Unexpected 403 Errors When Using Bitbucket Pipelines to Deploy Static Sites – Permissions Misconfigu

[aluu x007]

Hi Bitbucket Community,

I’m encountering an issue where Bitbucket Pipelines fails during deployment of static sites to a shared hosting environment, returning 403 Forbidden errors intermittently during the FTP upload process. The pipeline is set up correctly, with environment variables for FTP credentials securely stored, and the build completes without errors.

The strange part is that the 403 errors don't happen consistently—they only affect certain files or subdirectories during deployment. I’ve tested it across different repositories and environments, and the issue seems tied specifically to the final upload stage.

Here is an example of one of the static pages I’m trying to deploy:
sample content page – simple structure, no advanced permissions.

What I’ve tried:

• Regenerating FTP credentials

• Changing pipeline step permissions

• Using different runners (self-hosted vs default)

• Running the same pipeline manually – same issue

• Contacted hosting provider – they claim no blocks from their end

Is this a known issue with Bitbucket Pipelines' FTP deployment, or could it be a permissions misconfiguration on my end that Bitbucket is particularly sensitive to?

Would really appreciate any insight or solutions.

Thanks!

[Mark C]

Hi @aluu x007

Welcome to the community.

Could you try publish deploying locally using FTP and see if it works or not?

Regards,
Mark C