GitHub Workflow stucks to queued status

[Ace-Radom]

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Hey there:

I created a new repo hours ago to build my personal FFmpeg build automatically, but the workflows stuck: it shows me Queued - Waiting to run this check... for minutes and never actually runs. I've made myself clear that I didn't reach upper limit of gh action free usage, and actions are enabled in this repo. I also tried to create a new repo and add a workflow which simply just checkout the code, it doesn't work either.

The workflow file is:

name: Build FFmpeg audio only shared lib

on:
  push:
  pull_request:

jobs:
  linux-pkg:
    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
    strategy:
      matrix:
        arch:
          - x86_64
          - arm64
    env:
      ARCH: ${{ matrix.arch }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-get update -y
          sudo apt-get install -y yasm
      - name: Install ARM64 compiler
        if: env.ARCH == 'arm64'
        run: |
          sudo apt-get update -y
          sudo apt-get install -y gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu
      - name: Build
        run: ./build-linux.sh
      - name: Archive production artifacts
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: ffmpeg-linux-${{ env.ARCH }}
          path: artifacts/

The thing really confused me is, I tried to rerun a workflow that I created ealier, it works smoothly without any problem. I also checked gh server status, everything seems to be okay.

Does anyone know what the problem might be? Thanks a lot!

[karadhub]

Hi @Ace-Radom, there! 👋 totally get why this is confusing—especially since you're not hitting your GH Actions minutes limit and Actions are enabled.

here’s a few things to check that might explain why your workflow is queued forever:

---

1. runs-on is valid & available

You're using:

runs-on: ubuntu-20.04

While this should work, GitHub often recommends ubuntu-latest for better runner availability. Try updating it:

runs-on: ubuntu-latest

Incorrect or rare runner labels can block your jobs silently :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}.

---

2. 🚦 Runner capacity & availability

• You’re using GitHub-hosted runners—if demand is high, new jobs may sit in queue.
  This is especially common during peak hours or with non‑standard architectures like ARM :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}.

• GitHub has concurrency limits per account/org. If other jobs are running, yours might wait :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}.

---

3. Check workflow permissions & config

Ensure in Repo Settings → Actions:

• Workflows are allowed
• Permissions are set to read & write

Bad or missing config here may prevent workflows from picking up jobs :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}.

---

4. 🔄 Cancel & retry

Sometimes a stuck job blocks the pipeline. Manually cancel any queued ones and re-trigger:

gh run list --status queued
gh run cancel <run-id>

Then push a dummy commit or click "Re-run all jobs."
This often helps if queues get stuck :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}.

---

5. Could be GitHub-side issues

Your symptoms match known incidents where GitHub Actions got stuck globally—sometimes for hours :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}.

Always check:

• https://www.githubstatus.com
• https://www.githubstatus.com/components/actions

---

Problem	Check/Action
Bad runs-on label	Try ubuntu-latest
Busy GH runners or high queue	Wait or cancel & re-run
Permissions misconfigured	Review repo action settings
Upstream GitHub outage	Check GitHub Status page

---

hope one of these helps you get unstuck! if none work, and GitHub status is clean, consider opening a support ticket with logs, timestamps, and your .yml. good luck! 🌟

[Ace-Radom]

Hey, thanks for the tips! I changed my workflow to aim ubuntu-latest and it works. Thanks again for your help xD

[karadhub]

@Ace-Radom Awesome dude ❤️

[zhuolisam]

@Ace-Radom Hit the same bug and changing to ubuntu-latest works. Thanks.