maybe this'll help me identify the issue

.gitea/workflows/action.yml

@@ -29,13 +29,14 @@ jobs:
       - name: init ssh
         run: |
           mkdir -p ~/.ssh
-          echo "${{ secrets.PRIVKEY }}" > ~/.ssh/id_rsa
+          echo "${{ secrets.PRIVKEY }}" | base64 -d > ~/.ssh/id_rsa
           chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
           ssh-keyscan -p 69 107.189.28.28 >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts  
+          echo -e "Host *\n\tStrictHostKeyChecking no\n\n" > ~/.ssh/config'        
 
       - name: delete new files so we don't screw up stuff
         run: |
-          ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa -p 69 gitlab@107.189.28.28 "rm -rf /var/www/mail.fzorb.xyz/*"          
+          ssh -v -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa -p 69 gitlab@107.189.28.28 "rm -rf /var/www/mail.fzorb.xyz/*"          
 
       - name: upload new files
         run: |