ARC "no runner group found" in CI

By Daniel Zoghalchali·Latchkey

ARC tried to place the scale set into a named runner group and GitHub reported that group does not exist for the target. The name is misspelled, the group is missing, or the credential cannot see it.

What this error means

The listener fails to start with "no runner group found" for the runnerGroup set in Helm values. Removing runnerGroup (which defaults to Default) lets it start.

ERROR failed to create session
  {"error": "no runner group found with name: ci-linux"}

Common causes

The runner group name does not match

runnerGroup in the values does not exactly match an existing org runner group, or the group was never created.

The credential cannot access the group

Runner groups can restrict which repositories and Apps use them, so the App may not see the group even though it exists.

How to fix it

Create or correct the runner group

1. In the org settings, confirm the runner group exists and note its exact name.
2. Set runnerGroup in the scale set values to that exact name, or omit it to use Default.
3. Reinstall the scale set and watch the listener come up.

helm upgrade arc-runner-set \
  oci://ghcr.io/actions/actions-runner-controller-charts/gha-runner-scale-set \
  --set runnerGroup="ci-linux" \
  --namespace arc-runners

Allow the App access to the group

In the runner group settings, ensure the group is available to the repositories and to the App the scale set authenticates as.

How to prevent it

• Create the runner group before referencing it in values.
• Keep the runnerGroup value identical to the group name in GitHub.
• Review runner group repository access when adding a new scale set.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• GitHub Actions documentation