diff --git a/docs/production-deployment.md b/docs/production-deployment.md
index a304238..7254f1d 100644
--- a/docs/production-deployment.md
+++ b/docs/production-deployment.md
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ plane, preserving the browser's Gitea session cookie. This lets the Prompts
 view check the viewer's repository access before returning potentially
 sensitive prompt text.
 
+The control plane verifies the browser session through Gitea's protected web
+settings route, then uses `GITEA_API_TOKEN` to resolve the server-rendered login
+to Gitea's immutable user ID. Gitea's `/api/v1/user` endpoint is token-only and
+must not be used to validate browser sessions.
+
 For nginx, the control-plane location should precede the Gitea catch-all:
 
 ```nginx
diff --git a/services/control-plane/internal/gitea/client.go b/services/control-plane/internal/gitea/client.go
index 3eb802f..d1e8409 100644
--- a/services/control-plane/internal/gitea/client.go
+++ b/services/control-plane/internal/gitea/client.go
@@ -5,14 +5,22 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"html"
+	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
+	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 )
 
 var ErrTokenNotConfigured = errors.New("gitea API token is not configured")
 
+var (
+	settingsUsernameInput = regexp.MustCompile(`(?is)<input\b[^>]*\bid\s*=\s*["']username["'][^>]*>`)
+	settingsDataName      = regexp.MustCompile(`(?is)\bdata-name\s*=\s*(?:"([^"]*)"|'([^']*)')`)
+)
+
 type Repository struct {
 	ID            int64  `json:"id"`
 	Owner         Owner  `json:"owner"`
@@ -126,51 +134,71 @@ func (c *Client) AuthenticatedUser(ctx context.Context, cookie string) (User, bo
 	if strings.TrimSpace(cookie) == "" {
 		return User{}, false, nil
 	}
-	u := c.baseURL.JoinPath("api", "v1", "user")
+	// Gitea's API user endpoint requires an API token and intentionally rejects
+	// browser sessions. The profile settings page is session-authenticated and
+	// renders the signed-in username in a stable input contract.
+	u := c.baseURL.JoinPath("user", "settings")
 	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, u.String(), nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return User{}, false, err
 	}
 	req.Header.Set("Cookie", cookie)
-	req.Header.Set("Accept", "application/json")
+	req.Header.Set("Accept", "text/html")
 
-	resp, err := c.http.Do(req)
+	resp, err := c.doWithoutRedirect(req)
 	if err != nil {
 		return User{}, false, fmt.Errorf("load authenticated user: %w", err)
 	}
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
-	if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusUnauthorized || resp.StatusCode == http.StatusForbidden {
+	switch resp.StatusCode {
+	case http.StatusFound, http.StatusSeeOther, http.StatusTemporaryRedirect, http.StatusPermanentRedirect,
+		http.StatusUnauthorized, http.StatusForbidden:
 		return User{}, false, nil
-	}
-	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+	case http.StatusOK:
+		// Continue below.
+	default:
 		return User{}, false, fmt.Errorf("gitea authenticated user lookup returned %s", resp.Status)
 	}
-	var user User
-	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&user); err != nil {
-		return User{}, false, fmt.Errorf("decode authenticated user: %w", err)
+	body, err := io.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(resp.Body, 2<<20))
+	if err != nil {
+		return User{}, false, fmt.Errorf("read authenticated user settings: %w", err)
 	}
-	if user.ID <= 0 || user.LoginName() == "" {
-		return User{}, false, errors.New("gitea returned an incomplete authenticated user")
+	input := settingsUsernameInput.Find(body)
+	attribute := settingsDataName.FindSubmatch(input)
+	if len(attribute) != 3 {
+		return User{}, false, errors.New("gitea settings page did not identify the signed-in user")
+	}
+	login := string(attribute[1])
+	if login == "" {
+		login = string(attribute[2])
+	}
+	login = strings.TrimSpace(html.UnescapeString(login))
+	if login == "" {
+		return User{}, false, errors.New("gitea settings page returned an empty username")
+	}
+	user, err := c.User(ctx, login)
+	if err != nil {
+		return User{}, false, fmt.Errorf("resolve authenticated user %q: %w", login, err)
 	}
 	return user, true, nil
 }
 
-// ViewerCanReadRepository checks a browser's existing Gitea session before
-// returning prompt data. Prompts may contain sensitive intent, so the Hop API
-// must never turn a private repository into a public metadata feed.
