Scheduled (cron) workflow runs deviate significantly from the configured schedule

[georgismitev]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Schedule & Cron Jobs

Discussion Details

My workflow is configured to run hourly, but actual run start times drift substantially from the scheduled time over the last few days.

What I've configured

Schedule:

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 * * * *"   # later changed to "37 * * * *"
  workflow_dispatch: {}

Expected

An hourly trigger at (or close to) the configured minute each hour.

Actual

Here is the actual execution for the last couple of days:

What I've tried

• Moved cron off the top of the hour (0 * * * * → 37 * * * *) to avoid the load spike — no observable improvement.
• Confirmed the change is committed to the default branch: yes.
• Confirmed repo has had activity in the last 60 days: yes.

Environment

• Repo visibility: private
• Default branch: main
• Runner: ubuntu-latest

Question

Is this within the expected best-effort behavior for scheduled workflows, and if so, what delay range should I plan around? Is there anything in my config causing extra drift beyond the documented high-load delays?

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