What is the default timeout for a GitHub Actions job if 'timeout-minutes' is not specified?
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Short Explanation and Infographic
GitHub gives each job a 60-minute safety valve by default. An infinite timeout would let stuck jobs drain your billing quota.
Full explanation below image
Full Explanation
The default 'timeout-minutes' for a job is 360 minutes (6 hours). However, many sources cite 60 minutes — in the GitHub documentation as of 2024, the default timeout-minutes is 360 for GitHub-hosted runners. Individual steps can have their own timeout-minutes. If a job exceeds its timeout, it is automatically cancelled. Self-hosted runners have no enforced default timeout. This prevents billing surprises from hung jobs consuming runner minutes indefinitely.