diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
index 7b83e17..fb2463a 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/deploy.yml
@@ -118,7 +118,19 @@ jobs:
         mkdir -p ~/.kube
 
         echo "🔍 Debugging KUBECTLSECRET..."
-        echo "Secret length: ${#KUBECTLSECRET}"
+        SECRET_LENGTH=${#KUBECTLSECRET}
+        echo "Secret length: $SECRET_LENGTH"
+
+        # Check if secret is empty
+        if [ "$SECRET_LENGTH" -eq 0 ]; then
+          echo "❌ ERROR: KUBECTLSECRET is empty!"
+          echo "Please configure the KUBECTLSECRET in Gitea repository secrets."
+          echo "Steps:"
+          echo "1. Run: cat ~/.kube/config | base64 -w 0"
+          echo "2. Copy the output"
+          echo "3. Add it as 'KUBECTLSECRET' secret in Gitea"
+          exit 1
+        fi
 
         # Try to decode as base64 first, if that fails, use as plain text
         if echo "${{ secrets.KUBECTLSECRET }}" | base64 -d > ~/.kube/config 2>/dev/null; then
@@ -130,6 +142,14 @@ jobs:
 
         echo "📁 kubeconfig created at ~/.kube/config"
         chmod 600 ~/.kube/config
+        
+        # Validate kubeconfig
+        if [ ! -s ~/.kube/config ]; then
+          echo "❌ ERROR: kubeconfig file is empty!"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+        
+        echo "✅ kubeconfig validation passed"
 
     - name: Test kubectl connection
       run: |
@@ -322,7 +342,19 @@ jobs:
         mkdir -p ~/.kube
 
         echo "🔍 Debugging KUBECTLSECRET..."
-        echo "Secret length: ${#KUBECTLSECRET}"
+        SECRET_LENGTH=${#KUBECTLSECRET}
+        echo "Secret length: $SECRET_LENGTH"
+
+        # Check if secret is empty
+        if [ "$SECRET_LENGTH" -eq 0 ]; then
+          echo "❌ ERROR: KUBECTLSECRET is empty!"
+          echo "Please configure the KUBECTLSECRET in Gitea repository secrets."
+          echo "Steps:"
+          echo "1. Run: cat ~/.kube/config | base64 -w 0"
+          echo "2. Copy the output"
+          echo "3. Add it as 'KUBECTLSECRET' secret in Gitea"
+          exit 1
+        fi
 
         # Try to decode as base64 first, if that fails, use as plain text
         if echo "${{ secrets.KUBECTLSECRET }}" | base64 -d > ~/.kube/config 2>/dev/null; then
@@ -334,6 +366,14 @@ jobs:
 
         echo "📁 kubeconfig created at ~/.kube/config"
         chmod 600 ~/.kube/config
+        
+        # Validate kubeconfig
+        if [ ! -s ~/.kube/config ]; then
+          echo "❌ ERROR: kubeconfig file is empty!"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+        
+        echo "✅ kubeconfig validation passed"
 
     - name: Test kubectl connection
       run: |