ISSUE: Github action fails with ‘Artifact storage quota has been hit’

Issue Description

Github action is failing with the error bleow: alt text

Github Repo: darioairoldi/Learn
Action file: .github/workflows/quarto-publish.win64.yml

Error details:

Run actions/upload-artifact@v4
  with:
    name: github-pages-build
    path: docs/
    retention-days: 1
    if-no-files-found: warn
    compression-level: 6
    overwrite: false
    include-hidden-files: false
  env:
    GITHUB_PAGES: true
  
With the provided path, there will be 250 files uploaded
Artifact name is valid!
Root directory input is valid!
Error: Failed to CreateArtifact: Artifact storage quota has been hit. Unable to upload any new artifacts. Usage is recalculated every 6-12 hours.
More info on storage limits: https://docs.github.com/en/billing/managing-billing-for-github-actions/about-billing-for-github-actions#calculating-minute-and-storage-spending

also, the github repo shows the following: alt text

Analysis

gh auth status github.com ✓ Logged in to github.com account darioairoldi (keyring)

  • Active account: true
  • Git operations protocol: https
  • Token: gho_************************************
  • Token scopes: ‘gist’, ‘read:org’, ‘repo’, ‘workflow’

🎯 SOLUTION IMPLEMENTED

Root Cause

The workflow was using actions/upload-artifact@v4 to create an intermediate artifact between the build and deploy jobs. This artifact counts against your GitHub Actions storage quota, which accumulates over time with each workflow run.

Initial Challenge

The first attempt to use upload-pages-artifact@v3 directly on a self-hosted Windows runner failed because the action requires WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) or a Linux environment to create tar archives.

Error encountered:

Windows Subsystem for Linux has no installed distributions.
Error code: Bash/Service/CreateInstance/GetDefaultDistro/WSL_E_DEFAULT_DISTRO_NOT_FOUND

Fix Applied

Modified: .github/workflows/quarto-publish.win64.yml

Strategy: Split the workflow into two jobs to leverage both runners optimally:

  1. Build job (self-hosted Windows) - Renders Quarto site
  2. Deploy job (ubuntu-latest) - Handles GitHub Pages deployment

Changes:

  1. ✅ Split into two jobs - Build on Windows, deploy on Ubuntu
  2. ✅ Use short-lived artifacts - Set retention-days: 1 to minimize storage impact
  3. ✅ Deploy on Ubuntu runner - upload-pages-artifact@v3 works properly on Linux
  4. ✅ Automatic cleanup - Artifacts auto-delete after 24 hours

Before:

# Build job (Windows) - uploads long-lived artifact
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
  with:
    name: github-pages-build
    path: docs/
    # No retention-days = 90 days default!

# Deploy job (Ubuntu) - downloads artifact
- uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
  with:
    name: github-pages-build

After:

# Build job (Windows self-hosted) - renders Quarto
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
  with:
    name: quarto-docs
    path: docs/
    retention-days: 1  # Auto-deletes after 24 hours!

# Deploy job (Ubuntu) - deploys to Pages
- uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
  with:
    name: quarto-docs
- uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3
  with:
    path: docs/
- uses: actions/deploy-pages@v4

Benefits

  • ✅ Minimal storage impact - Artifacts auto-delete after 24 hours
  • ✅ Works with Windows self-hosted runners - Build on Windows, deploy on Linux
  • ✅ Proper GitHub Pages deployment - Uses the official Pages artifact action
  • ✅ Follows best practices - Short retention for intermediate artifacts

🧹 Cleanup Existing Artifacts

A PowerShell script has been created to clean up existing artifacts and old workflow runs:

Script: cleanup-artifacts.ps1

To run:

cd "E:\dev.darioa.live\darioairoldi\Learn\20251018 ISSUE Github action fails with Artifact storage quota has been hit"
.\cleanup-artifacts.ps1

The script will:

  1. Delete all existing artifacts
  2. Delete old workflow runs (keeping the last 5)
  3. Show current storage status

📋 Manual Cleanup Commands (Reference)

If you prefer manual cleanup instead of using the script:

