diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index 23f2828..764b2df 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -73,22 +73,22 @@ jobs:
           BODY="## What's changed"$'\n'"${NOTES}"
           BODY_JSON=$(printf '%s' "$BODY" | python3 -c 'import json,sys; print(json.dumps(sys.stdin.read()))')
 
+          echo "Creating release ${TAG} via ${API}..."
           RELEASE=$(curl -s -X POST "$API" \
             -H "Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" \
             -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
             -d "{\"tag_name\":\"${TAG}\",\"name\":\"${TAG}\",\"body\":${BODY_JSON},\"draft\":true}")
+          echo "API response: $RELEASE"
 
-          UPLOAD_URL=$(echo "$RELEASE" | python3 -c "import json,sys,re; r=json.load(sys.stdin); print(re.sub(r'\{[^}]*\}','',r['upload_url']))")
+          UPLOAD_URL=$(echo "$RELEASE" | grep -o '"upload_url":"[^"]*"' | cut -d'"' -f4 | sed 's/{[^}]*}//')
           if [ -z "$UPLOAD_URL" ]; then
-            echo "Failed to create release: $RELEASE"
+            echo "upload_url not found in response — aborting"
             exit 1
           fi
 
-          echo "$UPLOAD_URL" > /tmp/upload_url.txt
-
           for f in pgtidy-*; do
             echo "Uploading $f..."
-            curl -s -X POST "${UPLOAD_URL}?name=${f}" \
+            curl -sf -X POST "${UPLOAD_URL}?name=${f}" \
               -H "Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" \
               -H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
               --data-binary "@${f}" > /dev/null
@@ -96,12 +96,6 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-        with:
-          name: upload-url
-          path: /tmp/upload_url.txt
-          retention-days: 1
-
   pkg-deb:
     name: Debian packages
     needs: release
@@ -140,7 +134,8 @@ jobs:
           TAG="${{ github.event.inputs.tag || github.ref_name }}"
           RELEASE=$(curl -s "${GITHUB_API_URL}/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/releases/tags/${TAG}" \
             -H "Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}")
-          UPLOAD_URL=$(echo "$RELEASE" | python3 -c "import json,sys,re; r=json.load(sys.stdin); print(re.sub(r'\{[^}]*\}','',r['upload_url']))")
+          UPLOAD_URL=$(echo "$RELEASE" | grep -o '"upload_url":"[^"]*"' | cut -d'"' -f4 | sed 's/{[^}]*}//')
+          [ -z "$UPLOAD_URL" ] && { echo "upload_url not found: $RELEASE"; exit 1; }
           for f in *.deb; do
             echo "Uploading $(basename "$f")..."
             curl -s -X POST "${UPLOAD_URL}?name=$(basename "$f")" \
@@ -205,7 +200,8 @@ jobs:
           TAG="${{ github.event.inputs.tag || github.ref_name }}"
           RELEASE=$(curl -s "${GITHUB_API_URL}/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/releases/tags/${TAG}" \
             -H "Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}")
-          UPLOAD_URL=$(echo "$RELEASE" | python3 -c "import json,sys,re; r=json.load(sys.stdin); print(re.sub(r'\{[^}]*\}','',r['upload_url']))")
+          UPLOAD_URL=$(echo "$RELEASE" | grep -o '"upload_url":"[^"]*"' | cut -d'"' -f4 | sed 's/{[^}]*}//')
+          [ -z "$UPLOAD_URL" ] && { echo "upload_url not found: $RELEASE"; exit 1; }
           while IFS= read -r f; do
             echo "Uploading $(basename "$f")..."
             curl -s -X POST "${UPLOAD_URL}?name=$(basename "$f")" \
@@ -331,7 +327,8 @@ jobs:
           TAG="${{ github.event.inputs.tag || github.ref_name }}"
           RELEASE=$(curl -s "${GITHUB_API_URL}/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/releases/tags/${TAG}" \
             -H "Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}")
-          UPLOAD_URL=$(echo "$RELEASE" | python3 -c "import json,sys,re; r=json.load(sys.stdin); print(re.sub(r'\{[^}]*\}','',r['upload_url']))")
+          UPLOAD_URL=$(echo "$RELEASE" | grep -o '"upload_url":"[^"]*"' | cut -d'"' -f4 | sed 's/{[^}]*}//')
+          [ -z "$UPLOAD_URL" ] && { echo "upload_url not found: $RELEASE"; exit 1; }
           for f in editors/vscode/*.vsix; do
             echo "Uploading $(basename "$f")..."
             curl -s -X POST "${UPLOAD_URL}?name=$(basename "$f")" \
@@ -364,7 +361,8 @@ jobs:
           TAG="${{ github.event.inputs.tag || github.ref_name }}"
           RELEASE=$(curl -s "${GITHUB_API_URL}/repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/releases/tags/${TAG}" \
             -H "Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}")
-          UPLOAD_URL=$(echo "$RELEASE" | python3 -c "import json,sys,re; r=json.load(sys.stdin); print(re.sub(r'\{[^}]*\}','',r['upload_url']))")
+          UPLOAD_URL=$(echo "$RELEASE" | grep -o '"upload_url":"[^"]*"' | cut -d'"' -f4 | sed 's/{[^}]*}//')
+          [ -z "$UPLOAD_URL" ] && { echo "upload_url not found: $RELEASE"; exit 1; }
           for f in editors/datagrip/build/distributions/*.zip; do
             echo "Uploading $(basename "$f")..."
             curl -s -X POST "${UPLOAD_URL}?name=$(basename "$f")" \