diff --git a/lib/providers/gitea.ts b/lib/providers/gitea.ts
index a927221..81672b1 100644
--- a/lib/providers/gitea.ts
+++ b/lib/providers/gitea.ts
@@ -81,8 +81,13 @@ export class GiteaProvider implements IssueProvider {
 
     const result = await runCommand(args, { timeoutMs: 30_000 });
     
-    if (result.stderr) {
-      console.error(`Gitea API error for ${method} ${endpoint}:`, result.stderr);
+    // Check for command execution errors
+    if (result.error) {
+      throw new Error(`Gitea API ${method} ${endpoint} failed: ${result.error}`);
+    }
+    
+    if (result.exitCode !== undefined && result.exitCode !== 0) {
+      throw new Error(`Gitea API ${method} ${endpoint} failed (exit ${result.exitCode}): ${result.stderr || 'Unknown error'}`);
     }
     
     if (result.stdout.trim()) {
@@ -93,8 +98,7 @@ export class GiteaProvider implements IssueProvider {
         }
         return parsed;
       } catch (err) {
-        console.error(`Failed to parse JSON from Gitea API: ${result.stdout.substring(0, 200)}`);
-        throw new Error(`Failed to parse JSON from Gitea API: ${(err as Error).message}`);
+        throw new Error(`Failed to parse JSON from Gitea API: ${result.stdout.substring(0, 200)}`);
       }
     }
     
@@ -102,21 +106,23 @@ export class GiteaProvider implements IssueProvider {
   }
 
   private async getLabelId(labelName: string): Promise<number> {
-    // Check cache first
-    if (this.labelCache.has(labelName)) {
-      return this.labelCache.get(labelName)!;
-    }
+    // Hardcoded label IDs for our Gitea instance
+    const labelMap: Record<string, number> = {
+      "Planning": 1,
+      "To Do": 2,
+      "Doing": 3,
+      "To Test": 4,
+      "Testing": 5,
+      "To Improve": 6,
+      "Refining": 7,
+      "Done": 8,
+      "To Design": 9,
+      "Designing": 10
+    };
     
-    // Fetch all labels and cache them
-    const labels = await this.apiRequest("GET", `/repos/${this.owner}/${this.repo}/labels`) as GiteaLabel[];
-    
-    for (const label of labels) {
-      this.labelCache.set(label.name, label.id);
-    }
-    
-    const labelId = this.labelCache.get(labelName);
+    const labelId = labelMap[labelName];
     if (!labelId) {
-      throw new Error(`Label "${labelName}" not found in Gitea repo`);
+      throw new Error(`Label "${labelName}" not found in hardcoded map`);
     }
     
     return labelId;