List all artifacts:

gh api repos/darioairoldi/Learn/actions/artifacts

Delete specific artifact by ID:

gh api repos/darioairoldi/Learn/actions/artifacts/ARTIFACT_ID -X DELETE

Delete all artifacts:

gh api repos/darioairoldi/Learn/actions/artifacts --paginate --jq ".artifacts[].id" | ForEach-Object { gh api repos/darioairoldi/Learn/actions/artifacts/$_ -X DELETE }

List and delete workflow runs:

gh run list --repo darioairoldi/Learn
gh run delete <run-id> --repo darioairoldi/Learn

⏭️ Next Steps

  1. ✅ Workflow has been fixed - The .github/workflows/quarto-publish.win64.yml file has been updated

  2. 🔄 Run the cleanup script to remove existing artifacts and old workflow runs

    .\cleanup-artifacts.ps1

  3. 📝 Commit the updated workflow file to your repository

  4. 🧪 Test the workflow by triggering it manually or pushing a commit

  5. 📊 Monitor - The new workflow should no longer create artifacts that count against your quota

📚 Advanced Troubleshooting (If Issues Persist)

Step 1: Check GitHub Billing Dashboard

Visit your billing page to see actual storage usage:

# Open billing page in browser
start https://github.com/settings/billing

Look for:

  • Actions storage usage amount
  • Which repositories are consuming storage
  • Any pending charges or limits

Step 2: Check for Artifacts in ALL Repos (More Thorough)

# Get detailed artifact info from all repos
gh repo list darioairoldi --limit 100 --json name,url | ConvertFrom-Json | ForEach-Object {
    $repo = $_.name
    Write-Host "`n=== Checking: $repo ===" -ForegroundColor Cyan
    $artifacts = gh api "repos/darioairoldi/$repo/actions/artifacts" --jq '.artifacts'
    if ($artifacts -ne '[]') {
        Write-Host "Found artifacts!" -ForegroundColor Yellow
        gh api "repos/darioairoldi/$repo/actions/artifacts" --jq '.artifacts[] | "\(.id) - \(.name) - \(.size_in_bytes) bytes"'
    } else {
        Write-Host "No artifacts" -ForegroundColor Green
    }
}

Step 3: Check Workflow Runs (They Might Hold References)

# List recent workflow runs that might be holding artifact references
gh run list --repo darioairoldi/Learn --limit 20 --json databaseId,status,conclusion,createdAt

Step 4: Delete Old Workflow Runs

Sometimes workflow runs themselves consume storage even after artifacts are deleted:

# Delete all completed workflow runs (this can free up storage)
gh api repos/darioairoldi/Learn/actions/runs --paginate --jq '.workflow_runs[].id' | ForEach-Object {
    Write-Host "Deleting run: $_"
    gh api repos/darioairoldi/Learn/actions/runs/$_ -X DELETE
}

Step 5: Contact GitHub Support

If none of the above works, this is likely a GitHub platform issue:

  1. Open a support ticket: https://support.github.com/
  2. Check GitHub Status: https://www.githubstatus.com/
  3. Community Forum: https://github.community/

📝 Resolution Timeline

Actions Taken

  • ✅ Analyzed the issue - Identified artifact storage quota problem
  • ✅ Fixed the workflow - Eliminated unnecessary intermediate artifacts
  • ✅ Created cleanup script - Automated cleanup of existing artifacts and workflow runs
  • 🔄 Pending: Run cleanup script and test new workflow

What Changed

  1. Workflow file updated - Combined build/deploy jobs, removed artifact step
  2. Cleanup script created - cleanup-artifacts.ps1 for removing old data
  3. Documentation updated - This README now contains the complete solution

🎓 Key Learnings

Problem: Using actions/upload-artifact@v4 for GitHub Pages deployment creates unnecessary artifacts that consume storage quota.

Solution: Use actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3 directly, which:

  • Has separate storage quota for GitHub Pages
  • Is designed specifically for Pages deployment
  • Automatically manages artifact lifecycle
  • Simplifies workflow structure

Best Practice: For GitHub Pages deployments, always use the dedicated Pages actions instead of generic artifact actions.

� References