diff --git a/docs/secrets-checklist.md b/docs/secrets-checklist.md
index 4fabf10..b674b56 100644
--- a/docs/secrets-checklist.md
+++ b/docs/secrets-checklist.md
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ Follow this list top-to-bottom; each step unblocks the next.
 - [ ] 5. `GITEA_TOKEN` in each API repo's Actions Secrets — unblocks CI image push
 - [ ] 6. Gitea packages enabled + DNS record for `registry.leeworks.dev` — unblocks image push to registry
 - [ ] 7. Add api-company Flux source + kustomization to 0xWheatyz/Talos — unblocks all GitOps reconciliation
+- [ ] 8. `gitea-registry` (zip-enrichment, holidays, air-quality, docs-site) — imagePullSecret for pods pulling from `registry.leeworks.dev`
+- [ ] 9. `gitea-image-automation-token` (flux-system) — write-scoped token for Flux ImageUpdateAutomation to push image-tag commits
 
 ---
 
@@ -162,6 +164,65 @@ Unblocks: Issue #2 (Flux reconciliation of all `flux/` manifests in this repo).
 3 (grafana-admin)        → Grafana login works
 4 (gatus-slack-webhook)  → Gatus alerting works
 5 + 6 (GITEA_TOKEN + registry packages) → CI pushes images → API services deploy
+8 (gitea-registry)       → pods can pull images from registry.leeworks.dev → services start
+9 (gitea-image-automation-token) → Flux ImageUpdateAutomation pushes tag-update commits
 ```
 
-Once all seven items are complete, the full stack (runner, registry, Prometheus, Grafana, Gatus, docs-site, three API services) reconciles automatically via FluxCD with no further manual steps.
+Once all nine items are complete, the full stack (runner, registry, Prometheus, Grafana, Gatus, docs-site, three API services) reconciles automatically via FluxCD with no further manual steps.
+
+---
+
+### 8. `gitea-registry` — imagePullSecret for API service namespaces
+
+| Field     | Value |
+|-----------|-------|
+| Name      | `gitea-registry` |
+| Namespaces | `zip-enrichment`, `holidays`, `air-quality`, `docs-site` |
+| Type      | `kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson` |
+| Purpose   | Allows pods to pull images from `registry.leeworks.dev` without ImagePullBackOff |
+| Source    | Gitea token with `read:packages` scope (can reuse the same token as step 1 if it has that scope) |
+| Unblocks  | Issues #58 (Phase 0 hard deploy blocker) and transitively Phase 3 service deploys |
+
+```bash
+for NS in zip-enrichment holidays air-quality docs-site; do
+  kubectl create secret docker-registry gitea-registry \
+    --namespace=$NS \
+    --docker-server=registry.leeworks.dev \
+    --docker-username=leeworks-agents \
+    --docker-password=<GITEA_TOKEN_WITH_READ_PACKAGES> \
+    --docker-email=agent@leeworks.dev
+done
+```
+
+Verify:
+```bash
+kubectl get secret gitea-registry -n zip-enrichment -o jsonpath='{.type}'
+# expected: kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson
+```
+
+---
+
+### 9. `gitea-image-automation-token` — Flux ImageUpdateAutomation write token
+
+| Field     | Value |
+|-----------|-------|
+| Name      | `gitea-image-automation-token` |
+| Namespace | `flux-system` |
+| Purpose   | Allows Flux `ImageUpdateAutomation` to push image-tag update commits back to `leeworks-agents/api-company` |
+| Source    | Gitea token with **`write:repository`** scope (the existing `gitea-leeworks-agents-token` only has `read:repository` — create a separate token or verify scope) |
+| Unblocks  | Issue #57 (Flux ImageUpdateAutomation for api-company) |
+
+```bash
+kubectl create secret generic gitea-image-automation-token \
+  -n flux-system \
+  --from-literal=username=leeworks-agents \
+  --from-literal=password=<TOKEN_WITH_WRITE_REPO_SCOPE>
+```
+
+Verify after creation:
+```bash
+flux get imageupdateautomations -n flux-system
+# Expected: api-company shows READY=True
+```
+
+> **Note:** If you create a new token with `write:repository` scope, keep the existing `gitea-leeworks-agents-token` for read-only Flux GitRepository pulls and use this new secret exclusively for `ImageUpdateAutomation`.
diff --git a/flux/image-automation/imageupdateautomation.yaml b/flux/image-automation/imageupdateautomation.yaml
index 332cd2d..9b07516 100644
--- a/flux/image-automation/imageupdateautomation.yaml
+++ b/flux/image-automation/imageupdateautomation.yaml
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ spec:
         chore(image): update {{range .Updated.Images}}{{.Repository}}:{{.NewTag}} {{end}}
     push:
       branch: main
+      secretRef:
+        name: gitea-image-automation-token  # must pre-exist in flux-system ns — see docs/secrets-checklist.md item 9
   update:
     path: ./flux
     strategy: Setters