In Gitea this repository has the special name `_cargo-index`.
After a package was uploaded, its metadata is automatically written to the index.
The content of this repository should not be manually modified.
The user or organization package settings page allows to create the index repository along with the configuration file.
If needed this action will rewrite the configuration file.
This can be useful if for example the Gitea instance domain was changed.
If the case arises where the packages stored in Gitea and the information in the index repository are out of sync, the settings page allows to rebuild the index repository.
This action iterates all packages in the registry and writes their information to the index.
If there are lot of packages this process may take some time.
## Configuring the package registry
To register the package registry the Cargo configuration must be updated.
Add the following text to the configuration file located in the current users home directory (for example `~/.cargo/config.toml`):
```
[registry]
default = "gitea"
[registries.gitea]
index = "https://gitea.example.com/{owner}/_cargo-index.git"
[net]
git-fetch-with-cli = true
```
| Parameter | Description |
| --------- | ----------- |
| `owner` | The owner of the package. |
If the registry is private or you want to publish new packages, you have to configure your credentials.
Add the credentials section to the credentials file located in the current users home directory (for example `~/.cargo/credentials.toml`):