GitHub Actions workflow stuck in queue after outage — cannot be cancelled even via API

[noeHernandez94]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

ARC (Actions Runner Controller)

Discussion Details

Hi GitHub Community,

I’m experiencing an issue with GitHub Actions that started during the recent GitHub Actions outage.

One workflow run in a private repository appears to have become stuck in an inconsistent/corrupted state. The workflow has been stuck in the queued state and is blocking other workflow runs from executing.

The main issue is that I cannot cancel the affected workflow.

When I try to cancel it from the GitHub Actions UI, GitHub returns:

Failed to cancel workflow.

I have also tried cancelling the workflow using the GitHub REST API, but the API cancellation request does not resolve the issue either.

As a result, the workflow remains stuck in the queue and continues to block other Actions runs in the repository.

What I have tried
Cancelling the workflow from the GitHub Actions UI — fails with Failed to cancel workflow
Cancelling the workflow using the GitHub REST API — does not work
Waiting for the workflow to finish — it remains stuck in the queued state

This appears to have started around the time of the GitHub Actions outage, so I suspect the workflow run may have been left in an inconsistent state on GitHub's side.

Since the repository is private, I cannot provide a publicly accessible workflow link, but I can provide the repository name, workflow run ID, timestamps, API responses, or any other information needed privately.

Request

Could someone from GitHub Support or the Actions team help manually clear/cancel this stuck workflow run or reset whatever state is preventing new workflow runs from executing?

At this point, it seems that the run cannot be cancelled through either the GitHub UI or the API.

Thank you for any help or guidance.

[github-actions[bot]]

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