.gitea/workflows/ci-images.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,242 @@
+---
+# Builds the Gitea Actions job images and publishes them to the Gitea container
+# registry, so the runner can re-pull one the nightly podman prune removed
+# instead of waiting for a human to re-run `make deploy TAGS=gitea-actions`.
+#
+# Source of truth is ansible/roles/gitea-actions: files/Containerfile.* for the
+# image contents, defaults/main.yml for the version pins and the registry path.
+# This workflow reads those vars rather than repeating them. roles/gitea-actions
+# then only pulls what lands here (gitea_ci_build_local is the escape hatch for
+# seeding an empty namespace, since the job below runs *in* gitea-ci).
+#
+# `docker build` here talks to the gitea-runner user's rootless podman socket,
+# mounted into every job container by roles/gitea-actions (config.yaml.j2), so
+# the build happens in the same image store the runner pulls from and the layer
+# cache survives between runs. That also means a build writes tags the live
+# runner will use -- which is why pull requests build under a throwaway
+# :pr-<n> tag and delete it again.
+name: CI Images
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [master]
+    paths:
+      - ansible/roles/gitea-actions/files/Containerfile.*
+      - ansible/roles/gitea-actions/defaults/main.yml
+      - .gitea/workflows/ci-images.yml
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [master]
+    paths:
+      - ansible/roles/gitea-actions/files/Containerfile.*
+      - ansible/roles/gitea-actions/defaults/main.yml
+      - .gitea/workflows/ci-images.yml
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      image:
+        description: Which image to rebuild
+        type: choice
+        options: [all, ci, espidf, platformio]
+        default: all
+  schedule:
+    # Weekly rebuild so base-image security updates land without a commit.
+    # Sunday 04:00, after the 02:00 podman prune has finished.
+    - cron: "0 4 * * 0"
+
+env:
+  DEFAULTS: ansible/roles/gitea-actions/defaults/main.yml
+  CONTEXT: ansible/roles/gitea-actions/files
+  REGISTRY: git.debyl.io
+  # Not a secret: the same namespace is in defaults/main.yml. It must be the
+  # owner of REGISTRY_TOKEN -- Gitea authorises a package push by the token's
+  # user, not by the path, so pushing to gitbot/ means logging in as gitbot.
+  REGISTRY_USER: gitbot
+  KEEP_LABEL: io.debyl.ci-base
+
+# One publisher at a time. Two runs pushing :latest concurrently would leave the
+# registry holding whichever finished last, which need not be the newest commit.
+concurrency:
+  group: ci-images
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
+jobs:
+  plan:
+    name: Plan
+    runs-on: fedora
+    outputs:
+      matrix: ${{ steps.plan.outputs.matrix }}
+      any: ${{ steps.plan.outputs.any }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # Full history so the change detection below can diff against the
+          # pushed-from commit / the PR base.
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Decide which images to build
+        id: plan
+        env:
+          EVENT: ${{ github.event_name }}
+          SELECTED: ${{ github.event.inputs.image }}
+          BEFORE: ${{ github.event.before }}
+          PR_BASE: ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          python3 - <<'PY' >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          import json, os, subprocess, sys, yaml
+
+          defaults = yaml.safe_load(open(os.environ["DEFAULTS"]))
+          ctx = os.environ["CONTEXT"]
+          reg, ns = os.environ["REGISTRY"], os.environ["REGISTRY_USER"]
+
+          # Mirrors gitea_ci_images in defaults/main.yml. The tags are rebuilt
+          # from the same version vars the role interpolates, so a pin bump in
+          # that file moves the image tag here and in ansible together.
+          images = [
+              {
+                  "key": "ci",
+                  "containerfile": "Containerfile.ci",
+                  "tag": f"{reg}/{ns}/gitea-ci:latest",
+                  "build_args": "",
+              },
+              {
+                  "key": "espidf",
+                  "containerfile": "Containerfile.espidf",
+                  "tag": f"{reg}/{ns}/gitea-ci-espidf:{defaults['esp_idf_version']}",
+                  "build_args": f"ESP_IDF_VERSION={defaults['esp_idf_version']}",
+              },
+              {
+                  "key": "platformio",
+                  "containerfile": "Containerfile.platformio",
+                  "tag": f"{reg}/{ns}/gitea-ci-platformio:{defaults['pio_espressif32_version']}",
+                  "build_args": (
+                      f"PLATFORMIO_CORE_VERSION={defaults['platformio_core_version']} "
+                      f"PIO_ESPRESSIF32_VERSION={defaults['pio_espressif32_version']}"
+                  ),
+              },
+          ]
+
+          event = os.environ["EVENT"]
+
+          def changed_files(base):
+              """Paths touched since `base`, or None if the diff is not usable."""
+              if not base or set(base) == {"0"}:
+                  return None
+              try:
+                  out = subprocess.run(
