Maximum running codespaces reached error even after deleting all and low usage

[vivyLve]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

Body

Hello GitHub Community,

I'm running into a frustrating issue and hope someone can point me in the right direction.

Whenever I try to create a new codespace, I get the following error:

Maximum running codespaces reached
You have too many running codespaces. You'll need to stop some before you start a new codespace.

The problem is, I have already deleted ALL my existing codespaces. I've double‑checked my codespaces list at github.com/codespaces and it is completely empty. I've logged out and back in, and even tried creating from a different repository, but the error remains the same.

To rule out a quota issue, I checked my current month's billing usage. Here's what I see:

• Compute (2‑core): 3.23 hours → $0.58
• Storage: 0.2 GB‑hr → $0.01

These numbers are far below the free tier limits for a personal account, so I should have plenty of free quota left.

What I've already tried:

1. Deleted every single codespace from the web UI.
2. Tried creating codespaces from multiple different repos (including public ones).
3. Signed out and back in to refresh my session.
4. Verified that Codespaces billing is enabled in my account settings.
5. Checked my spending limit – it's set to $0, but I haven't even approached the free tier cap.

Has anyone else experienced this recently? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

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[xusnitdinov]

This one is annoying because the UI saying "you have too many running" while the list is empty almost always means a stuck/zombie codespace on the backend, not a real quota problem. Your usage numbers also rule out billing limits.

Try these in order:

1. List codespaces via the API (sometimes shows ones the web UI hides):

   gh codespace list
   # or
   gh api /user/codespaces --jq '.codespaces[] | {name, state, machine, last_used_at, repository: .repository.full_name}'

   If anything shows up as Available, Starting, Shutdown, or weird states, stop then delete it:

   gh codespace stop -c NAME
   gh codespace delete -c NAME --force

2. Check org-level Codespaces if any of your repos are under an org. Org policies can cap concurrent codespaces, and the error message is the same. Also check whether you're hitting a per-user concurrent limit from an org you're a member of, even if you're creating from a personal repo.

3. Spending limit at $0 is usually fine for free tier, but double-check Settings > Billing > Budgets and alerts that Codespaces isn't blocked by a $0 hard stop on paid minutes. Free quota should still work, but a misconfigured budget has caused weird create failures for some people.

4. If gh codespace list is also empty and you still can't create, it's a stuck counter on GitHub's side. Open a ticket at https://support.github.com/, mention:

   • "Maximum running codespaces reached" with an empty list
   • that API list is empty too
   • your compute/storage usage is tiny
   • ask them to reset the concurrent codespaces counter for your account

That's the usual fix when the UI and API both look clean but the create path still thinks you're at the cap.

[vivyLve]

Hi @xusnitdinov,

Thank you so much for your detailed reply – I really appreciate you taking the time to explain the potential causes and troubleshooting steps.

I wanted to give an update on my situation: after reading your message, I tried creating a new codespace again (roughly 24 hours after I first encountered the error), and it worked immediately – no more “maximum running” message, and the new codespace started up without any issues.

Given that I had already deleted all my codespaces and my usage was well within the free tier limits, your explanation about a stuck backend counter or a delayed state sync on GitHub’s side seems very likely. It appears that the system eventually corrected itself sometime between 4 and 24 hours after the error first appeared.

For anyone else who stumbles upon this thread with the same problem:

• If you’re not in a hurry, waiting a few hours (or up to a day) may resolve it automatically, as it did for me.
• If you need immediate access, I’d strongly recommend following the steps @xusnitdinov suggested.

Thanks again for your helpful response.

[xusnitdinov]

Hey @vivyLve, Glad it worked!

[janoppelt]

We are facing the same problem right now. Fresh GitHub accounts with no Codespaces whatsoever (first-time users of Codespaces) for our training cannot start a Codespace and receive the same message as @vivyLve reported.