Github actions doesn't run scheduled workflow

[mohammmdmdmkdmewof]

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Hello GitHub Community,

I'm experiencing an issue where my test scheduled GitHub Actions workflow is not triggering automatically. Despite having set up the cron job correctly, it only works when manually triggered.

Here are the details of my setup:

name: Update Configs From Telegram

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 */1 * * *"

permissions:
  contents: write

jobs:
  run-finder:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          persist-credentials: true
          fetch-depth: 0

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: "3.11"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          pip install --no-cache-dir pyrogram tgcrypto requests jdatetime pytz


      - name: Decrypt Telegram session securely
        env:
          SESSION_KEY: ${{ secrets.TELEGRAM_SESSION_KEY }}
        run: |
          set -e
          umask 077

          openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -d \
          -salt \
          -md md5 \
          -in my_accountb.session.aes256 \
          -out my_accountb.session \
          -pass env:SESSION_KEY


      - name: Run finder
        run: |
          python finder.py

      - name: Commit updated configs.txt
        run: |
          if git diff --quiet configs.txt; then
            echo "No changes to configs.txt"
            exit 0
          fi

          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"

          git add configs.txt
          git commit -m "chore: update configs.txt [auto]"
          git push origin main

      - name: cleanup
        if: always()
        run: |
          if [ -f my_accountb.session ]; then
            shred -u my_accountb.session
          fi

Here is the repo link if you want to check it out: https://github.com/mohammmdmdmkdmewof/v2rayConfigsForYou
Current Branch Setup:
I only have one branch named main, which is the default branch.

Permissions and Settings:
GitHub Actions is enabled for the repository.

Despite all these configurations, the cron job does not trigger automatically. I've ensured that the file is in the correct directory and pushed all changes to the main branch.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

[MrxYacinex]

Hi @mohammmdmdmkdmewof,

It looks like your workflow setup is mostly correct, but a few common issues can prevent scheduled workflows from running automatically:

Default branch – Scheduled workflows only run on the default branch. You mentioned main is your default branch, so this should be fine, but double-check that your workflow file (.github/workflows/...) is indeed on main.

Workflow filename and location – Make sure the workflow YAML file is in .github/workflows/ and committed to the default branch.

Cron schedule syntax – Your cron: "0 */1 * * *" should run every hour at minute 0, which is valid. Just note that cron uses UTC, so check the time difference if it seems like it’s not triggering.

Repository activity – If the repository is empty or inactive, GitHub sometimes delays scheduled workflows. Adding a recent commit can help.

Check Actions logs – Go to the Actions tab → your workflow → Scheduled events. Sometimes GitHub logs skipped runs with reasons like "Workflow run skipped because of workflow filters" or "cron not triggered yet".

Permissions – Your workflow has contents: write, which is fine for commits. Just ensure GitHub Actions is enabled for the repo and the workflow is not disabled.

If everything above is correct, the next step is to manually trigger the workflow once via workflow_dispatch. After that, scheduled runs usually start firing automatically.

[mohammmdmdmkdmewof]

My Default branch is main.
the workflow file is located in .github/workflows and named update_configs.yaml
the workflow hasn't ran in more than 4 days since it's creation in matter of fact all of the run's were triggered manually by me, i even recreated the same workflow again yesterday hoping it would solve the problem but it didn't.
there isn't a "Scheduled event" in Actions logs.
I have triggered the workflow multiple times and the scheduled run didn't fire up.
Thank you for your help.

[MrxYacinex]

Hi @mohammmdmdmkdmewof,

Thanks for the details. Since your workflow is in the right location on the default branch and all runs have been manual, it’s likely hitting one of the common limitations for scheduled workflows:

Free accounts or inactive repositories – Scheduled workflows don’t trigger in forked repositories or private repos without recent activity on free accounts. Make sure your repo isn’t a fork and has recent commits.

GitHub Actions billing or plan limits – If Actions minutes or workflow runs are restricted on your plan, scheduled jobs may not trigger.

Workflow syntax issue – Although your YAML looks correct, sometimes adding workflow_run or branches: under schedule: helps explicitly target the default branch:

schedule:

• cron: "0 */1 * * *"
  branches:
  • main

Manual trigger requirement – Some workflows only start scheduled runs after at least one manual workflow_dispatch run, which you’ve done, so that should be fine.

Debugging further – Try enabling workflow logs for all events by temporarily adding:

on:
schedule:
- cron: "0 */1 * * *"
workflow_dispatch:
push:

This can sometimes force GitHub to recognize the scheduled workflow.

If none of these work, it may be a GitHub backend issue, and filing a support ticket here is recommended: GitHub Support

[mohammmdmdmkdmewof]

Okay, i will try your fixes now.
i will inform you if they fixed the problem.
Thanks!

[mohammmdmdmkdmewof]

update: it didnt work

[PallabBG]

One very common reason scheduled workflows don’t run automatically is that GitHub cron schedules only trigger on the repository’s default branch and only after the workflow file already exists on that branch.

