GitHub Actions "No runner matching the specified labels"

GitHub knows immediately that no registered runner can ever match the requested label set, so it fails the job instead of queuing it. The label is misspelled or was never assigned to a runner.

What this error means

The job fails fast with a message that no runner matches the specified labels, listing the labels you requested. Unlike a queue wait, this is an immediate failure because the match is impossible.

Actions log

Error: No runner matching the specified labels was found: self-hosted, ubuntu-24.04, arm64

Common causes

Typo or wrong label in runs-on

A misspelled or non-existent label (for example ubuntu-24.04 written as ubuntu-2404) matches no runner.

Label never registered on the runner

Custom labels must be added when the self-hosted runner is configured. Requesting one the runner does not carry yields no match.

How to fix it

Use labels your runners actually have

List the runner labels in settings and request exactly those, or assign the missing label to the runner.

Terminal

# add a custom label when configuring a self-hosted runner
./config.sh --url https://github.com/org/repo --labels gpu,cuda
# then request it
runs-on: [self-hosted, gpu]

Verify GitHub-hosted label names

Use documented labels like ubuntu-latest, ubuntu-24.04, windows-latest, macos-latest.
For larger runners, use the exact label configured in your runner group settings.
Check the runner group has access to the repository requesting it.

How to prevent it

Keep a documented list of valid runner labels for the org.
Validate runs-on labels with actionlint, which knows the hosted labels.
Standardize custom labels when provisioning self-hosted runners.