Github action using self-runner, not triggering a scheduled cron job

[Hzaatiti]

Why are you starting this discussion?

Question

What GitHub Actions topic or product is this about?

Actions Runner

Discussion Details

Hi,
I have setup a github action to work on a self-hosted runner Windows machine.
On manual trigger, everything works well, but the schedule trigger set for every 5 min first (then I tried setting it for every 20min) would not trigger the cron job, it doesn't appear on the action tab that it is triggered either.
The runner is configured to run as a service on Windows, I followed the instructions from Github to set it up.

Action file:
https://github.com/BioMedicalImaging-Core-NYUAD/neurowaves-lab-documentation/blob/main/.github/workflows/sync-gcal.yml

Trigger log:
https://github.com/BioMedicalImaging-Core-NYUAD/neurowaves-lab-documentation/actions/workflows/sync-gcal.yml

Any help in how to debug this would be appreciated
(I tried multiple suggestions from LLM's before asking attempting this discussion but no suggestion worked)

Anyone facing the same bug can you specify the OS of your runner and whether or not it is a github hosted or self-hosted runner

[sujalnarkar]

This behavior is expected and is not caused by your self-hosted Windows runner configuration.

Scheduled (cron) GitHub Actions are evaluated and triggered by GitHub’s servers, not by the self-hosted runner. If a scheduled run does not appear at all in the Actions tab, it means the workflow was never triggered by GitHub, not that the runner failed to pick it up.

The most common reason for this is that scheduled workflows only run from the repository’s default branch. If the workflow file exists on a non-default branch, or if the default branch was changed after the workflow was added, the schedule trigger will silently never run. Ensure that .github/workflows/sync-gcal.yml exists on the current default branch.

Another common cause is repository inactivity. GitHub may disable scheduled workflows for repositories with no recent activity (commits, issues, or pull requests). Pushing a small commit and waiting for the next scheduled window often resolves this.

It is also important to note that GitHub cron schedules are not guaranteed to run exactly on time. They can be delayed and should be observed over a longer window (30–60 minutes) before concluding that they are not firing.

Since manual triggers work correctly, this confirms that the self-hosted runner is properly configured and running as expected. This is not a Windows service or runner issue.

To debug further, you can add a minimal scheduled workflow (for example, one that only echoes text), commit it directly to the default branch, and wait for an hour to see if it appears in the Actions tab. If it still does not trigger, the issue is almost certainly related to default branch placement or repository activity rather than runner configuration.

[mateusht-ciandt]

We are facing the same issue for GitHub Hosted Agents.

[josholdham]

I am also seeing this in an active repo, on a branch that is set as my default. I have tried a minimal example and have waited over 24 hours for half hour-ly actions to run. Manual triggering on the actions works fine.

[santhosh1299]

even I'm facing the same issue

on:
  schedule:

    - cron: '30 13 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch: # Allows manual trigger from GitHub UI

jobs:
  send-daily-news:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
    - name: Checkout repository
      uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Set up Python
      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
      with:
        python-version: '3.11'

    - name: Install dependencies
      run: |
        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
        pip install mailersend
    - name: Run news scheduler
 
      run: python main.py```

[Ducanger]

I'm facing the same issue :(

[Kaspik]

Facing the same issue. Do we need to open a bug in the runner repo itself? https://github.com/actions/runner/issues

[Hzaatiti]

Issue raised here actions/runner#4210

[titanism]

https://x.com/fwdemail/status/2015783546028265982

[TingluoHuang]

There was a recently enabled feature flag on the server side that causes this issue for newly created schedule workflow.
The feature flag has been disabled, push any new change (ex: a new empty line in Readme.md) to the repository should fix those broken schedule workflows.
Sorry for the break. 🙇

[titanism]

@TingluoHuang thank you - also what about the other issue with actions just stopping and cancelling (e.g. tests would run in CI and then just stop and get cancelled?). see actions/runner#3819 and actions/runner#2468 and https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/160680 and https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/58150

[guilamu]

I have pushed a new change on multiple files and it's still not working. Please advise.

[TingluoHuang]

@guilamu can you share your repository name and the yaml file path?

[Ducanger]

thank you, it worked for me

[mr-devboy]

Still no luck.
Pushing new changes or renaming "main" branch to "master" doesn't help.

[guilamu]

I have the same issue, only a single branch. I also tried to commit a change and it did not help.

[TingluoHuang]

@guilamu @mr-devboy can you share your repository name and the yaml file path?

[guilamu]

@TingluoHuang thanks for your support! It just worked once after I added a readme.md file.

I've changed the schedule back to what it should have been (run every 30 minutes). I'll wait another 30 minutes and report back confirming if this is fixed or not.

[guilamu]

@TingluoHuang it seems to be broken again after I updated my workflow. I'm going to update the readme again to see if this un-breaks the workflow.

[guilamu]

@TingluoHuang All right, so I've been ablo to confirm this precisely. Here's how to fix the bug: Each time you edit/delete/create a workflow, add right after any file to the repo or edit any file in it. If you don't, the workflow will not run. Do you plan to fix this? Thanks again.
To answer your previous question:
https://github.com/guilamu/brevesdepress2bsky
https://github.com/guilamu/brevesdepress2bsky/blob/main/.github/workflows/sync-self-hosted.yml

[SrRyan]

👋 Thank you for reporting the issue with scheduled workflows not triggering. We identified a related change from last week that was rolled back today. Any commit pushed to the default branch will resync the impacted scheduled workflows and resolve any scheduling issues you may be experiencing. If you continue to experience issues with syncing schedules, please reply with a comment including the following:

1. Impacted repository
2. Workflow path and name
3. Cron syntax in the workflow

Note: Schedules that run during periods of high load (e.g., midnight UTC) may be delayed or, if load is sufficiently high, potentially dropped. Please see our docs for further information.

[Hzaatiti]

thank you, the scheduled tasks are being picked up again.
With an every 5 min cron job, it is not triggering at this rate though, many times 18 minutes would pass before trigger: https://github.com/BioMedicalImaging-Core-NYUAD/neurowaves-lab-documentation/actions
if there is anything we can do about this, kindly let me know, thanks

[kyle4africa]

We are having the same issue with new repositories. All our private repositories created in 2025 are getting picked up and running on our self hosted runners as usual.

New repositories we created this year are not having their yml crons picked up by the GitHub scheduler. We have been troubleshooting this since 12th January without success.

[dexius-ram-depop]

Does the schedule task appear before the first run? I have created an action which runs daily (or manually), and I have bumped since SrRyan's comment. The action only gives an option for manual trigger, it doesn't mention anything to do with schedule

[titanism]

It is resolved for me with zero interaction, cron syntax picked up and actions working, thank you @TingluoHuang 🚀 🙏

If you need an email service, use coupon code GITHUB at https://forwardemail.net 🚀