Sporadically, the workflow errors with `Insufficient permissions to update the state_reason.`

[jakub-g]

Description:
Using the default recommended permissions, I sometimes get

Error when updating this pull request: Insufficient permissions to update the state_reason.

Permissions used:

permissions:
  actions: write
  contents: write 
  issues: write
  pull-requests: write

Action version:
10.1.1

Platform:

• Ubuntu

Runner type:

• Hosted

Repro steps:
Not sure, it only happens on a small number of PRs.

Expected behavior:
There should be no error

Actual behavior:
There's the error in logs and summary of the action.

Although, it does not crash the workflow, and does not prevent the PR from being closed / branch from being deleted.

It's just a small nuisance.

Example logs:

[chiranjib-swain]

Hi @jakub-g ,

Thank you for raising this. We’ll look into it and share an update as soon as we have more information.

[chiranjib-swain]

Hi @jakub-g ,

I attempted to reproduce the issue in a demo repository using the same setup, including the specified permissions and actions/stale@v10.1.1, but the workflow completed successfully without encountering the “Insufficient permissions to update the state_reason” error.

Could you please confirm:

• Is the workflow triggered by pull_request?
• Is the PR coming from a fork?
• Are there any branch protection rules or additional restrictions enabled?

If possible, please share the relevant workflow YML (without sensitive data). This will help narrow down the cause.

Thank you!

[jakub-g]

Hi 👋

• the workflow is triggered on cron overnight
• no forks; it's in main repo (forking is disabled)
• protection rules or additional restrictions enabled: yes we have rules to limit e.g. who can write to main branches

Curiously, it seems to only happen in stacked pull requests, i.e. a PR from feature-branch1 to feature-branch2, never on PRs towards main.

Full YAML:

Details

name: Stale
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '40 3,4,5,6,7 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch: {} # Allow also to run manually, for easier testing

jobs:
  stale:
    permissions:
      # https://github.com/actions/stale#recommended-permissions
      actions: write
      contents: write # for delete-branch option
      issues: write
      pull-requests: write
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/stale@997185467fa4f803885201cee163a9f38240193d # v10.1.1
      with:
        operations-per-run: 150
        days-before-stale: 173
        days-before-close: 7
        ascending: true  # Start from processing oldest PRs first.
        stale-issue-message: '...'
        close-issue-message: '...'
        stale-pr-message: '...'
        close-pr-message: '...'
        stale-issue-label: 'stale'
        stale-pr-label: 'stale'
        exempt-issue-labels: 'no-stale'
        exempt-pr-labels: 'no-stale'
        remove-stale-when-updated: true
        delete-branch: true
        enable-statistics: true

[chiranjib-swain]

Hi 👋 thanks again .

I tried to reproduce the issue using stacked PRs, branch protection rules, and by forcing state_reason: 'not_planned' in the API call. In my tests, the workflow completed successfully and the GitHub API accepted the parameter without

the Insufficient permissions to update the state_reason error.

This suggests the behavior may be related to a repository-specific configuration (for example organization rulesets or permission settings).

Would it be possible to share a minimal repository where the issue can be reproduced, or provide temporary read access to the affected repository? That would help me investigate the configuration and identify the root cause.

Thanks again for your help!