diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 02eeadd..ff059b4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,7 +5,13 @@ dist/
 *.deb
 build/
 tmp/
+amd64/opt/gitea/bin/gitea
+arm64/opt/gitea/bin/gitea
 
 # Ignore common system files
 .DS_Store
 *.swp
+
+# Local Codex state
+.codex
+.codex/
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5244c64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# Changelog
+
+## 2026-04-27
+
+- Switched automatic Gitea version detection to prefer the official GitHub releases API.
+- Kept `https://dl.gitea.com/gitea/version.json` as a fallback because it may lag behind published releases.
+- Added explicit support for overriding the target version with `./build.sh <version>` or `GITEA_VERSION=<version> ./build.sh`.
+- Added runtime logging so `build.sh` prints which version source was used.
diff --git a/amd64/opt/gitea/bin/gitea b/amd64/opt/gitea/bin/gitea
deleted file mode 100755
index 113e837..0000000
Binary files a/amd64/opt/gitea/bin/gitea and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/arm64/opt/gitea/bin/gitea b/arm64/opt/gitea/bin/gitea
deleted file mode 100755
index 2c2a453..0000000
Binary files a/arm64/opt/gitea/bin/gitea and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index de8e842..5cd2b9a 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -1,9 +1,51 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e  # Exit on error
 
-# Set Variables
-VERSION=$(curl -s https://dl.gitea.com/gitea/version.json | jq -r '.latest.version')
+# Resolve the target version from an explicit override first, then from the
+# latest published GitHub release. The dl.gitea.com version JSON can lag
+# behind actual releases, so it is only used as a fallback.
+resolve_version() {
+    local version=""
+
+    if [[ -n "${1:-}" ]]; then
+        VERSION_SOURCE="command line argument"
+        echo "$1"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    if [[ -n "${GITEA_VERSION:-}" ]]; then
+        VERSION_SOURCE="GITEA_VERSION environment variable"
+        echo "${GITEA_VERSION}"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    if version=$(curl -fsSL https://api.github.com/repos/go-gitea/gitea/releases/latest 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.tag_name // empty' 2>/dev/null); then
+        version="${version#v}"
+        if [[ "$version" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+            VERSION_SOURCE="GitHub releases API"
+            echo "$version"
+            return 0
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    if version=$(curl -fsSL https://dl.gitea.com/gitea/version.json 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.latest.version // empty' 2>/dev/null); then
+        if [[ "$version" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+            VERSION_SOURCE="dl.gitea.com version.json fallback"
+            echo "$version"
+            return 0
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    echo "❌ Unable to determine the latest Gitea version. Set GITEA_VERSION or pass a version as the first argument." >&2
+    exit 1
+}
+
+VERSION=$(resolve_version "${1:-}")
+DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL="${GITEA_DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL:-https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/releases/download/v${VERSION}}"
+BUILD_ROOT="build/${VERSION}"
+
 echo "Current version: ${VERSION}"
+echo "Version source: ${VERSION_SOURCE}"
 # Check if this version is already built
 if [[ -f "../gitea-deb/gitea_${VERSION}_amd64.deb" ]] && [[ -f "../gitea-deb/gitea_${VERSION}_arm64.deb" ]]; then
     echo "✅ Version ${VERSION} already built and present in release repo. Aborting."
@@ -11,7 +53,6 @@ if [[ -f "../gitea-deb/gitea_${VERSION}_amd64.deb" ]] && [[ -f "../gitea-deb/git
 fi
 
 ARCHS=("amd64" "arm64")
-GITEA_BASE_URL="https://dl.gitea.com/gitea/${VERSION}"
 FILES=("xz" "xz.asc" "xz.sha256" "xz.sha256.asc")
 
 # Download Gitea Binaries and Signatures
@@ -23,7 +64,7 @@ for ARCH in "${ARCHS[@]}"; do
     fi
 	for FILE in "${FILES[@]}"; do
 		FILE_NAME="gitea-${VERSION}-linux-${ARCH}.${FILE}"
-		FILE_URL="${GITEA_BASE_URL}/${FILE_NAME}"
+		FILE_URL="${DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL}/${FILE_NAME}"
 		TARGET_FILE="dist/${ARCH}/${FILE_NAME}"
         if [[ -f "$TARGET_FILE" ]]; then
             echo "✅ File already exists: $TARGET_FILE (Skipping)"
@@ -48,27 +89,39 @@ for ARCH in "${ARCHS[@]}"; do
 	(cd "dist/${ARCH}" && sha256sum -c gitea-${VERSION}-linux-${ARCH}.xz.sha256)
 done
 
-# expand the Gitea binary to the target
+# Stage package contents in a disposable build directory so the repository's
+# tracked packaging files do not get modified during a build.
 for ARCH in "${ARCHS[@]}"; do
-    if [[ ! -d "${ARCH}/opt/gitea/bin" ]]; then
-        echo "Creating directory ${ARCH}/opt/gitea/bin"
-        mkdir -p "${ARCH}/opt/gitea/bin"
+    PACKAGE_DIR="${BUILD_ROOT}/${ARCH}"
+
+    if [[ ! -d "${PACKAGE_DIR}" ]]; then
+        echo "Creating staging directory ${PACKAGE_DIR}"
+        mkdir -p "${PACKAGE_DIR}"
     fi
-	xz -dc "dist/${ARCH}/gitea-${VERSION}-linux-${ARCH}.xz" > "${ARCH}/opt/gitea/bin/gitea" || { echo "❌ Extraction failed for ${ARCH}"; exit 1; }
+
+    cp -a "${ARCH}/." "${PACKAGE_DIR}/"
+
+    if [[ ! -d "${PACKAGE_DIR}/opt/gitea/bin" ]]; then
+        echo "Creating directory ${PACKAGE_DIR}/opt/gitea/bin"
+        mkdir -p "${PACKAGE_DIR}/opt/gitea/bin"
+    fi
+
+	xz -dc "dist/${ARCH}/gitea-${VERSION}-linux-${ARCH}.xz" > "${PACKAGE_DIR}/opt/gitea/bin/gitea" || { echo "❌ Extraction failed for ${ARCH}"; exit 1; }
 
 	# Verify the extracted file isn't empty
-	if [[ ! -s "${ARCH}/opt/gitea/bin/gitea" ]]; then
+	if [[ ! -s "${PACKAGE_DIR}/opt/gitea/bin/gitea" ]]; then
 		echo "❌ Extracted file is empty for ${ARCH}. Something went wrong!"
 		exit 1
 	fi
-	chmod +x "${ARCH}/opt/gitea/bin/gitea"
+	chmod +x "${PACKAGE_DIR}/opt/gitea/bin/gitea"
 done
 	
 # Build Debian Packages
 for ARCH in "${ARCHS[@]}"; do
     echo "Building package for ${ARCH} …"
-    sed -i "s/^Version: .*/Version: ${VERSION}/" "${ARCH}/DEBIAN/control"
-    dpkg-deb --build "${ARCH}" "gitea_${VERSION}_${ARCH}.deb"
+    PACKAGE_DIR="${BUILD_ROOT}/${ARCH}"
+    sed -i "s/^Version: .*/Version: ${VERSION}/" "${PACKAGE_DIR}/DEBIAN/control"
+    dpkg-deb --build "${PACKAGE_DIR}" "gitea_${VERSION}_${ARCH}.deb"
 done
 
 echo "All packages built successfully:"
@@ -96,4 +149,3 @@ mv gitea_${VERSION}_*.deb ../gitea-deb/
         echo "No changes to commit."
     fi
 )
-