GitHub Actions "This check was cancelled" on a required check (timeout)
A cancelled check reports a non-success conclusion. If it is a required check, the PR cannot merge until the job completes successfully - cancellation by timeout or concurrency leaves merge blocked.
What this error means
A required check shows "This check was cancelled" and the PR merge button stays blocked.
This check was cancelled.
The job exceeded the configured timeout (or was canceled by a concurrency rule) before completing.Diagnose it: print the context before you change anything
Most workflow-expression bugs are not syntax errors, they are an expression reading something that is empty. GitHub resolves a missing property to an empty string instead of failing the run, so a wrong reference looks like a logic bug rather than a mistake. Dump the contexts first and you will usually see the answer immediately.
- name: Dump contexts
run: |
echo '--- github ---' ; echo '${{ toJSON(github) }}'
echo '--- needs ---' ; echo '${{ toJSON(needs) }}'
echo '--- steps ---' ; echo '${{ toJSON(steps) }}'
echo '--- matrix ---' ; echo '${{ toJSON(matrix) }}'
echo '--- inputs ---' ; echo '${{ toJSON(inputs) }}'Check the context is allowed where you used it
Contexts are not available everywhere. The same expression can be valid in a step if and invalid in a job if, which is why an expression that works in one workflow fails when moved.
| Where you wrote it | Contexts available there |
|---|---|
run-name | github, inputs, vars |
concurrency | github, inputs, vars |
Top-level env | github, secrets, inputs, vars |
jobs.<id>.if | github, needs, vars, inputs |
jobs.<id>.steps.if | github, needs, strategy, matrix, job, runner, env, vars, steps, inputs |
jobs.<id>.outputs | Full access, including secrets |
Reusable workflow outputs | github, jobs, vars, inputs |
Common causes
Job timeout reached
timeout-minutes elapsed and GitHub cancelled the job, producing a cancelled conclusion on a required check.
Concurrency cancellation
A concurrency group with cancel-in-progress cancelled an in-flight run that backed a required check.
How to fix it
Re-run and address the timeout
- Re-run the cancelled job.
- If it timed out, raise timeout-minutes or speed up the step (cache, parallelism).
- If concurrency cancelled it, ensure the latest run completes so the required check turns green.
Catch it before it reaches CI
Every failure in this cluster is statically detectable. actionlint parses workflow expressions, checks context availability against the same rules above, and validates needs references, so these bugs never need to cost you a run.
# one-off
docker run --rm -v "$(pwd):/repo" --workdir /repo rhysd/actionlint:latest -color
# as a job, before anything expensive runs
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- run: |
bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rhysd/actionlint/main/scripts/download-actionlint.bash)
./actionlint -colorHow to prevent it
- Set realistic timeout-minutes for slow jobs that gate merges.
- Scope concurrency groups so required checks are not cancelled out from under a PR.