GitLab "This job is stuck ... project does not have any runners"

The job queued but no runner picked it up. Either no runner is enabled for the project, the available runners are offline/paused, or none accept the job's tags.

What this error means

The job sits in pending indefinitely with a banner: "This job is stuck because the project does not have any runners online, or no runners with matching tags." Nothing runs until a matching runner comes online.

This job is stuck because the project doesn't have any runners online assigned to it.
Go to project CI/CD settings and enable a shared runner, or set up a specific runner.

Common causes

No runner enabled for the project

Shared runners are disabled and no project/group runner is registered, so there is nothing eligible to run the job.

Runners offline or paused

A self-hosted runner whose service stopped, lost network, or was paused shows offline and cannot pick up jobs.

No runner accepts the job tags

If every runner is restricted to tags the job does not carry (or refuses untagged jobs), none will run it.

How to fix it

Enable a runner for the project

1. Open Settings - CI/CD - Runners; enable shared runners or register a project/group runner.
2. Confirm at least one runner shows a green "online" indicator.
3. Re-run the stuck job once a runner is available.

Bring a self-hosted runner back online

On the runner host, confirm the service is up and registered.

gitlab-runner verify
sudo gitlab-runner status
sudo systemctl restart gitlab-runner

How to prevent it

• Monitor runner online status and alert when a runner drops off.
• Keep a fallback shared/managed runner enabled for critical projects.
• Match job tags to at least one online runner, or allow untagged jobs.

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