---
date: "2023-04-27T15:00:00+08:00"
slug: "runner"
sidebar_position: 20
---

# Gitea Runner

This page will introduce the [Gitea Runner](https://gitea.com/gitea/runner), which is the runner for Gitea Actions.

:::tip
For detailed installation, configuration, and usage instructions, see the [Gitea Runner documentation](/runner/).
:::

## Obtain a registration token

You can register a runner at different levels. It can be:

- Instance level: The runner will run jobs for all repositories in the instance.
- Organization level: The runner will run jobs for all repositories in the organization.
- Repository level: The runner will run jobs for the repository it belongs to.

Note that the repository may still use instance-level or organization-level runners even if it has its own repository-level runners. A future release may provide an option to allow more control over this.

Before registering the runner and running it, you need a registration token. The level of the runner determines where to obtain the registration token.

- Instance level: The admin settings page, like `<your_gitea.com>/-/admin/actions/runners`.
- Organization level: The organization settings page, like `<your_gitea.com>/<org>/settings/actions/runners`.
- Repository level: The repository settings page, like `<your_gitea.com>/<owner>/<repo>/settings/actions/runners`.

If you cannot see the settings page, please make sure that you have the right permissions and that Actions have been enabled.

The format of the registration token is a random string `D0gvfu2iHfUjNqCYVljVyRV14fISpJxxxxxxxxxx`.

A registration token can also be obtained from the Gitea [command-line interface](../../administration/command-line.md#actions-generate-runner-token):

```
gitea --config /etc/gitea/app.ini actions generate-runner-token
```

You can also use `GITEA_RUNNER_REGISTRATION_TOKEN`/`GITEA_RUNNER_REGISTRATION_TOKEN_FILE` environment variables to set a global runner registration token when Gitea starts, for example:

```
openssl rand -hex 24 > /some-dir/runner-token
export GITEA_RUNNER_REGISTRATION_TOKEN_FILE=/some-dir/runner-token
./gitea --config ...
```

The token from the environment is valid until you reset the token (re-create a new one) via the web UI or API.

Tokens are valid for registering multiple runners, until they are revoked and replaced by a new token using the token reset link in the web interface.

Once you have a registration token, follow the [Gitea Runner documentation](/runner/) to install, configure, and run your runner.