workflow not firing on schedule

[zingochampis]

Why are you starting this discussion?

Question

What GitHub Actions topic or product is this about?

Schedule & Cron Jobs

Discussion Details

I have a private repository (zingochampis/tracts) with a daily scheduled workflow defined in .github/workflows/daily.yml using the cron syntax '47 8 * * *' (should run at 08:47 UTC every day).

Issue:

Only manual workflow_dispatch runs work as expected.
No scheduled runs appear in the Actions tab, even after multiple attempts with different cron expressions including odd minutes.
The workflow file is in the default branch and GitHub Actions are enabled.
The repository is not a fork.
Quota has not been exceeded, and the last commit was half an hour before time window.
Permissions are set to allow all actions and reusable workflows.
Tried all troubleshooting steps including editing the workflow file and pushing trivial changes.
Expected behavior:
Scheduled runs should appear in the Actions tab at the configured UTC time.

Actual behavior:
Only manually triggered runs appear; scheduled runs do not show up, and it’s as if the schedule event is being ignored.

What I’ve tried:

Changed cron schedule several times (including odd minutes).
Committed changes to the workflow file.
Verified repo is not a fork and quota is healthy.
Manually triggered with workflow_dispatch (works perfectly).
Could you please help?

[JeanCarlos88]

Hi zingochampis,
Thanks for the detailed breakdown — you've already done a lot of solid troubleshooting. Here are a few additional checks and suggestions:

• Private repositories have specific limitations. GitHub Actions may skip scheduled workflows if the repo has been inactive. Make sure there’s recent activity (commits or pushes) before the scheduled time.
• Your cron expression (47 8 * * *) is valid, but GitHub may ignore it if the daily.yml file isn’t on the default branch (usually main or master). Double-check that.
• Avoid using multiples of 5 for minutes during testing. Using odd minutes like 47 was a smart move.
• Check for YAML syntax errors. Even minor issues can silently prevent execution.
• Ensure GitHub Actions is enabled in repo settings. Go to Settings > Actions and confirm that all workflows are allowed.
• Consider adding a push or workflow_dispatch trigger alongside schedule to help with testing and ensure the workflow is functional.
  If everything checks out and it still doesn’t run, it could be a GitHub Actions bug or limitation. In that case, consider opening a support ticket or posting in the GitHub Community Actions category.

[github-actions[bot]]

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