Configurable step cancellation grace period (e.g. env var or runner setting)

[tomaszkrawczyk-dealsumm]

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Discussion Details

Configurable step cancellation grace period

Summary

When a workflow run is cancelled, the runner uses a fixed sequence to stop the step process: it sends SIGINT, then after 7.5 seconds sends SIGTERM, then after another 2.5 seconds kills the process tree (Workflow cancellation reference). So the step has about 10 seconds to shut down.

We need a longer grace period (e.g. 120 seconds) so that steps like terraform apply can release state locks and exit cleanly when a run is cancelled. Right now, if Terraform doesn’t finish within ~10 seconds, the process is killed and the state lock can be left stuck, requiring manual terraform force-unlock.

Proposed solution

Add a supported way to configure the step cancellation grace period. For example:

Option A – Environment variable (e.g. on the runner or job):

• ACTIONS_STEP_CANCEL_GRACE_SECONDS=120
  (or an equivalent name, e.g. ACTIONS_CANCEL_GRACE_MS in milliseconds).

Option B – Runner configuration (e.g. in .runner or runner config):

• A setting such as StepCancelGraceSeconds = 120 that the runner reads at startup.

Option C – Workflow-level setting (e.g. in the job):

• Something like cancel-grace-period: 120 (seconds) so only jobs that need it opt in.

If the variable/setting is unset or invalid, keep the current behaviour (7.5s + 2.5s).

Why it matters

• Long-running steps (Terraform, Docker builds, etc.) often need more than 10 seconds to release resources (locks, connections, state) on cancel.
• Without a longer grace period, teams either accept stuck resources and manual cleanup or run custom-built runners with patched timeouts.
• A single, documented knob (env var or config) would cover self-hosted and, if supported, hosted runners, without changing the default for existing users.

References

• Workflow cancellation reference
• Related: actions/runner#3134
• Community discussion on cancellation/signals

Thanks for considering this.

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[AAbdullahRajput]

Hi @tomaszkrawczyk-dealsumm,

Great feedback! The 10-second cancellation window is definitely too short for tools like Terraform that need time to release state locks cleanly.

Of your three options, Option C (workflow-level cancel-grace-period) seems the safest since it doesn't affect existing workflows and lets teams opt in only where needed.

Hope GitHub prioritizes this — stuck state locks are a real headache! 👍

[hurshidealsumm]

Agreed—10 seconds is often too short for safely cleaning up resources. A configurable cancel-grace-period at the workflow level would be a practical, low-impact solution.