diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
index 458e18e..a8c01bb 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/release.yml
@@ -137,17 +137,16 @@ jobs:
           set -euo pipefail
           API="${GITEA_SERVER}/api/v1/repos/${REPO_OWNER}/${REPO_NAME}"
           AUTH="Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
-          PY="python3"; command -v python3 >/dev/null 2>&1 || PY="python"
 
           # Ensure the release exists (idempotent — both jobs may call this).
           REL_ID=$(curl -fsS -H "$AUTH" "${API}/releases/tags/${TAG}" \
-            | $PY -c "import sys,json;print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('id',''))" 2>/dev/null || true)
+            | grep -o '"id":[0-9]*' | head -1 | cut -d: -f2 || true)
           if [ -z "$REL_ID" ]; then
             BODY="Gridline ${TAG#v} — Linux and Windows installers."
             REL_ID=$(curl -fsS -X POST -H "$AUTH" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
               -d "{\"tag_name\":\"${TAG}\",\"name\":\"Gridline ${TAG#v}\",\"body\":\"${BODY}\",\"draft\":true}" \
               "${API}/releases" \
-              | $PY -c "import sys,json;print(json.load(sys.stdin)['id'])")
+              | grep -o '"id":[0-9]*' | head -1 | cut -d: -f2)
           fi
 
           BUNDLE="${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/desktop/src-tauri/target/release/bundle"
@@ -250,16 +249,15 @@ jobs:
           set -euo pipefail
           API="${GITEA_SERVER}/api/v1/repos/${REPO_OWNER}/${REPO_NAME}"
           AUTH="Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
-          PY="python3"; command -v python3 >/dev/null 2>&1 || PY="python"
 
           REL_ID=$(curl -fsS -H "$AUTH" "${API}/releases/tags/${TAG}" \
-            | $PY -c "import sys,json;print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('id',''))" 2>/dev/null || true)
+            | grep -o '"id":[0-9]*' | head -1 | cut -d: -f2 || true)
           if [ -z "$REL_ID" ]; then
             BODY="Gridline ${TAG#v} — Linux and Windows installers."
             REL_ID=$(curl -fsS -X POST -H "$AUTH" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
               -d "{\"tag_name\":\"${TAG}\",\"name\":\"Gridline ${TAG#v}\",\"body\":\"${BODY}\",\"draft\":true}" \
               "${API}/releases" \
-              | $PY -c "import sys,json;print(json.load(sys.stdin)['id'])")
+              | grep -o '"id":[0-9]*' | head -1 | cut -d: -f2)
           fi
 
           BUNDLE="${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/desktop/src-tauri/target/release/bundle"