+// ViewerCanReadRepository checks a browser's existing Gitea session against
+// the repository web route. Gitea API routes require API tokens and do not
+// recognize browser sessions.
 func (c *Client) ViewerCanReadRepository(ctx context.Context, cookie, owner, name string) (bool, error) {
 	if strings.TrimSpace(cookie) == "" {
 		return false, nil
 	}
-	u := c.baseURL.JoinPath("api", "v1", "repos", owner, name)
+	u := c.baseURL.JoinPath(owner, name)
 	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, u.String(), nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, err
 	}
 	req.Header.Set("Cookie", cookie)
-	req.Header.Set("Accept", "application/json")
+	req.Header.Set("Accept", "text/html")
 
-	resp, err := c.http.Do(req)
+	resp, err := c.doWithoutRedirect(req)
 	if err != nil {
 		return false, fmt.Errorf("check viewer repository access: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -178,9 +206,18 @@ func (c *Client) ViewerCanReadRepository(ctx context.Context, cookie, owner, nam
 	switch resp.StatusCode {
 	case http.StatusOK:
 		return true, nil
-	case http.StatusUnauthorized, http.StatusForbidden, http.StatusNotFound:
+	case http.StatusFound, http.StatusSeeOther, http.StatusTemporaryRedirect, http.StatusPermanentRedirect,
+		http.StatusUnauthorized, http.StatusForbidden, http.StatusNotFound:
 		return false, nil
 	default:
 		return false, fmt.Errorf("gitea viewer repository check returned %s", resp.Status)
 	}
 }
+
+func (c *Client) doWithoutRedirect(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
+	client := *c.http
+	client.CheckRedirect = func(*http.Request, []*http.Request) error {
+		return http.ErrUseLastResponse
+	}
+	return client.Do(req)
+}
diff --git a/services/control-plane/internal/gitea/client_test.go b/services/control-plane/internal/gitea/client_test.go
index 0430295..0478bb9 100644
--- a/services/control-plane/internal/gitea/client_test.go
+++ b/services/control-plane/internal/gitea/client_test.go
@@ -66,16 +66,23 @@ func TestUserUsesTokenAndDecodesStableID(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestAuthenticatedUserForwardsSessionCookie(t *testing.T) {
 	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-		if r.URL.Path != "/api/v1/user" {
+		switch r.URL.Path {
+		case "/user/settings":
+			if got := r.Header.Get("Cookie"); got != "i_like_gitea=session" {
+				t.Fatalf("cookie = %q", got)
+			}
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`<input id="username" name="name" value="alice" data-name="alice" required>`))
+		case "/api/v1/users/alice":
+			if got := r.Header.Get("Authorization"); got != "token gitea-token" {
+				t.Fatalf("authorization = %q", got)
+			}
+			_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"id":42,"login":"alice"}`))
+		default:
 			t.Fatalf("path = %q", r.URL.Path)
 		}
-		if got := r.Header.Get("Cookie"); got != "i_like_gitea=session" {
-			t.Fatalf("cookie = %q", got)
-		}
-		_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"id":42,"login":"alice"}`))
 	}))
 	defer server.Close()
-	client, err := NewClient(server.URL, "")
+	client, err := NewClient(server.URL, "gitea-token")
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -85,6 +92,36 @@ func TestAuthenticatedUserForwardsSessionCookie(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestAuthenticatedUserRejectsLoginRedirect(t *testing.T) {
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		http.Redirect(w, r, "/user/login", http.StatusSeeOther)
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+	client, err := NewClient(server.URL, "gitea-token")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	user, authenticated, err := client.AuthenticatedUser(context.Background(), "i_like_gitea=expired")
+	if err != nil || authenticated || user.ID != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("user = %#v, authenticated = %t, err = %v", user, authenticated, err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAuthenticatedUserRejectsUnidentifiableSettingsPage(t *testing.T) {
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
+		_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`<main>settings changed</main>`))
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+	client, err := NewClient(server.URL, "gitea-token")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	_, authenticated, err := client.AuthenticatedUser(context.Background(), "i_like_gitea=session")
+	if err == nil || authenticated {
+		t.Fatalf("authenticated = %t, err = %v", authenticated, err)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestAuthenticatedUserRejectsMissingSession(t *testing.T) {
 	client, err := NewClient("http://gitea.test", "")
 	if err != nil {
@@ -98,7 +135,7 @@ func TestAuthenticatedUserRejectsMissingSession(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestViewerCanReadRepositoryForwardsSessionCookie(t *testing.T) {
 	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-		if r.URL.Path != "/api/v1/repos/hop/private" {
+		if r.URL.Path != "/hop/private" {
 			t.Fatalf("path = %q", r.URL.Path)
 		}
 		if got := r.Header.Get("Cookie"); got != "i_like_gitea=session" {