Scheduled workflows not firing for private repo (cron not producing schedule events)

[cfrias1369]

Why are you starting this discussion?

Bug

What GitHub Actions topic or product is this about?

Schedule & Cron Jobs

Discussion Details

Hello! (Having trouble getting cron jobs to work...)

For transparency, Copilot has been helping me on this for a few hours...

I have a private repository where a cron workflow is active and parsed, but no scheduled runs are ever produced.

Repository and workflow details

Repository: cfrias1369/MoneyApp (private)
Default branch: main
Workflow name: Cron Clean Test
Workflow path: .github/workflows/cron-clean.yml
Workflow id: 227166643
Cron expression: "*/5 * * * *"
Workflow YAML (exact contents)

name: Cron Clean Test

on:
schedule:
- cron: "*/5 * * * *"
workflow_dispatch: {}

jobs:
test:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- run: echo "Cron fired at $(date -u)"

What I’ve observed / troubleshooting already

The repo is private and Actions are allowed.
The workflow appears in the repository workflows list and is active.
A manual dispatch (workflow_dispatch) was queued and completed successfully and printed the expected output.
The API call to list schedule-triggered runs returned zero results: GET /repos/cfrias1369/MoneyApp/actions/runs?event=schedule -> { "total_count": 0, "workflow_runs": [] }
Repository settings checked

Actions permissions: Allow all actions and reusable workflows
Workflow permissions: Read and write permissions for GITHUB_TOKEN
The workflow file is on the default branch main in .github/workflows/cron-clean.yml
Problem Despite everything above, scheduled runs are never emitted. Manual runs work; schedule runs show zero events.

Request Can someone help me diagnose why the scheduler isn’t emitting events for this workflow? If you need more details I can provide:

Exact timestamps (UTC) for when the workflow file was added/updated and when I ran the manual dispatch
The JSON outputs I’ve already pulled (workflows list, repo metadata, schedule-runs response)
A screenshot of the workflow run log

Thanks in advance — any guidance or next steps would be appreciated.

[github-actions[bot]]

💬 Your Product Feedback Has Been Submitted 🎉

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights with us! Your feedback is invaluable as we build a better GitHub experience for all our users.

Here's what you can expect moving forward ⏩

• Your input will be carefully reviewed and cataloged by members of our product teams. 
  • Due to the high volume of submissions, we may not always be able to provide individual responses.
  • Rest assured, your feedback will help chart our course for product improvements.
• Other users may engage with your post, sharing their own perspectives or experiences. 
• GitHub staff may reach out for further clarification or insight. 
  • We may 'Answer' your discussion if there is a current solution, workaround, or roadmap/changelog post related to the feedback.

Where to look to see what's shipping 👀

• Read the Changelog for real-time updates on the latest GitHub features, enhancements, and calls for feedback.
• Explore our Product Roadmap, which details upcoming major releases and initiatives.

What you can do in the meantime 💻

• Upvote and comment on other user feedback Discussions that resonate with you.
• Add more information at any point! Useful details include: use cases, relevant labels, desired outcomes, and any accompanying screenshots.

As a member of the GitHub community, your participation is essential. While we can't promise that every suggestion will be implemented, we want to emphasize that your feedback is instrumental in guiding our decisions and priorities.

Thank you once again for your contribution to making GitHub even better! We're grateful for your ongoing support and collaboration in shaping the future of our platform. ⭐

[cfrias1369]

RESOLVED- ON ITS OWN

Though I had added a schedule to a workflow yesterday, Sun 1/25, and it failed to run on that schedule all day until this morning, and although the last change I had made to that workflow yaml was this morning around 10:15am, the first scheduled job did not run until after 12:00 today.

(Even the isolated test workflow, provided above and deployed at 11:00, did not run until after 11:50 when it was on a 5 minute schedule.)

Possibly the latest change I had made to the actual subject job was the real culprit for the job that should have run all night.

Updated this:
if: github.event_name == 'push' ||
github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' ||
(github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.event.action != 'closed') ||
github.event_name == 'schedule'

To this:
if: >
github.event_name == 'push' ||
github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' ||
(github.event_name == 'pull_request' && github.event.action != 'closed') ||
github.event_name == 'schedule'

Anyhow, my jobs are scheduled and running now. Thanks for any help you've begun to do- or have done behind the scenes!!!

[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.

[Scolliq]

If you need to know immediately when a scheduled workflow stops firing, a dead man's switch pattern works well. Your workflow pings a URL on each run. If the ping is missed, you get an alert.

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

Gabe is an open-source heartbeat monitor that handles this. Free for 3 monitors, alerts via Slack/Discord webhook.