A few things to double-check:

• The workflow file must already be present on main before the scheduled time.
(Cron won’t retroactively trigger after a recent push.)

• Scheduled workflows can be delayed or skipped if there has been no repository activity for some time (GitHub may throttle inactive repos).

• Cron schedules run in UTC time, not local time — so 0 */1 * * * may not match when you expect.

• GitHub does not guarantee exact timing for schedule; runs can be delayed by several minutes.

A good test is to:

• Push a small commit to main

• Wait for the next UTC hour

• Check the Actions → Scheduled run history

If it still doesn’t trigger after that, it’s likely due to GitHub’s scheduling throttling rather than a config issue.

[mohammmdmdmkdmewof]

it is on the default branch but didn't run once even after 4 days of workflow creation and yes i have ran it manually
Thank you for your help.

[PallabBG]

Thanks for confirming 👍
Since it’s on the default branch and you’ve already run it manually, the most likely reasons are GitHub schedule throttling or inactivity limits.

A few last things worth checking:

• Scheduled workflows may not run if the repository is new or inactive — GitHub sometimes delays or skips cron runs in such cases.

• Make sure there is at least one commit pushed after the workflow file was added (even a small README change).

• Double-check the Actions → All workflows → Scheduled section to see if any runs were skipped or delayed.

• Keep in mind that schedule uses UTC time and execution is best-effort, not guaranteed to fire exactly on time.

If none of these help, it’s very likely a GitHub-side scheduling limitation, not an issue with your YAML. In that case, waiting or adding periodic repo activity usually resolves it.

Glad to help — hope it starts triggering soon 👍

[mohammmdmdmkdmewof]

Yeah its a pretty new repository i hope the problem gets fixed soon. Thanks for Helping.

[SrRyan]

👋 Thank you for reporting the issue with scheduled workflows not triggering. We identified a related change from last week that was rolled back today. Any commit pushed to the default branch will resync the impacted scheduled workflows and resolve any scheduling issues you may be experiencing. If you continue to experience issues with syncing schedules, please reply with a comment including the following:

1. Impacted repository
2. Workflow path and name
3. Cron syntax in the workflow

Note: Schedules that run during periods of high load (e.g., midnight UTC) may be delayed or, if load is sufficiently high, potentially dropped. Please see our docs for further information.

[mohammmdmdmkdmewof]

the scheduling issues were fixed thanks to your help
thanks for helping me and others that had the same problem.

[Uchebuzz]

@mohammmdmdmkdmewof, is your scheduled job now running? Mine isnt at the moment despite testing with a small window, but manually it works fine. I am trying it outside a busy timeline, please let me know how you were able to pass this...

[ChrisEdson]

👋 Thank you for reporting the issue with scheduled workflows not triggering. We identified a related change from last week that was rolled back today. Any commit pushed to the default branch will resync the impacted scheduled workflows and resolve any scheduling issues you may be experiencing. If you continue to experience issues with syncing schedules, please reply with a comment including the following:

1. Impacted repository

2. Workflow path and name

3. Cron syntax in the workflow

Note: Schedules that run during periods of high load (e.g., midnight UTC) may be delayed or, if load is sufficiently high, potentially dropped. Please see our docs for further information.

Hey Ryan -

Sadly my workflow is still broken - it's a private repo:

https://github.com/BeSecondNature/sn-infrastructure/blob/master/.github/workflows/terraform-workspaces.yml

I've tried a number of things to get the schedule to work but sadly nothing has fixed it!

The code is quite simple:

name: Terraform WorkSpaces

on:
  # Runs at 0 minutes past every hour
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 * * * *"
  # Manually trigger the workflow or on a schedule or when relevant files are changed
  workflow_dispatch:
  # Run when files in the terraform/workspaces directory or this workflow file are changed
  push:
    paths:
      - "terraform/workspaces/**"
      - ".github/workflows/terraform-workspaces.yml"

The workflow dispatch and push commands both work fine.

[SrRyan]

@ChrisEdson Thanks for the report and appreciate you putting all the details here 🙇 I've gone ahead and done some manual sync to unblock you for the moment. I'll be taking a look to see if there is outstanding issue with automation for your repo.

[ChrisEdson]

@ChrisEdson Thanks for the report and appreciate you putting all the details here 🙇 I've gone ahead and done some manual sync to unblock you for the moment. I'll be taking a look to see if there is outstanding issue with automation for your repo.

Wow, thanks so much Ryan - it now all looks to be working as intended!

[Scolliq]

This is a known pain point — scheduled workflows can stop running for various reasons (60 days inactivity, repo forking, etc.) and there is no built-in notification.

A workaround: add a heartbeat ping at the end of your workflow. An external monitor tracks the pings and alerts you when one is late.

- name: Confirm run
  if: success()
  run: curl -fsS --retry 3 https://gabe.usegabe.workers.dev/ping/YOUR_ID

Or use the Gabe GitHub Action for a cleaner setup. Free, open source.