diff --git a/modules/gitea/client.ts b/modules/gitea/client.ts
index cd856a09..33afefe5 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/client.ts
+++ b/modules/gitea/client.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 // gitea. Both this module's tools and its events entrypoint import it, and nothing outside gitea
 // does.
 
+import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
 import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 import { ConfiguredToken, MintedToken, type TokenSource } from "./token.js";
 import { MAIN_BRANCH, mainRuleBody, protectionBody, type BranchProtection, type ProtectionWanted } from "./protection.js";
@@ -21,6 +22,19 @@ function commitSegment(sha: unknown): string {
   if (!isCommit(v)) throw new Refused(`${JSON.stringify(sha)} is not a commit. Nothing was sent`);
   return v;
 }
+/** git's hash of a tree from its entries: sha1 of "tree <length>\0" and, for each entry in git's order (byte order of the
+ *  name, a tree compared as its name and a slash), "<mode> <name>\0" and the 20 raw bytes of its sha. git writes a
+ *  tree's mode 40000 where the forge says 040000. */
+export function gitTreeHash(entries: { path: string; mode: string; type: string; sha: string }[]): string {
+  const ordered = entries
+    .map((e) => ({ e, key: Buffer.from(e.path + (e.type === "tree" ? "/" : "")) }))
+    .sort((a, b) => Buffer.compare(a.key, b.key));
+  const body = Buffer.concat(ordered.map(({ e }) => {
+    if (!/^[0-9a-f]{40}$/i.test(String(e.sha))) throw new Error(`the forge named no sha for ${e.path}`);
+    return Buffer.concat([Buffer.from(`${String(e.mode).replace(/^0+/, "")} ${e.path}\0`), Buffer.from(e.sha, "hex")]);
+  }));
+  return createHash("sha1").update(Buffer.concat([Buffer.from(`tree ${body.length}\0`), body])).digest("hex");
+}
 export type { BranchProtection, ProtectionWanted } from "./protection.js";
 
 /** A repository, trimmed to what the mesh cares about. */
@@ -522,21 +536,19 @@ export class GiteaClient {
   async commitTrees(owner: string, repo: string, sha: string): Promise<{ root: string; trees: Record<string, string> }> {
     const base = `${repoPath(owner, repo)}/git/trees/${commitSegment(sha)}?recursive=true`;
     const cut = (why: string) => new Error(`the forge's tree listing of ${owner}/${repo} at ${sha} was cut (${why}); no trees are answered from a part`);
-    let root = "";
     const entries: any[] = [];
     for (let page = 1; ; page++) {
       if (page > 200) throw cut("more than 200 pages");
       const got = await this.request<any>(`${base}&page=${page}&per_page=1000`);
-      if (page === 1) {
-        root = String(got?.sha ?? "");
-        if (!/^[0-9a-f]{40,64}$/i.test(root)) throw new Error(`the forge named no root tree for ${owner}/${repo} at ${sha}`);
-      }
       if (!Array.isArray(got?.tree)) throw new Error(`the forge's tree listing of ${owner}/${repo} at ${sha} has no tree`);
       entries.push(...got.tree);
       if (got.truncated !== true) break;
       // Truncated with nothing more to ask for: the forge itself could not give the rest.
       if (got.tree.length === 0 || entries.length >= Number(got.total_count ?? 0)) throw cut("truncated");
     }
+    // **The listing's top `sha` is the commit's, not the root tree's** (seen live, novox/mesh-delivery at 7f61817), so the
+    // root tree is hashed from the root's own entries, as git does (gitTreeHash).
+    const root = gitTreeHash(entries.filter((e) => typeof e?.path === "string" && !e.path.includes("/")));
     const trees: Record<string, string> = {};
     const dirOf = new Map<string, string>();
     for (const e of entries) if (e?.type === "tree" && typeof e.path === "string") dirOf.set(e.path, String(e.sha));
diff --git a/modules/gitea/test/commit-trees.test.ts b/modules/gitea/test/commit-trees.test.ts
index e2a74dc8..51801d7d 100644
--- a/modules/gitea/test/commit-trees.test.ts
+++ b/modules/gitea/test/commit-trees.test.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@ import { createServer } from "node:http";
 
 // Fixtures follow Gitea's GitTreeResponse as its API documents it (swagger: sha, url, tree[{path, mode, type, size,
 // sha, url}], truncated, page, total_count) and as the forge answers GET /repos/{o}/{r}/git/trees/{sha}; the entry
-// fields are those, with sha values written out (no live capture: the answer's shape is what matters here).
+// fields are those, with sha values written out. The live capture (1234/AC6): GET
+// /repos/novox/mesh-delivery/git/trees/7f61817 (non-recursive) answered the COMMIT's sha at the top, not the root
+// tree's; the root tree is computed from the root's own entries, as git does.
+import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
 
 const COMMIT = "c".repeat(40);
 const h = (c: string) => c.repeat(40);
@@ -25,6 +28,14 @@ const LISTING = [
   entry("modules/d/notes.md", "blob", h("b")),
 ];
 