+                      ["git", "diff", "--name-only", f"{base}...HEAD"],
+                      capture_output=True, text=True, check=True,
+                  ).stdout
+              except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
+                  # Force push, shallow clone, first push of a branch: fall back
+                  # to building everything rather than silently skipping a real
+                  # change.
+                  return None
+              return set(out.split())
+
+          if event == "workflow_dispatch":
+              selected = os.environ.get("SELECTED") or "all"
+              picked = images if selected == "all" else [i for i in images if i["key"] == selected]
+          elif event == "schedule":
+              picked = images
+          else:
+              base = os.environ["PR_BASE"] if event == "pull_request" else os.environ["BEFORE"]
+              touched = changed_files(base)
+              if touched is None:
+                  picked = images
+              else:
+                  # defaults/main.yml holds every pin, so a change there could
+                  # retag any image; the workflow file itself changes how all of
+                  # them are built. Either one rebuilds the lot.
+                  wide = {os.environ["DEFAULTS"], ".gitea/workflows/ci-images.yml"}
+                  if touched & wide:
+                      picked = images
+                  else:
+                      picked = [i for i in images if f"{ctx}/{i['containerfile']}" in touched]
+
+          print(f"matrix={json.dumps({'include': picked})}")
+          print(f"any={'true' if picked else 'false'}")
+          print("building: " + (", ".join(i["tag"] for i in picked) or "nothing"), file=sys.stderr)
+          PY
+
+  build:
+    name: Build ${{ matrix.key }}
+    needs: plan
+    if: needs.plan.outputs.any == 'true'
+    runs-on: fedora
+    strategy:
+      # One image failing must not cancel the others: they are independent, and
+      # a half-published set is what this whole workflow exists to avoid.
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix: ${{ fromJSON(needs.plan.outputs.matrix) }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Log in to the Gitea Container Registry
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
+          username: ${{ env.REGISTRY_USER }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_TOKEN }}
+
+      # The build lands in the live runner's image store, and act_runner will
+      # not re-pull a tag it already has locally. Tagging a PR build with the
+      # real tag would therefore hand every later job on this host an unmerged
+      # image, so PRs get a throwaway tag that the cleanup step removes.
+      - name: Resolve build tag
+        id: tag
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "pull_request" ]; then
+            echo "image=${{ matrix.tag }}-pr${{ github.event.number }}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "image=${{ matrix.tag }}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Build ${{ matrix.key }}
+        env:
+          IMAGE: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.image }}
+          BUILD_ARGS: ${{ matrix.build_args }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          args=()
+          for a in $BUILD_ARGS; do args+=(--build-arg "$a"); done
+          # --pull so a scheduled run actually picks up a refreshed base image;
+          # without it an unchanged FROM line just hits the local layer cache.
+          docker build --pull \
+            "${args[@]}" \
+            -t "$IMAGE" \
+            -f "$CONTEXT/${{ matrix.containerfile }}" \
+            "$CONTEXT"
+
+      - name: Verify the prune-exemption label survived the build
+        env:
+          IMAGE: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.image }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # roles/podman's nightly prune keeps an image only if it carries this
+          # label (podman_prune_ci_keep_label). Publishing one without it would
+          # quietly restore the nightly-deletion behaviour this replaced, and
+          # nothing would notice until CI failed on a Monday morning.
+          got=$(docker inspect -f "{{ index .Config.Labels \"$KEEP_LABEL\" }}" "$IMAGE")
+          test "$got" = "true" || {
+            echo "::error::$IMAGE is missing LABEL $KEEP_LABEL=true"
+            exit 1
+          }
+
+      - name: Push ${{ matrix.key }}
+        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
+        env:
+          IMAGE: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.image }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          docker push "$IMAGE"
+          echo "Pushed: $IMAGE"
+
+      # Always, including on failure: the throwaway tag carries the keep label,
+      # so the nightly prune will not reclaim it and a few skipped cleanups add
+      # up to gigabytes in the runner's store.
+      - name: Drop the pull-request image
+        if: always() && github.event_name == 'pull_request'
+        env:
+          IMAGE: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.image }}
+        run: docker rmi -f "$IMAGE" || true

