GitHub Actions "artifact upload failed with status 500"

A 500 from the artifact service is a server-side failure, not a problem with your files. The upload client may retry internally; if it still fails, re-running the job usually succeeds once the backend recovers.

What this error means

An upload-artifact step fails with a 500 status from the artifact service.

##[error]Artifact upload failed with status code 500 (Internal Server Error).
Failed to upload artifact 'build-output' after retries.

Common causes

Transient artifact-service error

A backend 500 interrupted the upload; it is non-deterministic and unrelated to your config.

How to fix it

Retry the upload

1. Re-run the job to retry the upload.
2. Check the GitHub status page if 500s persist across runs.

Let managed runners absorb the blip

1. Latchkey auto-retries transient artifact-service failures, so an isolated 500 does not surface as a failed pipeline.

How to prevent it

• Treat one-off artifact 500s as transient and retry.
• Avoid changing workflow logic in response to a single backend error.

Related guides