February 2026 Summaries

Inside Platform Engineering, hosted by Matthew Allford, features a conversation with Matt Gowie, founder of IaC consulting firm MasterPoint, about effective practices in infrastructure as code (IaC) using tools like Terraform and Open Tofu. The discussion explores the balance between building infrastructure independently and utilizing open-source modules, with Gowie emphasizing the efficiency and security benefits of the latter. He advises against spreading expertise across multiple IaC tools, advocating instead for focusing on one tool to avoid inconsistency and technical debt. Gowie also cautions against building custom pipelines in-house, as vendor tools often offer more cost-effective and maintainable solutions. The episode underscores the importance of mindful tool selection and leveraging community resources to enhance platform scalability and sustainability.

Octopus Deploy offers a variety of features and resources designed to simplify complex deployments and runbook automation, including several lesser-known tools that can enhance user experience. The Octopus Kubernetes Agent facilitates easy and secure cluster management without the need for complex network configurations, while improvements to Tentacle communications enhance reliability in challenging network environments. Infrastructure as Code users can benefit from the Octopus Terraform provider and OctoTerra, which enable streamlined version control and replication of setups. Additionally, the Octopus API examples repository and the Octopus Samples Instance offer resources for automating tasks and exploring platform capabilities in a test environment. Users can also speed up pipeline setup with the Kubernetes YAML and GitHub Actions generators, and the open-source Go API client invites contributions to the platform. These resources collectively encourage exploration and innovation in deployment automation.

Matthew Casperson's article, dated February 25, 2026, guides users through the process of creating a project with a community step template in Octopus Deploy. It highlights the prerequisites, including having an Octopus Cloud account and the Octopus AI Assistant Chrome extension, emphasizing the ease of use with the cloud-hosted version. The article provides a step-by-step process to integrate a community step template into a script project named "11. Script App with Community Step Template," using a URL from the Octopus Step Template Library to uniquely identify the template. This template, contributed by the Octopus community, adds functionality to projects by calculating and printing deployment mode information. The guide concludes by suggesting the next steps in project development, such as defining project channels.

Continuous Delivery is a software development practice that enables organizations to deploy software at any time, promoting low-risk releases, faster time-to-market, and higher quality products. It addresses the issue of deployment aversion by encouraging smaller, more frequent deployments, reducing the risk and stress associated with large batch updates. The practice requires automated feedback and deployment processes to ensure software remains deployable during feature development. By separating deployment from feature release, and using trunk-based development and feature toggles, teams can maintain a constant deployable state while managing dependencies in complex architectures. Continuous Delivery ultimately offers a competitive advantage by allowing organizations to respond swiftly to customer needs and market changes, fostering a culture of confidence and innovation in software delivery.

In a blog post by Matthew Casperson, the process of defining a tenant variable directly within an Octopus project is explained, building on the previous discussion about tenant templates in a library variable set. To get started, users need an Octopus Cloud account and the Octopus AI Assistant Chrome extension, with the cloud-hosted version providing the simplest setup. The guide details creating a script project named "10. Script App with Library Variable Set and Project Tenant Variables," where a project tenant variable called "TenantNamespace" is introduced. The post walks through creating two tenants, "Tenant C" and "Tenant D," each linked to the project with unique values for the tenant variable, and requiring tenanted deployments. This setup enables the deployment of a release where the script step outputs the tenant-specific variable values, with the next phase involving the integration of community step templates into the project.

Terraform and Argo CD are two popular tools used in modern DevOps practices, with Terraform being the leading choice for implementing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and Argo CD excelling in GitOps deployments on Kubernetes. While many resources exist for using these tools independently, there is less guidance on how to effectively integrate them, especially in terms of passing information like variables and secrets between Terraform and Argo CD. To address this, the guide outlines four approaches, including using DNS, committing files to Git, injecting Kubernetes resources directly, and using the GitOps bridge project, each with its own advantages and drawbacks. Additionally, Crossplane is mentioned as an alternative that combines infrastructure management and GitOps-style application deployment, offering a more integrated solution but requiring significant migration efforts. The guide emphasizes the importance of understanding the trade-offs of each method and tailoring the approach based on the specific needs and constraints of the organization.

The article explores the evolving landscape of developer productivity, emphasizing the impact of AI coding tools and the contrasting approaches of traditional and modern organizations. Traditional organizations focus on control, cost-cutting, and expanding teams, often struggling with integrating AI tools due to budget constraints and a lack of investment in automation. In contrast, modern organizations prioritize trust, collaboration, and high-quality tooling, which supports experimentation with AI and delivers value through continuous delivery practices. The challenges of AI adoption, including credit limitations and uncertain pricing, are highlighted, with potential solutions involving open-source models and fixed-price commercial offerings. Ultimately, the success of AI integration depends on an organization's cultural orientation towards innovation and value-driven investments.

