Schedules and manual runs

Goal

Catch problems that do not come from your own commits, like a new Node.js release, with a nightly run you can also start by hand.

The nightly workflow

.github/workflows/nightly.yml:

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '17 3 * * *' # 03:17 UTC; avoid :00, when GitHub's schedulers are busiest
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      node-version:
        description: Node.js version to test
        type: choice
        options: ['node', 'lts/*', '24', '22']
        default: 'node'

• schedule uses cron syntax, always in UTC: minute, hour, day, month, weekday.
• workflow_dispatch adds a Run workflow button, here with a dropdown.
• node means the newest Node.js release; lts/* the newest long-term support release.

Using the input

jobs:
  test:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-test.yml
    with:
      node-version: ${{ inputs.node-version || 'node' }}

A scheduled run has no inputs, so || falls back to node. (The uses: line calls a reusable workflow: chapter 08.)

Good to know

• Schedules run on the default branch only.
• GitHub can delay scheduled runs at busy times, and pauses schedules in repositories with no activity for 60 days.

Check it works

Open Actions, Nightly, Run workflow, pick 24, and start it. The job name shows Test on Node 24.

Exercise

Add a weekly schedule on Mondays at 06:30 UTC to the same workflow. Check your cron at crontab.guru.