diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index e63eeff..083300a 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -109,23 +109,47 @@ jobs:
           print(json.dumps('\n\n'.join(sections)))
           ")
 
-          RELEASE=$(curl -s -X POST "$BASE_URL/releases" \
+          # Send body via file to avoid CLI length limits / shell escaping
+          python3 -c "
+          import json, os
+          body = os.environ['BODY']
+          payload = {
+              'tag_name': os.environ['TAG'],
+              'name': f\"Notify Bridge {os.environ['VERSION']}\",
+              'body': json.loads(body),
+              'draft': False,
+              'prerelease': os.environ['IS_PRE'] == 'true',
+          }
+          open('/tmp/release-payload.json','w').write(json.dumps(payload))
+          " BODY="$BODY" TAG="$TAG" VERSION="$VERSION" IS_PRE="$IS_PRE"
+
+          HTTP=$(curl -s -o /tmp/release-resp.json -w "%{http_code}" \
+            -X POST "$BASE_URL/releases" \
             -H "Authorization: token $DEPLOY_TOKEN" \
             -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            -d "{
-              \"tag_name\": \"$TAG\",
-              \"name\": \"Notify Bridge $VERSION\",
-              \"body\": $BODY,
-              \"draft\": false,
-              \"prerelease\": $IS_PRE
-            }")
+            --data-binary @/tmp/release-payload.json)
 
-          # Fallback: if release already exists for this tag, reuse it
-          RELEASE_ID=$(echo "$RELEASE" | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['id'])" 2>/dev/null)
-          if [ -z "$RELEASE_ID" ]; then
-            echo "::warning::Release already exists for tag $TAG — reusing existing release"
-            RELEASE=$(curl -s "$BASE_URL/releases/tags/$TAG" \
+          echo "POST /releases → HTTP $HTTP"
+          echo "--- response ---"
+          head -c 2000 /tmp/release-resp.json; echo
+          echo "----------------"
+
+          if [ "$HTTP" = "201" ]; then
+            RELEASE_ID=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('/tmp/release-resp.json'))['id'])")
+            echo "Created release $RELEASE_ID for $TAG"
+          elif [ "$HTTP" = "409" ] || grep -q "already exists" /tmp/release-resp.json; then
+            echo "::warning::Release already exists for tag $TAG — reusing"
+            HTTP2=$(curl -s -o /tmp/release-resp.json -w "%{http_code}" \
+              "$BASE_URL/releases/tags/$TAG" \
               -H "Authorization: token $DEPLOY_TOKEN")
-            RELEASE_ID=$(echo "$RELEASE" | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['id'])")
+            if [ "$HTTP2" != "200" ]; then
+              echo "::error::Failed to fetch existing release (HTTP $HTTP2)"
+              cat /tmp/release-resp.json
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            RELEASE_ID=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('/tmp/release-resp.json'))['id'])")
+            echo "Reused release $RELEASE_ID for $TAG"
+          else
+            echo "::error::Failed to create release for $TAG (HTTP $HTTP)"
+            exit 1
           fi
-          echo "Created release $RELEASE_ID for $TAG"