🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

ARC (Actions Runner Controller)

Discussion Details

Problem

Many deployment workflows require execution at a specific future date and time. Today, GitHub Actions allows manual execution through workflow_dispatch and recurring schedules through cron, but there is no native way to configure a one-time future execution with custom inputs.

As a result, teams must either:

• Wait until the desired time and manually trigger the workflow.
• Create temporary scheduled workflows.
• Use external schedulers or automation tools.
• Build custom logic inside workflows to delay execution.

This adds operational overhead for deployment and release management.

Proposed Solution

Add a "Schedule Run" option when manually dispatching a workflow.

Users would:

1. Open the workflow and click Run workflow.
2. Provide all required workflow inputs.
3. Choose a future date and time.
4. Submit the request.

GitHub Actions would then create a scheduled workflow run that automatically starts at the specified time with the provided inputs.

Example UI

Run Workflow
---------------------------------
Environment: Production
Version: v2.4.1
Region: US-East

[ Run Now ]

[ Schedule Run ]
Date: 2026-08-20
Time: 22:00 UTC

Benefits

• Simplifies deployment planning.
• Eliminates the need for external schedulers.
• Reduces operational effort during off-hours releases.
• Enables release managers to prepare deployments in advance.
• Improves scheduling consistency across teams.

Possible Enhancements

• Edit or cancel a scheduled workflow before execution.
• Display upcoming scheduled runs in the workflow UI.
• Send notifications before execution.
• Support recurring schedules with workflow inputs.

Use Cases

• Production deployments during maintenance windows.
• Scheduled certificate rotations.
• Infrastructure changes outside business hours.
• Planned release rollouts across regions.
• Data processing and migration activities at predefined times.

Expected Behavior

After providing workflow inputs and selecting a future execution time, GitHub Actions should automatically trigger the workflow at the scheduled time using the exact inputs supplied during scheduling.

This would make GitHub Actions significantly more useful for release and deployment orchestration without requiring additional automation tooling.