GitHub Pages "Get Pages site failed" (Pages not enabled)

By Kaveh Alemi·Latchkey

The configure-pages action queries the Pages site for the repository. If Pages is disabled, or its source is not set to GitHub Actions, the lookup fails before any artifact is built. This is a settings issue, not a flake.

What this error means

The actions/configure-pages step fails reporting it could not get the Pages site, often with a 404 from the Pages API.

github-actions

Error: Get Pages site failed. Please verify that the repository has Pages enabled
and configured to build using GitHub Actions. (HttpError: Not Found)

Diagnose it: what token do you actually have?

Permission failures in Actions are almost never about your repository settings alone. Three things combine: the default GITHUB_TOKEN permission set for the repo or organization, the permissions: block in the workflow, and whether the event is a fork pull request, which downgrades the token to read-only regardless of everything else.

.github/workflows/ci.yml

- name: Show the token scopes actually granted
  run: |
    curl -sI -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
      https://api.github.com/ | grep -i "^x-oauth-scopes\|^x-accepted"
    echo "event: ${{ github.event_name }}"
    echo "fork PR: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.fork }}"
  env:
    GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Common causes

Pages disabled for the repository

No Pages site exists yet, so the API returns 404 when the action looks it up.

Source not set to GitHub Actions

Pages is set to deploy from a branch instead of from GitHub Actions, so the Actions build path is not configured.

How to fix it

Enable Pages with the Actions source

In Settings > Pages, set Build and deployment Source to GitHub Actions.
Or let configure-pages enable it by setting enablement: true (requires pages: write).
Re-run the workflow once Pages is enabled.

.github/workflows/pages.yml

- uses: actions/configure-pages@v5
  with:
    enablement: true

Grant the narrowest permission that works

Declaring a permissions: block switches the job from the repository default to exactly what you list, so an incomplete block is a common cause of a new failure right after someone tightened security. List every scope the job needs, not just the one that failed.

.github/workflows/ci.yml

permissions:
  contents: read        # checkout
  packages: write       # push to GHCR
  id-token: write       # OIDC to a cloud provider
  pull-requests: write  # comment on or label a PR
  checks: write         # publish check runs

How to prevent it

Set the Pages source to GitHub Actions before running the deploy workflow.
Grant pages: write and id-token: write on the deploy job.

Frequently asked questions

What causes GitHub Pages "Get Pages site failed" (Pages not enabled)?

There are 2 common causes: pages disabled for the repository and source not set to github actions. No Pages site exists yet, so the API returns 404 when the action looks it up.

How do I fix GitHub Pages "Get Pages site failed" (Pages not enabled)?

Enable Pages with the Actions source. In Settings > Pages, set Build and deployment Source to GitHub Actions.

What does GitHub Pages "Get Pages site failed" (Pages not enabled) actually mean?