Workflow permanently queued and force-cancel returns HTTP 500

[Vladimir021]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

ARC (Actions Runner Controller)

Discussion Details

A workflow run in a private repository has been permanently stuck in the queued state since 2026-08-19T04:43:33Z.

Technical details:

• Run number: 83
• Run ID: 32216791563
• Head SHA: e3a6f1e55c1b97830f2a921b2b477f9868efebe9
• Status: queued
• Conclusion: null
• Run attempt: 1
• Both jobs have runner_name: null
• updated_at is identical to created_at

No runner has ever been assigned to either job.

Cancellation fails through every available method:

• GitHub web interface: Failed to cancel workflow
• gh run cancel: HTTP 500
• REST cancel endpoint: HTTP 500
• REST force-cancel endpoint: HTTP 500
• Rerun is rejected because GitHub considers the workflow still running

I also monitored the run for ten minutes through the API, but its status and updated_at value never changed.

Actions are enabled and configured to use GitHub-hosted runners. There are no registered self-hosted runners, no other runs in progress, no concurrency blocker, and the account has used only 388 of 2,000 included Actions minutes.

The immediately preceding workflow run completed successfully with the same repository and runner configuration.

Has anyone encountered a workflow run that GitHub’s control plane cannot assign, cancel, or force-cancel? Is there a supported way to have this orphaned run repaired or terminated?

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[aslzoda1]

Hi,
This is a GitHub server glitch. Since the run is stuck and cannot be canceled by any method, your only solution is to contact GitHub Support. They can manually clear it from their backend.

[Vladimir021]

Thank you for confirming the diagnosis.

The difficulty is that this account uses GitHub Free, and the Support portal does not offer a technical GitHub Actions ticket. It redirects me to the Community forum.

The run is still queued, and even the official REST force-cancel endpoint returns HTTP 500. Is there a way for GitHub staff or a Community moderator to escalate an orphaned workflow run like this internally?

Run ID: 32216791563

[aslzoda1]

Since GitHub Free doesn't offer direct support tickets, keep this discussion open. GitHub staff monitor these forums and sometimes clear stuck runs from their end.