Re-enabling a disabled scheduled workflow (push or manual) in CI

By Kaveh Alemi·Latchkey

A scheduled workflow that was disabled (by 60-day inactivity or by someone clicking "Disable workflow") will not run until it is explicitly re-enabled. Enabling it, or pushing to the default branch, restarts the cron.

What this error means

The workflow shows a "workflow disabled" state and scheduled runs never appear. Manual runs may also be blocked until you re-enable it.

$ gh workflow list
NAME       STATE     ID
nightly    disabled_inactivity  12345678

Common causes

The workflow is in a disabled state

States like disabled_inactivity or disabled_manually stop all triggers including schedule until you enable the workflow again.

No default-branch activity to auto-reactivate

Without a push or an explicit enable, GitHub keeps the schedule paused indefinitely.

How to fix it

Enable via the gh CLI

1. List workflows to confirm the disabled state.
2. Enable the workflow by name or ID.
3. Verify the schedule resumes on the next cron slot.

gh workflow enable nightly.yml
# or: gh workflow enable 12345678

Enable in the UI or push a commit

In the Actions tab, open the workflow and click "Enable workflow". A commit to the default branch also clears an inactivity disable.

How to prevent it

• Do not leave scheduled workflows disabled after a maintenance pause.
• Automate enable checks with gh workflow list in an audit job.
• Keep the repo active to avoid inactivity disables in the first place.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• GitHub Actions documentation
• Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions