diff --git a/server.py b/server.py
index 871ba26..69731c3 100644
--- a/server.py
+++ b/server.py
@@ -103,7 +103,11 @@ def gitea_upload(url, file_data, filename):
         resp = urllib.request.urlopen(req, context=SSL_CTX, timeout=60)
         return {'status': 'ok', 'code': resp.getcode()}
     except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
-        return {'status': 'error', 'code': e.code, 'message': e.read().decode()[:200]}
+        code = e.code
+        body = e.read().decode()[:200]
+        if code == 409:
+            return {'status': 'exists', 'code': 409, 'message': 'already exists'}
+        return {'status': 'error', 'code': code, 'message': body}
 
 
 # --- Build logic (from Gitea, no local files) ---