CLAUDE.md

@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ ansible/
 │   ├── ssl/           # Legacy SSL management (deprecated - Caddy handles certificates automatically)
 │   ├── github-actions/# CI/CD runner setup
 │   ├── labelprint/    # 4x6 label print proxy (Raspberry Pi, CUPS/TSPL)
+│   ├── gitea-actions/ # Gitea Actions runners + CI job images (see its README)
 │   └── pihole/        # DNS filtering
 └── vars/
     └── vault.yml      # Encrypted secrets
@@ -90,6 +91,7 @@ Tasks are tagged by service/component for selective deployment:
 - `ddns` - Dynamic DNS tasks
 - ~~`drone` - CI/CD tasks (decommissioned)~~
 - `hass` - Home Assistant tasks
+- `gitea-actions` - Gitea Actions runners and their CI job images
 - Common infrastructure tags like `common`, `ssl`
 
 ## Configuration Files
@@ -122,6 +124,17 @@ Tasks are tagged by service/component for selective deployment:
 - Falls back to its own rescue Wi-Fi AP at 192.168.4.1 when the home SSID is
   unreachable
 
+### Gitea Actions CI images
+
+The runner's job images (`gitea-ci`, `gitea-ci-espidf`, `gitea-ci-platformio`)
+are built by `.gitea/workflows/ci-images.yml` and published to the Gitea
+container registry under `git.debyl.io/gitbot/`. The `gitea-actions` role only
+pulls them - do NOT add build steps back to it. To change an image, edit
+`ansible/roles/gitea-actions/files/Containerfile.*` (or a version pin in that
+role's `defaults/main.yml`) and push to master; CI rebuilds only what changed.
+See `ansible/roles/gitea-actions/README.md` for the registry rationale, the
+prune-exemption label, and the bootstrap path when CI itself cannot build.
+
 ### Remote SSH Commands for Service Users
 
 The `podman` user (and other service users) have `/bin/nologin` as their shell. To run commands as these users via SSH:

Makefile

@@ -54,7 +54,9 @@ ${VAULT_FILE}: ${VAULT_PASS_FILE}
 	touch $@
 
 # Linting
-YAML_FILES=$(shell find ansible/ -name '*.yml' -not -name '*vault*')
+# .gitea/workflows is linted too: the CI-image workflow is as much part of the
+# deployment as the roles it publishes for.
+YAML_FILES=$(shell find ansible/ .gitea/ -name '*.yml' -not -name '*vault*')
 SKIP_FILE=./.lint-vars.sh
 
