GitHub Actions scheduled workflow not triggering despite being enabled

[lucasantucci-dotcom]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Schedule & Cron Jobs

Discussion Details

Hello GitHub Community,

I am experiencing an issue with a scheduled GitHub Actions workflow that is not triggering automatically.

Repository: lucasantucci-dotcom/X-COINCIDENZE-BBC (private)

Workflow: .github/workflows/bbc_world_hourly_60_v1.yml

Current commit: 5f62aa6a4f7c2db3ed6dc4334e193271ca2654c9

Configuration:

• Default branch: main
• Schedule: 17 * * * * (every hour at minute 17 UTC)
• Workflow enabled (the menu shows "Disable workflow")
• GitHub Actions enabled for the repository
• Workflow syntax validated successfully with actionlint 1.7.7

The corrected workflow was committed on October 11, 2026, at 13:03:48 UTC.

However, no scheduled runs appeared in the Actions history at the expected times of 13:17, 14:17, 15:17, or 16:17 UTC.

The only visible failed run was triggered by an earlier push and refers to a workflow syntax error that has since been corrected.

A separate manually triggered test workflow completed successfully, indicating that GitHub Actions can execute jobs in this repository.

Question: Why might an enabled scheduled workflow on the default branch fail to receive any scheduled events for several consecutive hours?

Could this be related to workflow registration after the initial validation error, or to delayed or skipped scheduler events?

I would appreciate suggestions for diagnosing the issue without triggering the data collection workflow manually.

Thank you.

[github-actions[bot]]

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[marcuspaula-seceng]

A few things commonly cause this, especially after a workflow was first pushed with a syntax error:

1. Force the schedule to re-register.
Schedules are registered when the workflow file changes on the default branch. If the first version failed validation, the schedule can stay unregistered even after the fix. Make a commit that touches the schedule: block itself, for example change 17 * * * * to 18 * * * *, push, and change it back later if needed. Renaming the workflow file also creates a fresh registration.

2. Check the actor of the last commit to the cron line.
Scheduled runs are attributed to the user who last modified the cron. If that commit came from a bot, an app, or GITHUB_TOKEN (for example an automated commit), scheduled runs may not be created. Make the change from your own account.

3. Ongoing platform delays.
There are several reports of private repos getting zero scheduled runs since around Oct 5 (#210040, #210032, #210037), so it may not be your config. Check https://www.githubstatus.com for Actions incidents. GitHub documents that scheduled events can be delayed or dropped under load, and the top of the hour is the busiest. Your minute 17 is already a good choice.

4. Reliable fallback if you need hourly data.
Add workflow_dispatch (or repository_dispatch) and trigger it from an external scheduler such as cron-job.org or a small server cron:

curl -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <fine-grained token with actions:write>" \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/actions/workflows/bbc_world_hourly_60_v1.yml/dispatches \
  -d '{"ref":"main"}'

To diagnose without running the data collection, add a tiny separate workflow with the same schedule that only does echo ok. If that one doesn't fire either after step 1, it's the scheduler, not your workflow.