14,6 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: https://gitea.com/actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0 # tags + history for the version and release notes
 
       - uses: https://gitea.com/actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
@@ -29,27 +24,6 @@ jobs:
           go vet ./...
           go test ./...
 
-      - name: release version
-        id: ver
-        if: github.event_name == 'push' && (github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' || startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v'))
-        run: |
-          set -euo pipefail
-          git fetch --tags --force -q
-          if [[ "$GITHUB_REF" == refs/tags/* ]]; then
-            tag="${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}"
-          else
-            # re-run of an already released commit keeps its tag
-            tag=$(git tag --points-at HEAD | grep -E '^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$' | sort -V | tail -1 || true)
-            if [ -z "$tag" ]; then
-              last=$(git tag | grep -E '^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$' | sort -V | tail -1 || true)
-              IFS=. read -r major minor patch <<<"${last:-v0.0.0}"
-              tag="${major}.${minor}.$((patch + 1))"
-            fi
-          fi
-          echo "release $tag"
-          echo "tag=$tag" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "VERSION=${tag#v}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-
       - name: install nfpm
         run: go install github.com/goreleaser/nfpm/v2/cmd/nfpm@latest
 
@@ -68,41 +42,31 @@ jobs:
             dist/*.rpm
 
       - name: publish release
-        if: steps.ver.outputs.tag != ''
+        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
         env:
           GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           API: ${{ github.api_url }}/repos/${{ github.repository }}
-          TAG: ${{ steps.ver.outputs.tag }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          auth="Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN"
+          tag="${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}"
 
-          # release notes: commit subjects since the previous release tag
-          prev=$(git tag --merged HEAD | grep -E '^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$' | grep -vx "$TAG" | sort -V | tail -1 || true)
-          git log --no-merges --pretty='- %s' ${prev:+"$prev"..}HEAD > notes.md
-          body=$(python3 -c 'import json,os,sys; print(json.dumps({"tag_name": os.environ["TAG"], "name": os.environ["TAG"], "target_commitish": os.environ["GITHUB_SHA"], "body": open("notes.md").read()}))')
-
-          # creating the release also creates the tag on this commit
-          release_id=$(curl -sf -X POST "$API/releases" -H "$auth" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "$body" \
+          release_id=$(curl -sf -X POST "$API/releases" \
+            -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
+            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+            -d "{\"tag_name\":\"$tag\",\"name\":\"$tag\"}" \
             | grep -oP '"id":\s*\K[0-9]+' | head -1) || \
-          release_id=$(curl -sf "$API/releases/tags/$TAG" -H "$auth" \
+          release_id=$(curl -sf "$API/releases/tags/$tag" \
+            -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
             | grep -oP '"id":\s*\K[0-9]+' | head -1)
 
           if [ -z "$release_id" ]; then
-            echo "could not create or find a release for tag $TAG" >&2
+            echo "could not create or find a release for tag $tag" >&2
             exit 1
           fi
 
-          existing=$(curl -sf "$API/releases/$release_id/assets" -H "$auth" || true)
           for f in dist/*.deb dist/*.rpm; do
             [ -e "$f" ] || continue
-            name=$(basename "$f")
-            if grep -q "\"name\":\"$name\"" <<<"$existing"; then
-              echo "$name already attached"
-              continue
-            fi
-            curl -sf -X POST "$API/releases/$release_id/assets?name=$name" \
-              -H "$auth" -F "attachment=@${f}"
+            curl -sf -X POST "$API/releases/$release_id/assets?name=$(basename "$f")" \
+              -H "Authorization: token $GITEA_TOKEN" \
+              -F "attachment=@${f}"
           done
-          echo "released $TAG: ${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/releases/tag/$TAG"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6acb477..8e72d81 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -43,14 +43,6 @@ One-time tool setup:
 go install github.com/goreleaser/nfpm/v2/cmd/nfpm@latest
 ```
 
-## Releases
-
-CI (`.gitea/workflows/build.yml`) releases every push to `main`: it tags the
-commit with the next patch version (v0.1.3 → v0.1.4), builds deb + rpm with
-that version and publishes a Gitea release with both packages and the commit
-subjects as notes. To bump minor/major, push a tag yourself (`git tag v0.2.0 &&
-git push origin v0.2.0`); later pushes to main continue from it.
-
 ## Packaging
 
 `packaging/nfpm.yaml` builds both formats from one spec: