diff --git a/dist/oribi-tech-sync.zip b/dist/oribi-tech-sync.zip
index 75a0610..d11c66a 100644
Binary files a/dist/oribi-tech-sync.zip and b/dist/oribi-tech-sync.zip differ
diff --git a/includes/api-client.php b/includes/api-client.php
index e604946..ff3c009 100644
--- a/includes/api-client.php
+++ b/includes/api-client.php
@@ -341,14 +341,15 @@ function oribi_sync_fetch_file( string $api_base, string $branch, string $file_p
             break;
 
         case 'gitea':
-            $url    = $api_base . '/raw/' . $encoded_path . '?ref=' . rawurlencode( $branch );
-            $accept = 'text/plain';
+            // Use /contents/ endpoint which returns base64-encoded content (more reliable)
+            $url    = $api_base . '/contents/' . $encoded_path . '?ref=' . rawurlencode( $branch );
+            $accept = 'application/json';
             break;
 
         case 'github':
         default:
             $url    = $api_base . '/contents/' . $encoded_path . '?ref=' . rawurlencode( $branch );
-            $accept = 'application/vnd.github.raw+json';
+            $accept = 'application/vnd.github.raw';
             break;
     }
 
@@ -377,7 +378,28 @@ function oribi_sync_fetch_file( string $api_base, string $branch, string $file_p
         );
     }
 
-    return wp_remote_retrieve_body( $response );
+    $body = wp_remote_retrieve_body( $response );
+    
+    // For Gitea, the /contents/ endpoint returns base64-encoded content in JSON
+    if ( $provider === 'gitea' ) {
+        $decoded = json_decode( $body, true );
+        if ( isset( $decoded['content'] ) && is_string( $decoded['content'] ) ) {
+            $body = base64_decode( $decoded['content'], true );
+            if ( $body === false ) {
+                return new WP_Error( 'oribi_sync_decode_error', 'Failed to decode base64 content from Gitea' );
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    
+    // Validate and fix encoding if necessary (handles non-UTF-8 sources)
+    if ( ! empty( $body ) ) {
+        if ( ! mb_check_encoding( $body, 'UTF-8' ) ) {
+            // Try to convert from common encodings to UTF-8
+            $body = mb_convert_encoding( $body, 'UTF-8', 'UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, Windows-1252' );
+        }
+    }
+    
+    return $body;
 }
 
 // ─── Tree filtering ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/includes/push-client.php b/includes/push-client.php
index 6207692..fc644a1 100644
--- a/includes/push-client.php
+++ b/includes/push-client.php
@@ -87,17 +87,24 @@ function oribi_sync_api_request( string $method, string $url, array $body, strin
     $headers = array_merge(
         oribi_sync_auth_headers( $provider, $pat ),
         [
-            'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
+            'Content-Type' => 'application/json; charset=utf-8',
             'Accept'       => 'application/json',
             'User-Agent'   => 'Oribi-Sync-WP/' . ORIBI_SYNC_VERSION,
         ]
     );
 
+    // Ensure UTF-8 encoding of all body content
+    array_walk_recursive( $body, function ( &$item ) {
+        if ( is_string( $item ) && ! mb_check_encoding( $item, 'UTF-8' ) ) {
+            $item = mb_convert_encoding( $item, 'UTF-8' );
+        }
+    });
+
     $args = [
         'method'  => $method,
         'timeout' => 30,
         'headers' => $headers,
-        'body'    => wp_json_encode( $body ),
+        'body'    => wp_json_encode( $body, JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE ),
     ];
 
     $response = wp_remote_request( $url, $args );