 # Targets

ansible/roles/gitea-actions/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+# gitea-actions
+
+Runs the Gitea Actions runners on `home.debyl.io`. One `act_runner` process per
+Gitea instance (`git.debyl.io`, `git.skudak.com`), both as the `gitea-runner`
+user, both backed by the same rootless podman image store.
+
+## CI job images
+
+Jobs do not run on the host. Each one gets an ephemeral container from one of
+three images:
+
+| `runs-on` / `container:` | Image | Used by |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| `fedora`, `ubuntu-latest`, `ubuntu-22.04` | `git.debyl.io/gitbot/gitea-ci:latest` | Go / node / web jobs, `docker build` |
+| `container: image:` | `git.debyl.io/gitbot/gitea-ci-espidf:<esp_idf_version>` | esp-mg-tpms, skudak/esp32-stm32-vcu |
+| `container: image:` | `git.debyl.io/gitbot/gitea-ci-platformio:<pio_espressif32_version>` | skudak/esp32-web-interface |
+
+**This role does not build them.** `.gitea/workflows/ci-images.yml` builds
+`files/Containerfile.*` and pushes to the Gitea registry; the role logs
+`gitea-runner` in and pulls. Version pins live in `defaults/main.yml` and are
+read by both the role and the workflow, so a bump moves the image tag in one
+place.
+
+### Why the registry
+
+The images used to exist only as `localhost/gitea-ci*` in the runner's store.
+The nightly prune (`roles/podman`, `podman_prune_ci_until: 48h`) deletes any
+CI-user image older than that which no container holds, so after an idle
+weekend every job failed in under a second on `docker pull
+localhost/gitea-ci:latest`, and the only fix was re-running this role and
+waiting out a full rebuild.
+
+Two things now keep that from happening:
+
+- **A registry copy.** `force_pull` stays `false`, which in act_runner means
+  *pull only when missing* — so a present image is never re-fetched, and a
+  pruned one is restored by the next job without anyone noticing.
+- **A prune exemption.** Each Containerfile declares
+  `LABEL io.debyl.ci-base="true"`, and the prune skips that label
+  (`podman_prune_ci_keep_label`). Its `until` counts from build time, not pull
+  time, so without this a re-pulled image would be deleted again the same night
+  — a 7.8 GB ESP-IDF download every single day.
+
+The label is declared in the Containerfile rather than passed as `--label` so
+neither builder can omit it; the workflow re-checks it with `docker inspect`
+before pushing.
+
+### Authentication
+
+Both the role and act_runner read `/home/gitea-runner/.docker/config.json`.
+act_runner uses it for the job-image pull it performs when a label's image is
+missing; podman falls back to the same file. The role writes it from
+`gitea_registry_username` / `gitea_registry_token` (vault), so one login covers
+both. The `skudak` runner pulls from `git.debyl.io` too — same host, same user,
+same file.
+
+The workflow pushes with a `REGISTRY_TOKEN` secret on `bastian/deploy_home`,
+belonging to the same `gitbot` user: Gitea authorises a package push by the
+token's owner, not by the path, so pushing to `gitbot/` means logging in as
+`gitbot`.
+
+### Rebuilding
+
+Normally nothing to do — edit a `files/Containerfile.*` or a version pin, push
+to `master`, and the workflow rebuilds only the affected images. It also
+rebuilds everything weekly so base-image updates land without a commit, and
+takes a `workflow_dispatch` with an image selector.
+
+Pull requests build but do not push, under a throwaway `:pr-<n>` tag that is
+deleted afterwards. The build runs in the live runner's image store, so a PR
+tagged with the real name would hand every later job on this host an unmerged
+image.
+
+### Bootstrap / CI is down
+
+The workflow that builds `gitea-ci` runs *in* `gitea-ci`, so a registry that has
+never held it cannot bootstrap itself. Build on the host instead:
+
+```sh
+make deploy TAGS=gitea-actions EXTRA_VARS="gitea_ci_build_local=true"
+```
+
+That builds all three from the same Containerfiles and pushes them. One run is
+enough even on a cold registry: `tasks/main.yml` imports `images.yml` before
+`runner.yml`, so the images are published before the runner labels are flipped
+to point at them.
+
+The alternative first-time path is to merge the workflow and dispatch it while
+the deployed labels still say `localhost/` — the job then builds inside the old
+local image and seeds the registry — then run a plain
+`make deploy TAGS=gitea-actions` to switch the labels over.