+/** git's own hash of a tree from its entries (an independent restatement for the fixtures): mode without leading zero. */
+function gitTree(es: { path: string; type: string; sha: string; mode: string }[]): string {
+  const ordered = es.map((e) => ({ ...e, key: e.path + (e.type === "tree" ? "/" : "") })).sort((a, b) => Buffer.compare(Buffer.from(a.key), Buffer.from(b.key)));
+  const body = Buffer.concat(ordered.map((e) => Buffer.concat([Buffer.from(`${e.mode.replace(/^0+/, "")} ${e.path}\0`), Buffer.from(e.sha, "hex")])));
+  return createHash("sha1").update(Buffer.concat([Buffer.from(`tree ${body.length}\0`), body])).digest("hex");
+}
+const ROOT = gitTree(LISTING.filter((e) => !e.path.includes("/")));
+
 async function serve(pages: any[]) {
   const { GiteaClient } = await import("../client.ts");
   const asked: string[] = [];
@@ -36,7 +47,7 @@ async function serve(pages: any[]) {
       return res.end("{}");
     }
     const page = Number(url.searchParams.get("page") ?? 1);
-    res.end(JSON.stringify(pages[page - 1] ?? { sha: h("0"), tree: [], truncated: false, page, total_count: 0 }));
+    res.end(JSON.stringify(pages[page - 1] ?? { sha: COMMIT, tree: [], truncated: false, page, total_count: 0 }));
   });
   await new Promise<void>((r) => server.listen(0, r));
   const client = new GiteaClient(`http://127.0.0.1:${(server.address() as any).port}`, "t");
@@ -45,10 +56,10 @@ async function serve(pages: any[]) {
 
 test("a commit's trees: the root and the tree of each directory holding a module.json", async () => {
   // 1234/AC1 and 1234/AC4
-  const { client, server } = await serve([{ sha: h("0"), url: "u", tree: LISTING, truncated: false, page: 1, total_count: LISTING.length }]);
+  const { client, server } = await serve([{ sha: COMMIT, url: "u", tree: LISTING, truncated: false, page: 1, total_count: LISTING.length }]);
   try {
     const got = await client.commitTrees("novox", "hq", COMMIT);
-    assert.deepEqual(got, { root: h("0"), trees: { "": h("0"), "modules/a": h("4"), "modules/b/c": h("8") } });
+    assert.deepEqual(got, { root: ROOT, trees: { "": ROOT, "modules/a": h("4"), "modules/b/c": h("8") } });
   } finally {
     server.close();
   }
@@ -57,13 +68,13 @@ test("a commit's trees: the root and the tree of each directory holding a module
 test("a listing the forge pages is read page by page", async () => {
   // 1234/AC1
   const { client, server, asked } = await serve([
-    { sha: h("0"), tree: LISTING.slice(0, 5), truncated: true, page: 1, total_count: LISTING.length },
-    { sha: h("0"), tree: LISTING.slice(5, 9), truncated: true, page: 2, total_count: LISTING.length },
-    { sha: h("0"), tree: LISTING.slice(9), truncated: false, page: 3, total_count: LISTING.length },
+    { sha: COMMIT, tree: LISTING.slice(0, 5), truncated: true, page: 1, total_count: LISTING.length },
+    { sha: COMMIT, tree: LISTING.slice(5, 9), truncated: true, page: 2, total_count: LISTING.length },
+    { sha: COMMIT, tree: LISTING.slice(9), truncated: false, page: 3, total_count: LISTING.length },
   ]);
   try {
     const got = await client.commitTrees("novox", "hq", COMMIT);
-    assert.deepEqual(got.trees, { "": h("0"), "modules/a": h("4"), "modules/b/c": h("8") });
+    assert.deepEqual(got.trees, { "": ROOT, "modules/a": h("4"), "modules/b/c": h("8") });
     assert.equal(asked.length, 3, `asked ${asked.join(" ")}`);
   } finally {
     server.close();
@@ -72,7 +83,7 @@ test("a listing the forge pages is read page by page", async () => {
 
 test("a listing the forge says is cut fails, naming the repository and the commit, and answers no trees", async () => {
   // 1234/AC2
-  const { client, server } = await serve([{ sha: h("0"), tree: LISTING, truncated: true, page: 1, total_count: LISTING.length }]);
+  const { client, server } = await serve([{ sha: COMMIT, tree: LISTING, truncated: true, page: 1, total_count: LISTING.length }]);
   try {
     await assert.rejects(client.commitTrees("novox", "hq", COMMIT), (err: Error) => {
       assert.match(err.message, /novox\/hq/);
@@ -134,3 +145,29 @@ test("gitea_open_pulls says each pull request's head branch beside its head sha"
     server.close();
   }
 });
+
+test("the root tree is git's hash of the root's own entries, never the listing's top sha (the commit's)", async () => {
+  // 1234/AC6, from the live capture named in the header: novox/mesh-delivery at 7f61817.
+  const commit = "7f618177d6773d8d2d2b9e0b10e13b85ec700c59";
+  const listing = [
+    entry("README.md", "blob", "a087d22cbcbecce42256315671ff7e4d6ca85a7c"),
+    entry("merge-check.sh", "blob", "c4ef9a3dd6390b0edde7e4137095553897cecfb0"),
+    entry("modules", "tree", "31c0abb312ee6ce4693a7aacdd8b3fba871d6cf3"),
+    entry("modules/x", "tree", h("d")),
+    entry("modules/x/module.json", "blob", h("e")),
+  ];
+  const { GiteaClient } = await import("../client.ts");
+  const server = createServer((req, res) => {
+    res.end(JSON.stringify(new URL(req.url ?? "", "http://x").pathname.endsWith(`/git/trees/${commit}`)
+      ? { sha: commit, tree: listing, truncated: false, page: 1, total_count: listing.length } : {}));
+  });
+  await new Promise<void>((r) => server.listen(0, r));
+  const client = new GiteaClient(`http://127.0.0.1:${(server.address() as any).port}`, "t");
+  try {
+    const got = await client.commitTrees("novox", "mesh-delivery", commit);
+    assert.equal(got.root, "659bcaaac6c16972ec380267a4eba69d15558c26");
+    assert.deepEqual(got.trees, { "modules/x": h("d") });
+  } finally {
+    server.close();
+  }
+});