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+# Helm install instructions reference a private container image
+
+## Summary
+
+The Helm chart at `packaging/helm/artifact-server` and its README default to
+pulling `ghcr.io/plannotator/artifact-server`, but that image appears to be
+private. Following the documented install steps as written results in
+`ImagePullBackoff` for anyone outside the project's GitHub organization.
+
+## Evidence
+
+1. **No public package listing.** `github.com/plannotator/artifact-server/pkgs/container/artifact-server`
+   returns `404`, and so does the org-level packages page. A public GHCR
+   package normally has a browsable page at that URL.
+
+2. **GHCR refuses to issue even an anonymous pull token.**
+
+   ```sh
+   curl -s "https://ghcr.io/token?service=ghcr.io&scope=repository:plannotator/artifact-server:pull"
+   # {"errors":[{"code":"UNAUTHORIZED","message":"authentication required"}]}
+   ```
+
+   Public GHCR images issue an anonymous token for this scope without
+   credentials. This request fails before a manifest is even attempted,
+   which is the standard signature of a private image (as opposed to, say,
+   a typo'd repository name, which GHCR reports differently).
+
+3. **The release workflow calls it private.** In
+   `.github/workflows/release.yml`, the step that logs in before pushing the
+   image is literally named:
+
+   ```yaml
+   - name: Sign in to private GHCR for image publication
+   ```
+
+## Where the docs go wrong
+
+`packaging/helm/artifact-server/values.yaml` ships:
+
+```yaml
+image:
+  repository: ghcr.io/plannotator/artifact-server
+  tag: "0.1.0"
+imagePullSecrets: []
+```
+
+and the chart's `README.md` "Required setup" section walks through creating a
+namespace `Secret` for the API token and Postgres URL, and shows a sample
+values file with:
+
+```yaml
+image:
+  repository: ghcr.io/plannotator/artifact-server
+  digest: sha256:replace_with_release_digest
+```
+
+Nowhere in that README, or in `docs/deployment.md`, is there any mention of:
+
+- `imagePullSecrets`,
+- creating a `docker-registry` Secret for GHCR auth, or
+- how an external installer is meant to obtain pull access to the image at
+  all.
+
+## Steps to reproduce
+
+1. Follow `packaging/helm/artifact-server/README.md` "Required setup" and
+   "Install with Helm 4" sections as written, without adding an
+   `imagePullSecrets` entry (the docs never ask for one).
+2. `helm upgrade --install artifact-server ...`
+3. Pods land in `ImagePullBackoff` / `ErrImagePull` because the referenced
+   image cannot be pulled without registry credentials that the
+   documentation never describes how to obtain.
+
+## Expected behavior
+
+One of:
+
+- The image referenced by the chart is actually public, and the pull
+  failure has some other cause (in which case this report is wrong — happy
+  to be corrected), **or**
+- The image is intentionally private, and the docs say so explicitly and
+  explain how an external installer gets pull access (e.g., a documented
+  process for requesting access, an `imagePullSecrets` example, or a
+  pointer to a genuinely public mirror/tag).
+
+## Suggested fix
+
+- If a public image is intended: publish `ghcr.io/plannotator/artifact-server`
+  as a public GHCR package (GHCR packages can be made public independently
+  of the source repo's visibility) and confirm with an anonymous
+  `docker pull`.
+- If the image must remain private: add an `imagePullSecrets` section to the
+  chart README's "Required setup" (with a sample `kubectl create secret
+  docker-registry` command) and a note in `docs/deployment.md` on how
+  self-hosters get access to the image.
+
+## Environment
+
+- Repository: `plannotator/artifact-server`
+- Chart: `packaging/helm/artifact-server`, `Chart.yaml` version `0.1.1`,
+  `appVersion` `0.1.0`
+- Checked: 2026-09-18, unauthenticated (no GitHub/GHCR credentials)