ansible/roles/gitea-actions/defaults/main.yml

@@ -22,17 +22,18 @@ act_runner_bin: /usr/local/bin/act_runner
 act_runner_config_dir: /etc/act_runner
 act_runner_work_dir: /var/lib/act_runner
 
-# Job container images. tasks/images.yml builds them into the gitea-runner
+# Job container images, served from the Gitea container registry.
-# rootless store and pushes them to the Gitea container registry.
 #
-# They used to live only under localhost/, and the nightly podman prune
+# They used to live only under localhost/, built by this role. The nightly
-# (roles/podman: podman_prune_ci_until) deletes any CI-user image older than
+# podman prune (roles/podman: podman_prune_ci_until) deletes any CI-user image
-# 48h that no container is using -- so every idle weekend CI failed in 0-1s on
+# older than 48h that no container is using, so every idle weekend CI failed in
-# `docker pull localhost/gitea-ci:latest` until someone re-ran this role and
+# 0-1s on `docker pull localhost/gitea-ci:latest` until someone re-ran the role
-# waited out a full rebuild. With a registry copy, a pruned image is simply
+# and waited out a full rebuild.
-# re-pulled by the next job (force_pull stays false, so a present image is
+#
-# never re-pulled), and this role pulls instead of rebuilding when the
+# Now .gitea/workflows/ci-images.yml builds them from files/Containerfile.* and
-# Containerfile has not changed.
+# pushes them here, and this role only pulls. A pruned image is re-pulled by the
+# next job on its own (force_pull stays false, which means "pull only when
+# missing", so a present image is never re-fetched).
 #
 # Workflows that pin `container: image:` must use these registry paths too
 # (esp-mg-tpms, skudak/esp32-stm32-vcu, skudak/esp32-web-interface).
@@ -55,26 +56,36 @@ gitea_ci_platformio_image: "{{ gitea_ci_registry }}/{{ gitea_ci_registry_namespa
 # fallback auth file), so one login covers the runner and this role.
 gitea_ci_registry_authfile: "{{ gitea_runner_home }}/.docker/config.json"
 
-# Label stamped on the CI base images so the nightly prune skips them; must match
+# The images this role keeps present on the runner. `build_args` is a literal
-# podman_prune_ci_keep_label in roles/podman/defaults/main.yml. Without it the
+# podman-build argument string (podman_image has no structured build-arg
-# prune (whose `until` counts from build time, not pull time) would delete a
+# option) and is only used by the gitea_ci_build_local fallback below -- the
-# re-pulled image again the next night -- a 7.8 GB ESP-IDF re-download after
+# workflow passes the same --build-arg values, read out of the version vars
-# every idle day. Superseded tags (e.g. after an esp_idf_version bump) are
+# above, so there is one source of truth for the pins.
-# therefore kept too; remove them by hand.
-gitea_ci_keep_label: io.debyl.ci-base
-
 gitea_ci_images:
   - image: "{{ gitea_ci_image }}"
     containerfile: Containerfile.ci
-    template: Containerfile.ci
+    build_args: ""
   - image: "{{ gitea_ci_espidf_image }}"
     containerfile: Containerfile.espidf
-    template: Containerfile.espidf.j2
+    build_args: "--build-arg ESP_IDF_VERSION={{ esp_idf_version }}"
   - image: "{{ gitea_ci_platformio_image }}"
     containerfile: Containerfile.platformio
-    template: Containerfile.platformio.j2
+    build_args: >-
+      --build-arg PLATFORMIO_CORE_VERSION={{ platformio_core_version }}
+      --build-arg PIO_ESPRESSIF32_VERSION={{ pio_espressif32_version }}
 
