diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 1da33aa..3083bdb 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -585,6 +585,7 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "axum",
+ "base64",
  "clap",
  "hive-fr0nt",
  "hive-sh4re",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index f41eac0..a53b5b9 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ must_use_candidate = "allow"
 [workspace.dependencies]
 anyhow = "1"
 axum = { version = "0.8", features = ["ws"] }
+base64 = "0.22"
 clap = { version = "4", features = ["derive"] }
 hive-fr0nt = { path = "hive-fr0nt" }
 hive-sh4re = { path = "hive-sh4re" }
diff --git a/hive-c0re/Cargo.toml b/hive-c0re/Cargo.toml
index 50afeb2..169a50e 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/Cargo.toml
+++ b/hive-c0re/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ workspace = true
 [dependencies]
 anyhow.workspace = true
 axum.workspace = true
+base64.workspace = true
 reqwest.workspace = true
 clap.workspace = true
 hive-fr0nt.workspace = true
diff --git a/hive-c0re/src/forge.rs b/hive-c0re/src/forge.rs
index 51cd6c0..392f5d1 100644
--- a/hive-c0re/src/forge.rs
+++ b/hive-c0re/src/forge.rs
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
+use base64::Engine;
 use reqwest::StatusCode;
 use tokio::process::Command;
 
@@ -287,7 +288,7 @@ async fn ensure_core_avatar(token: &str) -> Result<()> {
     }
     let body = format!(
         r#"{{"image":"{}"}}"#,
-        base64_encode(CORE_AVATAR_PNG),
+        base64::engine::general_purpose::STANDARD.encode(CORE_AVATAR_PNG),
     );
     let url = format!("{FORGE_HTTP}/api/v1/admin/users/core/avatar");
     let status = forge_http(reqwest::Method::POST, &url, token, &body).await?;
@@ -302,63 +303,6 @@ async fn ensure_core_avatar(token: &str) -> Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-/// Standard base64 encode (RFC 4648 §4, with `=` padding). Used by
-/// `ensure_core_avatar` to embed the hyperhive logo PNG in the
-/// Forgejo admin avatar JSON body — the payload is one small image
-/// in one cold path, so pulling in a base64 crate isn't worth the
-/// dep churn.
-fn base64_encode(bytes: &[u8]) -> String {
-    const ALPHABET: &[u8; 64] =
-        b"ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/";
-    let mut out = String::with_capacity(bytes.len().div_ceil(3) * 4);
-    for chunk in bytes.chunks(3) {
-        let b0 = chunk[0];
-        let b1 = chunk.get(1).copied().unwrap_or(0);
-        let b2 = chunk.get(2).copied().unwrap_or(0);
-        out.push(ALPHABET[(b0 >> 2) as usize] as char);
-        out.push(ALPHABET[(((b0 & 0x03) << 4) | (b1 >> 4)) as usize] as char);
-        if chunk.len() > 1 {
-            out.push(ALPHABET[(((b1 & 0x0F) << 2) | (b2 >> 6)) as usize] as char);
-        } else {
-            out.push('=');
-        }
-        if chunk.len() > 2 {
-            out.push(ALPHABET[(b2 & 0x3F) as usize] as char);
-        } else {
-            out.push('=');
-        }
-    }
-    out
-}
-
-#[cfg(test)]
-mod base64_tests {
-    use super::base64_encode;
-
-    // RFC 4648 §10 test vectors.
-    #[test]
-    fn rfc4648_vectors() {
-        assert_eq!(base64_encode(b""), "");
-        assert_eq!(base64_encode(b"f"), "Zg==");
-        assert_eq!(base64_encode(b"fo"), "Zm8=");
-        assert_eq!(base64_encode(b"foo"), "Zm9v");
-        assert_eq!(base64_encode(b"foob"), "Zm9vYg==");
-        assert_eq!(base64_encode(b"fooba"), "Zm9vYmE=");
-        assert_eq!(base64_encode(b"foobar"), "Zm9vYmFy");
-    }
-
-    #[test]
-    fn full_byte_range_roundtrip_length() {
-        // 256 bytes → 256 / 3 = 85 chunks + 1 leftover (chunks_of_3 walks 85
-        // full + 1 padded), 86 chunks * 4 chars = 344. Cheap sanity check
-        // that the size calc + padding don't drift on a non-multiple input.
-        let bytes: Vec<u8> = (0..=255u8).collect();
-        let encoded = base64_encode(&bytes);
-        assert_eq!(encoded.len(), 344);
-        assert!(encoded.ends_with('='));
-    }
-}
-
 /// Ensure the bootstrap `core` admin user + a token at
 /// `CORE_TOKEN_PATH`. The token is what hive-c0re uses for forgejo
 /// API calls (org creation now, meta-repo push later). Returns the