Accept the SSH private key base64-encoded

Multi-line secrets aren't masked by the runner, so a raw PEM key passed
as ssh-key can end up in plain text in the step's env block in the log.
Accept a single-line base64-encoded key instead, which is masked like
any other secret. Raw PEM keys still work for backwards compatibility.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

action.yml

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ description: 'Clones a repository via SSH on a custom port.'
 
 inputs:
   ssh-key:
-    description: 'Private SSH Key'
+    description: 'Private SSH Key, base64-encoded on a single line (e.g. `base64 -w0 id_ed25519`). A raw PEM key still works but is not masked in the logs.'
     required: true
   ref:
     description: 'Branch, tag, or commit SHA to checkout'
@@ -37,11 +37,16 @@ runs:
         # 1. Setup the SSH directory
         mkdir -p ~/.ssh
         chmod 700 ~/.ssh
-        
-        # 2. Decode the Base64 secret back into a properly formatted file
-        echo "$SSH_KEY" | base64 --decode > ~/.ssh/gitea_key
+
+        # 2. Write the private key to a file
+        #    The key is expected base64-encoded so it's a single-line secret the runner can mask;
+        #    raw multi-line PEM keys are still accepted for backwards compatibility.
+        case "$SSH_KEY" in
+          *"-----BEGIN"*) printf '%s\n' "$SSH_KEY" > ~/.ssh/gitea_key ;;
+          *) printf '%s' "$SSH_KEY" | tr -d '[:space:]' | base64 -d > ~/.ssh/gitea_key ;;
+        esac
         chmod 600 ~/.ssh/gitea_key
-        
+
         # 3. Configure SSH for the custom port and bypass host key prompt
         cat >> ~/.ssh/config <<EOF
         Host $HOST
@@ -50,19 +55,19 @@ runs:
           IdentityFile ~/.ssh/gitea_key
           StrictHostKeyChecking no
         EOF
-        
+
         # 4. Ensure workspace is empty before cloning
         cd $GITHUB_WORKSPACE
         find . -mindepth 1 -delete
-        
+
         # 5. Clone the repository
         echo "Cloning $REPO..."
         git clone ssh://git@$HOST:$PORT/$REPO.git .
-        
+
         # 6. Checkout the specific ref
         if [ -n "$REF" ]; then
           echo "Checking out ref: $REF"
           git checkout "$REF"
         else
           echo "No Ref provided to checkout!"
-        fi
+        fi