-# Default labels for every runner — map runs-on values to the local CI image.
+# Escape hatch: build the images on the host and push them, instead of pulling
+# what CI published. Needed to seed a brand-new registry namespace, and when CI
+# itself is down -- the workflow that builds gitea-ci runs *in* gitea-ci, so a
+# registry that has never held it cannot bootstrap itself.
+#
+#   make deploy TAGS=gitea-actions EXTRA_VARS="gitea_ci_build_local=true"
+#
+# Off by default: a plain deploy should never sit through a 15-minute ESP-IDF
+# rebuild, and two publishers racing on the same tag is worth avoiding.
+gitea_ci_build_local: false
+
+# Default labels for every runner — map runs-on values to the registry CI image.
 # Firmware jobs opt into the ESP-IDF image per-job via `container:` in their workflow.
 gitea_runner_labels:
   - "fedora:docker://{{ gitea_ci_image }}"

ansible/roles/gitea-actions/files/Containerfile.ci

@@ -1,8 +1,18 @@
 # Default Gitea Actions job image (managed by ansible: roles/gitea-actions).
 # Covers Go/web/node jobs plus `docker build` (talks to the mounted rootless
 # podman socket). Go toolchains are provided per-job by actions/setup-go.
+#
+# Built and published by .gitea/workflows/ci-images.yml; roles/gitea-actions
+# only pulls the result (see gitea_ci_build_local for the local-build fallback).
+# A plain Containerfile, not a template, so CI and ansible build the same bytes.
 FROM node:20-bookworm-slim
 
+# Exempts the image from the nightly CI prune -- see podman_prune_ci_keep_label
+# in roles/podman/defaults/main.yml. Declared here rather than passed as a
+# --label at build time so neither builder can forget it: without the label the
+# prune deletes the image every night and the next job re-pulls a gigabyte.
+LABEL io.debyl.ci-base="true"
+
 ARG DOCKER_CLI_VERSION=27.3.1
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \

ansible/roles/gitea-actions/files/Containerfile.espidf

@@ -14,7 +14,19 @@
 # the release aborts *after* the firmware and version.json are already live —
 # clients get the new build while the tag, Gitea release and protocol manifest
 # are never written. Keep it installed.
-FROM espressif/idf:{{ esp_idf_version }}
+#
+# Built and published by .gitea/workflows/ci-images.yml; roles/gitea-actions
+# only pulls the result. ESP_IDF_VERSION is a build arg rather than an ansible
+# template var so CI and ansible build the same bytes -- its value is read from
+# esp_idf_version in roles/gitea-actions/defaults/main.yml by both.
+ARG ESP_IDF_VERSION
+FROM espressif/idf:${ESP_IDF_VERSION}
+
+# Exempts the image from the nightly CI prune -- see podman_prune_ci_keep_label
+# in roles/podman/defaults/main.yml. Declared here rather than passed as a
+# --label at build time so neither builder can forget it: without the label the
+# prune deletes the image every night and the next job re-pulls 7.8 GB.
+LABEL io.debyl.ci-base="true"
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
         curl ca-certificates unzip jq python3-yaml python3-jinja2 \

ansible/roles/gitea-actions/files/Containerfile.platformio

@@ -8,8 +8,23 @@
 # was validated on hardware — bump pio_espressif32_version /
 # platformio_core_version in defaults/main.yml to upgrade (the image tag
 # tracks the platform version).
+#
+# Built and published by .gitea/workflows/ci-images.yml; roles/gitea-actions
+# only pulls the result. The pins are build args rather than ansible template
+# vars so CI and ansible build the same bytes -- their values are read from
+# platformio_core_version / pio_espressif32_version in
+# roles/gitea-actions/defaults/main.yml by both.
 FROM python:3.12-slim-bookworm
 
