Monitoring GitHub Actions (schedule)

on: schedule workflows in GitHub Actions are handy… until they stop without warning. GitHub automatically disables cron workflows after 60 days without activity on the repo, and scheduled runs can be delayed or skipped under heavy load.

Add a ping at the end of the workflow

name: Scheduled task
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 6 * * *"   # every day at 6am UTC

jobs:
  run:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: ./my-script.sh
      - name: Notify Cron-Ping
        run: curl -fsS https://cron-ping.com/p/<token>

Report failures too

      - name: Failure
        if: failure()
        run: curl -fsS https://cron-ping.com/p/<token>/fail

With if: failure(), if a previous step crashes, Cron-Ping receives a fail ping and alerts you right away.

Why it's essential

• GitHub doesn't notify you when a cron is disabled after 60 days.
• schedule runs aren't guaranteed to the minute.
• A workflow can "succeed" while doing nothing useful.

By monitoring the arrival of the ping, you catch silence, not just errors.