Public repository workflow stays queued: ubuntu-latest reported busy with 0/20 jobs and unused Free quota

[Erylis21]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Actions Runner

Discussion Details

Summary

A minimal manually triggered workflow in a public repository owned by the Free organization Erylis-Labs is created successfully, but its job remains queued and never receives a standard GitHub-hosted runner.

• Repository: https://github.com/Erylis-Labs/test-workflow
• Example run: https://github.com/Erylis-Labs/test-workflow/actions/runs/36100478376/workflow
• Job: greet, runs-on: ubuntu-latest
• The job has no executed steps or logs. The run displays:

Evaluating greet.if
Evaluating: success()
Result: true
Requested labels: ubuntu-latest
Waiting for a runner to pick up this job...
All GitHub-hosted runners with label [ubuntu-latest] are busy.

Minimal workflow

name: Manual workflow
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      name:
        description: Person to greet
        default: World
        required: true
        type: string
jobs:
  greet:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Send greeting
        run: echo "Hello ${{ inputs.name }}"

Checks already performed

• The repository is public and the workflow appears on the default main branch. Manual dispatch creates the job; this is not a missing trigger.
• Organization billing overview shows 0 / 2,000 included Actions minutes used and 0 GB / 0.5 GB Actions and Packages storage used.
• Organization GitHub-hosted runners page shows 0 / 20 concurrent jobs, no active jobs, and ubuntu-latest among the available labels.
• The organization has no payment method and an Actions organization budget of $0 with “Stop usage: Yes”. GitHub's UI says a payment method is required before I can change that setting. I do not want to add one solely to run this public-repository test.

Expected and actual behavior

Per GitHub's billing documentation, standard GitHub-hosted runners are free for public repositories. I would expect this minimal job to start without requiring a payment method or consuming private-repository minutes. Instead it stays queued, despite no active jobs in the organization.

Could the $0 Actions budget or a billing entitlement prevent runner assignment even for a public repository? If so, how can an organization on GitHub Free use standard runners for public repositories without adding a payment method? If not, what account-level restriction or runner-assignment issue should I investigate?

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[Erylis21]

Additional observation: The same runner-assignment issue also affects a private repository in Erylis-Labs. Some of its workflow runs have remained queued for more than 12 hours, without starting any steps. This is therefore not limited to the public test repository or its minimal workflow. I have omitted the private repository URL from this public discussion, but can provide a run ID through a private channel if GitHub staff need it.

[swayamprabhu2005]

Hi there,

Based on the additional details you provided regarding your organization setup, the issue is almost certainly tied to the anti-abuse verification framework that GitHub applies to organizations.

Even though public repository Actions minutes are technically free, GitHub enforces strict baseline verification rules to prevent automated crypto-mining and spam runs. When an organization has a $0 budget limit, no payment method on file, and is attempting to execute runs across both public and private boundaries simultaneously, the runner allocation system frequently blocks or permanently queues the jobs.

To get your workflows running, you should try the following:

1. Add a valid credit card or payment method to the organization's billing settings. You will not be charged for your free public repository usage, but it validates the identity of the account.
2. If adding a payment method isn't an option or doesn't immediately release the queue, you will need to open a direct ticket with GitHub Support under the "Actions / Billing" category so an internal engineer can manually clear the anti-abuse flag on your new organization.

Hope this helps get your workflows moving!

[Erylis21]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have now added a valid payment method to the Erylis-Labs organization, but the public test job is still queued and has not been assigned a runner (same run: https://github.com/Erylis-Labs/test-workflow/actions/runs/36100478376/workflow). The private-repository runs are also still affected. I will check whether the separate $0 Actions budget with “Stop usage” enabled remains the blocking setting.
Do you have an official GitHub source confirming an anti-abuse flag in this situation, or is that a hypothesis?
I would like to distinguish a budget restriction from an account-side runner allocation issue.

[Erylis21]

Update after contacting GitHub Support: I added a payment method to the Erylis-Labs organization, but the public test run and private-repository jobs are still queued. I opened support ticket #4792584 under Billing and payments / GitHub Actions. The reply did not investigate the runner-assignment issue: it said dedicated support requires an eligible paid plan and directed me back to GitHub Community Discussions.

This leaves the public reproduction unresolved: https://github.com/Erylis-Labs/test-workflow/actions/runs/36100478376/workflow. Standard GitHub-hosted runners in public repositories are documented as free, yet this minimal job cannot obtain one. The suggestion that an anti-abuse flag is involved remains unverified; adding a payment method did not fix it.

Could a GitHub staff member advise how a Free organization can report a possible account-level runner-allocation restriction for investigation? If there is a specific setting or diagnostic I can check myself, please point me to it. I can share private run IDs through a private channel if needed.