GitHub Pages deployment stuck in Queued and cannot be cancelled

[myconslutentservices]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

ARC (Actions Runner Controller)

Discussion Details

Hello GitHub Community,

My GitHub Pages deployment is stuck in Queued and cannot be cancelled.

Repository:
myconslutentservices/local-shop-platform

Workflow:
pages build and deployment

Problematic run:
#70

Branch:
main

Pages configuration:
Deploy from a branch
Branch: main
Folder: / (root)

The previous deployment (#69) completed successfully.

Another run (#71) was successfully cancelled.

However, run #70 remains permanently Queued.

When I try to cancel run #70, GitHub shows:

"Cannot cancel a workflow run that is not in progress."

The run is the GitHub-managed "pages build and deployment" dynamic workflow.

Current jobs shown for run #70:

• build
• report-build-status
• deploy

The run remains Queued and does not proceed.

The website's last successful deployment is still live, but new Pages deployments are not proceeding.

Could someone please advise whether this is a stuck/orphaned GitHub Pages workflow state and how it can be cleared?

I have attached screenshots showing the queued workflow and the cancellation error.

Thank you.

[YCistak]

This happens when the dynamic pages build and deployment run gets stuck before a runner ever picks it up. The UI's Cancel button only works on runs that are in progress, which is why you get "Cannot cancel a workflow run that is not in progress." Two ways out:

1. Force-cancel through the API. This works on queued runs the normal cancel refuses. With the GitHub CLI:

# find the run id of #70
gh run list -R myconslutentservices/local-shop-platform -w "pages build and deployment" -L 5

gh api -X POST repos/myconslutentservices/local-shop-platform/actions/runs/<RUN_ID>/force-cancel

Docs: https://docs.github.com/en/rest/actions/workflow-runs#force-cancel-a-workflow-run

2. Trigger a fresh deployment. Pages deploys are serialized, so a stuck queued run blocks the ones behind it. After the force-cancel, push any commit to main (an empty one works: git commit --allow-empty -m "redeploy pages" && git push). Or toggle Settings → Pages → Source to another branch/folder and back, which also starts a new build.

If it keeps happening, switch Source to GitHub Actions and use the starter "Static HTML" workflow. You then own the workflow file and can cancel or re-run it like any other workflow, instead of depending on the managed dynamic run.

[reddy895]

This sounds like a stuck GitHub Pages-managed workflow rather than a normal workflow run. Since the previous deployment succeeded and GitHub reports that #70 is not “in progress,” the standard cancellation API can't clear it. GitHub may need to reset the queued run internally.