diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/rotate-coder-token.yml b/.gitea/workflows/rotate-coder-token.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ab7653
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/rotate-coder-token.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+name: Rotate Coder API Token
+
+# Keeps the CODER_SESSION_TOKEN secret (used by coder-templates.yml) alive
+# forever without anyone needing to remember to refresh it. This Coder
+# deployment caps token lifetime at 168h (7 days), so this runs daily,
+# mints a fresh 168h token, writes it back into this repo's
+# CODER_SESSION_TOKEN secret via the Gitea API, then deletes the token(s)
+# it replaced.
+#
+# One-time bootstrap (see README "Auto-provisioning" section): a
+# GITEA_ROTATION_TOKEN secret holding a Gitea personal access token
+# (write:repository scope, no expiration) with permission to write this
+# repo's Actions secrets. Nothing else needs to touch this ever again.
+
+on:
+  schedule:
+    - cron: "0 3 * * *"
+  workflow_dispatch: {}
+
+jobs:
+  rotate:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      CODER_URL: ${{ secrets.CODER_URL }}
+      CODER_SESSION_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CODER_SESSION_TOKEN }}
+      GITEA_ROTATION_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITEA_ROTATION_TOKEN }}
+      GITEA_API_URL: ${{ github.server_url }}/api/v1
+      GITEA_REPO_PATH: ${{ github.repository }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Install coder CLI and jq
+        run: |
+          set -e
+          curl -fsSL https://coder.com/install.sh | sh
+          coder version
+          command -v jq >/dev/null 2>&1 || (apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y -qq jq)
+
+      - name: Create a new token
+        id: new_token
+        run: |
+          set -e
+          NAME="gitea-ci-$(date -u +%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ)"
+          TOKEN="$(coder tokens create --name "$NAME" --lifetime 168h)"
+          if [ -z "$TOKEN" ]; then
+            echo "::error::coder tokens create returned no token"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "::add-mask::$TOKEN"
+          echo "name=$NAME" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "token=$TOKEN" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Publish new token to CODER_SESSION_TOKEN secret
+        env:
+          NEW_TOKEN: ${{ steps.new_token.outputs.token }}
+        run: |
+          set -e
+          BODY="$(jq -n --arg data "$NEW_TOKEN" '{data:$data}')"
+          HTTP_STATUS="$(curl -s -o /tmp/put-secret.out -w '%{http_code}' \
+            -X PUT \
+            -H "Authorization: token ${GITEA_ROTATION_TOKEN}" \
+            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+            -d "$BODY" \
+            "${GITEA_API_URL}/repos/${GITEA_REPO_PATH}/actions/secrets/CODER_SESSION_TOKEN")"
+          if [ "$HTTP_STATUS" != "201" ] && [ "$HTTP_STATUS" != "204" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Failed to update CODER_SESSION_TOKEN secret (HTTP $HTTP_STATUS)"
+            cat /tmp/put-secret.out
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "CODER_SESSION_TOKEN secret updated (HTTP $HTTP_STATUS)."
+
+      - name: Delete the token(s) this replaced
+        env:
+          KEEP_NAME: ${{ steps.new_token.outputs.name }}
+        run: |
+          set -e
+          coder tokens list -o json \
+            | jq -r --arg keep "$KEEP_NAME" \
+                '.[] | select(.token_name | startswith("gitea-ci-")) | select(.token_name != $keep) | .id' \
+            | while read -r id; do
+                [ -z "$id" ] && continue
+                echo "Removing superseded token $id"
+                coder tokens delete "$id" --delete \
+                  || echo "::warning::Failed to delete superseded token $id"
+              done
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b440318..29c3225 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -134,19 +134,44 @@ It runs on the `ubuntu-latest` self-hosted runner already registered on this
 Gitea instance and installs the `coder` CLI itself via `coder.com/install.sh`.
 
 **One-time setup required** (not something this workflow can do for itself -
-needs a human with Coder access):
+needs a human with Coder access). This deployment caps API token lifetime at
+168h (7 days), so rather than raising that cap deployment-wide,
+`.gitea/workflows/rotate-coder-token.yml` (see below) keeps a fresh token
+flowing into the secret automatically:
 
 1. Create a Coder API token - ideally under a dedicated service account
    rather than a personal login, since this token can create/delete
    templates:
    ```sh
    coder login https://code.octoturge.com
-   coder tokens create --name gitea-ci --lifetime 8760h
+   coder tokens create --name gitea-ci --lifetime 168h
    ```
 2. In Gitea, go to this repo's **Settings -> Actions -> Secrets** (or the
    org-level equivalent to share across repos) and add:
    - `CODER_URL` = `https://code.octoturge.com`
    - `CODER_SESSION_TOKEN` = the token printed by step 1
 
-Until those secrets exist, the workflow will run and fail cleanly at the
-`coder templates push` step rather than doing anything destructive.
+Until those secrets exist, `coder-templates.yml` will run and fail cleanly
+at the `coder templates push` step rather than doing anything destructive.
+
+### Token rotation (Gitea Actions)
+
+`.gitea/workflows/rotate-coder-token.yml` runs daily and keeps
+`CODER_SESSION_TOKEN` alive forever without anyone needing to remember to
+refresh it: it mints a new 168h Coder token, writes it into the
+`CODER_SESSION_TOKEN` secret via the Gitea API, then deletes the token(s) it
+just replaced. If a run ever fails, the previous token is still untouched
+and still valid (nothing gets deleted until the new one is confirmed live),
+so it fails safe rather than locking you out.
+
+**One-time bootstrap** (also needs a human - this is what lets the rotation
+workflow write to its own repo's secrets):
+
+1. Create a Gitea personal access token with **write:repository** scope and
+   **no expiration** (Settings -> Applications -> Generate New Token). This
+   one doesn't rotate itself, so give it a long life up front.
+2. Add it as a repo/org Actions secret named `GITEA_ROTATION_TOKEN`.
+
+After that, `CODER_SESSION_TOKEN` never needs manual attention again - you
+can also trigger a rotation on demand from Gitea's Actions tab
+(`workflow_dispatch`) instead of waiting for the daily schedule.