Scheduled GitHub Actions workflows are delayed by several hours or missing completely

[csaladertesitorendszer-maker]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

ARC (Actions Runner Controller)

Discussion Details

Scheduled GitHub Actions workflows are delayed by several hours or missing completely

Hello GitHub Support,

I would like to report what appears to be an issue with GitHub Actions scheduled workflows (on: schedule) in one of my private repositories.

The workflow itself works perfectly when started manually using workflow_dispatch, however scheduled executions are unreliable. They are frequently delayed by several hours, and on at least one occasion the scheduled run never occurred at all.

Repository Information

• Repository type: Private
• Default branch: main
• GitHub Actions: Enabled
• Hosted Runner: windows-latest (Windows Server 2025)

• Workflow file:

  .github/workflows/family.yml
  

Workflow Configuration

Originally the workflow was configured as:

name: Family Notification
on:

schedule:

- cron: '20 6 * * *'

workflow_dispatch:
jobs:

notify:

runs-on: windows-latest

For testing purposes I later changed it to:

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '6 2 * * *'
    - cron: '7 5 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch:

The updated workflow file has been committed and pushed to the main branch.

Expected Behavior

The scheduled workflow should start around the configured cron time (allowing for a reasonable delay).

Actual Behavior

The workflow behaves inconsistently:

• Scheduled executions are often delayed by 5 to 7 hours.
• On 2026-07-09, no scheduled workflow execution appeared at all.
• Manual execution using workflow_dispatch always works perfectly.
• The PowerShell script completes successfully every time when started manually.

Example

Configured cron:

06:20 UTC

Actual script start:

SCRIPT STARTED
UTC Time:      2026-07-08 12:06:29
Local Time:    2026-07-08 14:06:29

Delay:

Approximately 5 hours and 46 minutes.

Troubleshooting Already Performed

I have verified all of the following:

• Workflow syntax is valid.
• Workflow exists on the default branch (main).
• The latest commit contains the correct cron schedule.
• Repository is active.
• GitHub Actions are enabled.
• Repository permissions are correct.
• Required secrets are configured correctly.
• Manual (workflow_dispatch) executions always succeed.
• The workflow file has not been disabled.
• The workflow is triggered by the schedule event (confirmed in Actions history).
• The repository settings have been reviewed and appear to be correct.

Runner Information

Hosted Runner:

Current runner version: 2.335.1
Operating System: Windows Server 2025
Runner Image: windows-2025-vs2026

Observed Scheduled Runs

Date | Result -- | -- 2026-07-03 | Started several hours late 2026-07-04 | Started several hours late 2026-07-05 | Started several hours late 2026-07-06 | Started several hours late 2026-07-07 | Started several hours late 2026-07-08 | Started approximately 5 hours 46 minutes late 2026-07-09 | No scheduled execution occurred

GitHub Status

I also checked the GitHub Status page.

For July 9, GitHub reported an average delay of approximately 3 hours for scheduled workflows.

However, my workflow has experienced delays of up to 5–7 hours, and one scheduled execution was completely missing from the Actions history.

Additional Information

To rule out configuration issues, I also:

• Changed the cron schedule.
• Committed and pushed the updated workflow to the default branch.
• Confirmed the updated workflow file is being used.
• Successfully executed the workflow manually after the changes.

Despite these steps, scheduled executions remain unreliable.

Questions

Could you please investigate whether:

1. There is any issue affecting scheduled workflows for this repository?
2. The scheduler for this repository or workflow may be out of sync?
3. There are any diagnostics available that explain why scheduled executions are delayed by several hours or skipped entirely?

Since manual executions (workflow_dispatch) consistently work without any issues, this appears to affect only the GitHub scheduler.

If you need any additional information, workflow run IDs, logs, or repository details, I will be happy to provide them.

Thank you very much for your assistance.

Kind regards,
Csaba Ecsedi

[github-actions[bot]]

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[Pedromoisescamacho]

same happens to me