Native deployment status tracking in Forgejo: planned or external only?

Direct answer

Forgejo does not currently provide a native deployment status model. There is no first-class deployment object, no persistent deployment history in the UI, and no deployment endpoints in the documented repository API. The design intent reflected in current releases is to keep deployment tracking external: operators rely on Actions workflow run history and webhook delivery records rather than a built-in deployment state machine.

Confirmed facts vs. likely explanation

Confirmed: The documented feature set and repository API expose no deployment-related endpoints or UI sections. Actions run history is retained by the instance, while runner logs remain host-local and may be cleaned after workflow completion. Webhook delivery logs capture outbound triggers but not the deployment result itself.

Likely explanation: Forgejo intentionally treats deployment orchestration as an external concern. The project has not committed a roadmap item for a native deployment status model. Open discussions may exist, but without a scheduled implementation the stable capability remains external observability. This is a design judgment based on current documentation, not a guaranteed future roadmap statement.

Most reliable end-to-end observability today

The most reliable documented path is the combination of Actions workflow run history and webhook delivery logs. Actions history gives you the workflow outcome and job status within Forgejo; webhook logs confirm that external systems received the trigger. Runner logs are not a durable source because they live on the runner host and may be removed after execution.

Verification steps for your release

1. Probe the API for deployment routes. Query your instance's API root or OpenAPI specification and look for deployment paths. A safe scoped check is to request a plausible deployment endpoint and confirm it returns 404:
   

   curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" \
     "https://your-forgejo.example.com/api/v1/repos/OWNER/REPO/deployments"

2. Check the administrative UI. Look for any deployment status or history section beyond Actions and webhook pages. In current releases, no such section exists.
3. Review release notes. Scan the changelog for your target version for mentions of deployment tracking or status history.
4. Search the issue tracker. Look for open or scheduled issues about a deployment API or native status model.

Uncertainty and version assumptions

Forgejo is actively developed. A newer release could introduce deployment features not present in older documentation. The absence of stable, documented deployment endpoints confirms that the feature is not a supported capability in your current release, but it does not absolutely prove absence from experimental branches. If your Forgejo version is newer than the latest documented release you can inspect, treat the answer as provisional and re-run the API and UI checks above.

If you need a single diagnostic detail that would change this recommendation, provide the exact Forgejo version string shown in your instance footer. That determines which release notes and API surface to inspect.