GitLab "This job is stuck ... no runners online" - Fix It

The job entered the queue but no runner picked it up. Either no runner is registered for the project, the available runners are paused/offline, or none accept untagged jobs.

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 may be disabled for the project, and no project/group runner is registered. With zero eligible runners, the job never starts.

Runners offline or paused

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

Runners do not accept untagged jobs

If every runner is restricted to tagged jobs and the job has no matching tag, none will run it - the same "stuck" banner appears.

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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