GitHub Actions Runbooks

Runner, workflow, permissions, and cache failures in GitHub Actions.

13 scenarios ยท search and filter below, or jump via the quick nav.

Intermediate9 runbooks
Self-hosted runner offline - no jobs picked upcritical

Workflow runs queued with 'Waiting for a runner to pick up this job'

GitHub ActionsIntermediateUSE3 causes
1Open runbook
GHCR push denied - packages:write permission missinghigh

Docker push to ghcr.io fails with 'denied: permission_denied' or '403 Forbidden'

GitHub ActionsIntermediate2 causes
2Open runbook
Checkout of private repo failed - GITHUB_TOKEN lacks cross-repo readhigh

actions/checkout fails with 'Could not read Username for https://github.com'

GitHub ActionsIntermediate2 causes
3Open runbook
Actions cache miss every run - slow builds from scratchmedium

Build step duration doubled - dependencies reinstalled every run

GitHub ActionsIntermediateUSE2 causes
4Open runbook
Resource not accessible by integration - GITHUB_TOKEN scopeshigh

Error: Resource not accessible by integration

GitHub ActionsIntermediate2 causes
5Open runbook
Matrix job skipped - empty matrix combinationmedium

Matrix strategy produces fewer jobs than expected

GitHub ActionsIntermediate2 causes
6Open runbook
workflow_dispatch inputs not passed - secrets vs inputs mismatchmedium

Manually triggered workflow fails because input is empty

GitHub ActionsIntermediate2 causes
7Open runbook
Workflow queue backlog - too many jobs waiting for runnersmedium

Workflow runs show 'Queued' status for many minutes before starting

GitHub ActionsIntermediateRED2 causes
8Open runbook
Secrets not substituted in workflow - empty or masked outputhigh

Step logs show empty string where a secret should be

GitHub ActionsIntermediate2 causes
9Open runbook