phacility/phabricator · error · Exception

Build target ("%s") has the wrong type of build step. Only C

Error message

Build target ("%s") has the wrong type of build step. Only CircleCI build steps may be updated via the CircleCI webhook.

What it means

CircleCI's counterpart of the Buildkite step-type check: updateTarget() loads the target's build step and requires the implementation to be HarbormasterCircleCIBuildStepImplementation. A CircleCI webhook payload that resolves to a target owned by any other step type (Buildkite, HTTP, script, ...) is rejected before its 'status' is mapped to pass/fail messages.

Source

Thrown at src/applications/harbormaster/controller/HarbormasterCircleCIHookController.php:57

      if ($target) {
        $unguarded = AphrontWriteGuard::beginScopedUnguardedWrites();
        $this->updateTarget($target, $payload);
      }
    }

    $response = new AphrontWebpageResponse();
    $response->setContent(pht("Request OK\n"));
    return $response;
  }

  private function updateTarget(
    HarbormasterBuildTarget $target,
    array $payload) {

    $step = $target->getBuildStep();
    $impl = $step->getStepImplementation();
    if (!($impl instanceof HarbormasterCircleCIBuildStepImplementation)) {
      throw new Exception(
        pht(
          'Build target ("%s") has the wrong type of build step. Only '.
          'CircleCI build steps may be updated via the CircleCI webhook.',
          $target->getPHID()));
    }

    switch (idx($payload, 'status')) {
      case 'success':
      case 'fixed':
        $message_type = HarbormasterMessageType::MESSAGE_PASS;
        break;
      default:
        $message_type = HarbormasterMessageType::MESSAGE_FAIL;
        break;
    }

    $viewer = PhabricatorUser::getOmnipotentUser();

View on GitHub (pinned to 5720a38cfe)

Solutions

Make sure the CircleCI webhook URL points at the CircleCI hook (harbormaster/circleci/) and references a target created by a CircleCI build step.
Open the build in the Harbormaster UI and confirm the target's step is a CircleCI step; if the plan changed, trigger a new build.
Re-send the notification only for targets that belong to CircleCI steps.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

$impl = $target->getBuildStep()->getStepImplementation();
if (!($impl instanceof HarbormasterCircleCIBuildStepImplementation)) {
  // wrong hook for this target; do not apply the payload
}

Type guard

function isCircleCITarget(HarbormasterBuildTarget $target) {
  return $target->getBuildStep()->getStepImplementation()
    instanceof HarbormasterCircleCIBuildStepImplementation;
}

Prevention

Keep one webhook URL per CI provider and configure it only on projects whose Harbormaster plans use that provider's step.
After changing a plan's steps, trigger fresh builds so new targets match the new step types before old notifications arrive.
Validate step type in custom automation before pushing external build status into targets.

When it happens

Trigger: A CircleCI notification carrying a build/step reference (query parameters on the hook URL) that points at a non-CircleCI target; swapping webhooks between the CircleCI and Buildkite endpoints; a plan whose step was changed after the build started; stale notifications for targets from an older plan revision.

Common situations: Configuring the CircleCI webhook on a repository whose Harbormaster plan uses a different CI step; replaying notifications after re-editing the plan; test payloads built from another step's target.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of phacility/phabricator@5720a38cfe (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1002f916df99e8fd. Report an issue: GitHub.