+ARG PLATFORMIO_CORE_VERSION
+ARG PIO_ESPRESSIF32_VERSION
+
+# Exempts the image from the nightly CI prune -- see podman_prune_ci_keep_label
+# in roles/podman/defaults/main.yml. Declared here rather than passed as a
+# --label at build time so neither builder can forget it: without the label the
+# prune deletes the image every night and the next job re-pulls a gigabyte.
+LABEL io.debyl.ci-base="true"
+
 ENV PLATFORMIO_CORE_DIR=/opt/platformio
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
@@ -18,12 +33,15 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends nodejs \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-RUN pip install --no-cache-dir platformio=={{ platformio_core_version }}
+RUN pip install --no-cache-dir platformio==${PLATFORMIO_CORE_VERSION}
 
 # Seed project mirroring the real projects' platformio.ini so `pio pkg install`
 # pulls the platform + toolchain + framework packages into the core dir.
+# %s + a quoted argument, not ${...} inside the single-quoted format string:
+# RUN is `sh -c`, and sh does not expand inside single quotes, so an inlined
+# ${PIO_ESPRESSIF32_VERSION} would be written to platformio.ini literally.
 RUN mkdir -p /tmp/seed/src \
-    && printf '[env:seed]\nplatform = espressif32@{{ pio_espressif32_version }}\nframework = arduino\nboard = esp32dev\nboard_build.filesystem = spiffs\nplatform_packages = platformio/tool-esptoolpy\n' > /tmp/seed/platformio.ini \
+    && printf '[env:seed]\nplatform = espressif32@%s\nframework = arduino\nboard = esp32dev\nboard_build.filesystem = spiffs\nplatform_packages = platformio/tool-esptoolpy\n' "${PIO_ESPRESSIF32_VERSION}" > /tmp/seed/platformio.ini \
     && pio pkg install -d /tmp/seed \
     && pio pkg install -d /tmp/seed --tool platformio/tool-mkspiffs \
     && rm -rf /tmp/seed \

ansible/roles/gitea-actions/tasks/images.yml

@@ -1,17 +1,10 @@
 ---
-# CI job images: stage each Containerfile, restore the image from the Gitea
+# CI job images. .gitea/workflows/ci-images.yml builds files/Containerfile.*
-# registry if the nightly prune removed it, rebuild only when the Containerfile
+# and pushes them to the Gitea registry; this role only logs the runner in and
-# changed, then push so the registry always holds what the runner uses.
+# makes sure the images are present, so a plain deploy never waits on a build.
-# See gitea_ci_images in defaults/main.yml.
+#
-- name: create CI image build directory
+# Set gitea_ci_build_local=true to build and push from here instead -- see the
-  become: true
+# comment on that variable in defaults/main.yml.
-  become_user: "{{ gitea_runner_user }}"
-  ansible.builtin.file:
-    path: "{{ gitea_runner_home }}/ci-images"
-    state: directory
-    mode: "0755"
-  tags: gitea-actions
-
 - name: create gitea-runner registry auth directory
   become: true
   become_user: "{{ gitea_runner_user }}"
@@ -21,6 +14,9 @@
     mode: "0700"
   tags: gitea-actions
 
+# Docker-format path on purpose: act_runner reads ~/.docker/config.json to
+# authenticate the job-image pull it does when a label's image is missing, and
+# podman falls back to the same file. One login covers both.
 - name: log gitea-runner in to the Gitea container registry
   become: true
   become_user: "{{ gitea_runner_user }}"
@@ -34,22 +30,7 @@
   no_log: true
   tags: gitea-actions
 
