Invalid VariableType can be included in a variable snapshot for a VCS project, causing 500 error

[patrick-smergut-octopus]

Severity

Reported by one customer, blocks release removal

Version

2026.3.14818

Latest Version

None

What happened?

An invalid VariableType can be set in the OCL for the variables of a version-controlled project, and release creation allows the invalid type to persist in the variable snapshot for the release. This breaks the release and any requests that GET the /variables/ endpoint return:

HTTP 500 "Invalid Variable Type <variable type>."

The variable type should be validated to avoid getting into a bad state.

Reproduction

1. Create a VCS/Config-as-Code project
2. Add a basic process and commit
3. Add an account type variable and commit
4. In the .OCL in the repo, change the variable > type to TokenAccount
5. Click 'Create Release' in the Octopus UI
6. See 500 error

Error and Stacktrace

500 "ErrorMessage": "Invalid Variable Type TokenAccount."

More Information

Clicking Project > Variables in the UI shows the variables.ocl is broken with the following error:

An unexpected error occurred in Octopus v2026.3.14818: "Error: Didn't expect to get here - unrecognised variable type"

Workaround

Contact Octopus Support.

[patrick-smergut-octopus]

Initial report internal