In the discussed post, the process of defining tenant template variables within a library variable set is demonstrated, allowing for shared variables across projects in an Octopus environment. The setup involves creating a script project titled "09. Script App with Library Variable Set and Tenant Templates," which includes a library variable set named "Tenant Settings" with a "TenantNamespace" variable. Two tenants, "Tenant A" and "Tenant B," are linked to the project, each contributing their own values to the tenant template variable. The script step is configured to echo these variable values using the syntax "#{TenantNamespace}", and tenanted deployments are mandated for the project. This approach enables projects to utilize tenant-specific values without defining variables individually in each project. The post concludes by suggesting the next step of defining project tenant variables.

AI is significantly impacting the hiring and productivity of junior developers, as outlined in the AI Pulse report, which explores the adoption of AI tools in the software development industry. Despite widespread AI use, with 47% of developers integrating AI daily, the report highlights a gap between perceived and actual productivity gains, as only 1% of leaders consider their AI deployment mature. Junior developers, who spend much of their time on routine tasks, benefit most from AI, completing tasks faster, though this may create skills gaps as organizations reduce junior hiring. The report predicts a three-phase impact on the talent pipeline, starting with experimentation and leading to potential skills shortages due to reduced junior hiring and an increased reliance on senior developers. Automation through Continuous Delivery practices is essential for maximizing AI's value, and successful organizations often have automated infrastructures in place before scaling AI adoption. The strategic integration of AI tools, deployment pipelines, and human development practices is crucial for long-term success in transforming software delivery.

In the latest blog post by Matthew Casperson, the process of adding a library variable set to a project in Octopus is detailed, following a previous discussion on integrating runbooks. This guide is intended for users with an Octopus Cloud account and the Octopus AI Assistant Chrome extension, emphasizing the ease of using the cloud-hosted version. The steps involve creating a new script project named "08. Script App with Library Variable Set" and establishing a library variable set called "Common Settings," which includes reusable variables like "ConnectionString" and "ApiEndpoint." These variables are integrated into the project and utilized in script steps to echo their values, showcasing how shared variables enhance project reusability. The post concludes by suggesting the next step of defining tenant template variables in a library variable set, further advancing the project's configuration capabilities.

Matthew Casperson's post introduces the integration of runbooks into a project using Octopus Cloud, a platform for managing deployment processes. It outlines the prerequisites, including an Octopus Cloud account and the Octopus AI Assistant Chrome extension, which simplifies the setup compared to an on-premises instance. The post guides users to create a Script project titled "07. Script App with Runbooks" and add runbooks for tasks like "Backup Database" and "Restart Web App," specifying that each runbook should execute only in the Production environment. Runbooks are described as tools for handling tasks outside the regular deployment routine, and the next suggested step involves adding a library variable set to enhance project functionality.

Matthew Casperson's article introduces a method for incorporating tenants into the deployment process using Octopus, emphasizing the ease of starting with the cloud-hosted version due to its minimal configuration requirements. The process involves creating a script project titled "06. Script App with Tenants," adding five tenants named after major global capitals, and assigning a "Region" tenant tag with values "AMEA," "EMEA," and "APAC" based on their locations. Deployments now require selecting a tenant, facilitating individualized management of deployments across different cities, with tenant details viewable in the Octopus web portal. The article concludes with a hint towards the next step, which involves adding runbooks to the projects.

Matthew Casperson's guide outlines the process of incorporating build information into a deployment process using Octopus, a tool for DevOps automation. The tutorial requires an Octopus Cloud account and the Octopus AI Assistant Chrome extension, and it is easier to use the cloud-hosted version due to its minimal configuration needs. The project setup involves creating a script project named "05. Script App with Build Information" and includes steps like adding a Maven feed, referencing a package, and uploading build information using Octopus CLI. Build information is represented in a JSON file, which is typically generated by CI plugins in real-world scenarios. Additionally, the guide demonstrates configuring a mock Jira server to simulate work item integration. The example concludes with creating a release in Octopus, linking the package to the build information, and showing how associated CI builds, Git commits, and work items are presented. The next suggested step for users is to explore adding tenants to the project.

For enterprises managing numerous applications, user management can be challenging, leading to inefficiencies when onboarding or offboarding employees. The System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) addresses this by providing an API for automating user account provisioning and deletion through enterprise identity providers. By integrating SCIM, user accounts are automatically created or removed as employees are added or removed from application groups within the enterprise directory. Octopus Server, in its 2026.1 release, introduces support for SCIM with Entra ID in Early Access for those with an Enterprise license, enabling automated management of user accounts and teams. Although Entra ID is currently the only supported identity provider, plans are in place to extend support to additional providers, reflecting ongoing enhancements to this functionality.

Matthew Casperson's article, published on February 2, 2026, explores enhancing deployment processes by adding retry logic to steps in Octopus deployments. The guide requires an Octopus Cloud account and the Octopus AI Assistant Chrome extension, emphasizing the simplicity of the cloud-hosted version over on-premises setups. By creating a project titled "04. Script App with Retries," users can enable retries on script steps and simulate failures by having the script randomly fail 50% of the time, thus triggering the retry mechanism. The article notes that while invalid PowerShell scripts may occur due to the AI's output, this still serves the purpose of demonstrating retry logic. The next phase involves incorporating build information into the deployment process, marking an ongoing journey in DevOps automation with AI assistance.