-- name: stage CI Containerfiles
+- name: pull CI images from the registry
-  become: true
-  become_user: "{{ gitea_runner_user }}"
-  ansible.builtin.template:
-    src: "{{ item.template }}"
-    dest: "{{ gitea_runner_home }}/ci-images/{{ item.containerfile }}"
-    mode: "0644"
-  loop: "{{ gitea_ci_images }}"
-  loop_control:
-    label: "{{ item.containerfile }}"
-  register: ci_containerfiles
-  tags: gitea-actions
-
-# A missing image here is normal (first push, or a new tag): the build below
-# creates it. Anything already present locally is left untouched.
-- name: restore CI images from the registry
   become: true
   become_user: "{{ gitea_runner_user }}"
   containers.podman.podman_image:
@@ -60,8 +41,35 @@
   loop: "{{ gitea_ci_images }}"
   loop_control:
     label: "{{ item.image }}"
-  when: not (ci_containerfiles.results | selectattr('item.image', 'equalto', item.image) | first).changed
+  when: not (gitea_ci_build_local | bool)
-  failed_when: false
+  tags: gitea-actions
+
+# --- local build fallback (gitea_ci_build_local=true) ------------------------
+# Only reached when seeding a new namespace or when CI cannot build for us.
+- name: create CI image build directory
+  become: true
+  become_user: "{{ gitea_runner_user }}"
+  ansible.builtin.file:
+    path: "{{ gitea_runner_home }}/ci-images"
+    state: directory
+    mode: "0755"
+  when: gitea_ci_build_local | bool
+  tags: gitea-actions
+
+# copy, not template: these are plain Containerfiles that CI builds verbatim.
+# Versions come in as --build-arg from the same defaults/main.yml the workflow
+# reads, so neither builder can drift from the other.
+- name: stage CI Containerfiles
+  become: true
+  become_user: "{{ gitea_runner_user }}"
+  ansible.builtin.copy:
+    src: "{{ item.containerfile }}"
+    dest: "{{ gitea_runner_home }}/ci-images/{{ item.containerfile }}"
+    mode: "0644"
+  loop: "{{ gitea_ci_images }}"
+  loop_control:
+    label: "{{ item.containerfile }}"
+  when: gitea_ci_build_local | bool
   tags: gitea-actions
 
 - name: build and push CI images
@@ -72,9 +80,8 @@
     path: "{{ gitea_runner_home }}/ci-images"
     build:
       file: "{{ gitea_runner_home }}/ci-images/{{ item.containerfile }}"
-      # Exempts the image from the nightly CI prune (gitea_ci_keep_label).
+      extra_args: "{{ item.build_args }}"
-      extra_args: "--label {{ gitea_ci_keep_label }}=true"
+    force: true
-    force: "{{ (ci_containerfiles.results | selectattr('item.image', 'equalto', item.image) | first).changed }}"
     push: true
     auth_file: "{{ gitea_ci_registry_authfile }}"
   environment:
@@ -82,4 +89,5 @@
   loop: "{{ gitea_ci_images }}"
   loop_control:
     label: "{{ item.image }}"
+  when: gitea_ci_build_local | bool
   tags: gitea-actions

ansible/roles/podman/defaults/main.yml

@@ -311,8 +311,13 @@ podman_prune_ci_users:
   - gitea-runner
   - actions-runner
 podman_prune_ci_until: 48h
-# CI base images built by roles/gitea-actions carry this label (gitea_ci_keep_label
+# The CI base images declare LABEL io.debyl.ci-base="true" in
-# there -- keep the two in sync) and are skipped by the CI image prune.
+# roles/gitea-actions/files/Containerfile.* (and .gitea/workflows/ci-images.yml
+# verifies it before publishing -- keep all three in sync). Images carrying it
+# are skipped below: `until` counts from build time and not pull time, so
+# without the exemption a re-pulled image would be deleted again the next
+# night, a 7.8 GB ESP-IDF re-download after every idle day. Superseded tags
+# (e.g. after an esp_idf_version bump) survive too; remove those by hand.
 podman_prune_ci_keep_label: io.debyl.ci-base
 
 # Daily rather than weekly: CI turns over many images a day, and a week of that

ansible/roles/podman/tasks/main.yml

@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@
 
 - import_tasks: containers/home/gregtime.yml
   vars:
-    image: localhost/greg-time-bot:3.18.1
+    image: localhost/greg-time-bot:3.18.3
   tags: gregtime
 
 # Built and loaded by `make deploy-remote` in ~/src/rsvp-debylio; bump this to