## TL;DR

ParentNotFound means the campaign ID is wrong or the campaign was deleted. DuplicateRef means you already created that variation reference, fetch it instead of recreating.

## Steps

1. What the docs say:
Official docs (AB Tasty, Variation API error codes): the real error codes when managing variations through the API. InvalidPayload means the variation data missed required fields or had invalid values. ParentNotFound means the parent campaign ID is invalid. PermissionDenied means the user cannot create or modify variations in that campaign. DuplicateRef means a variation with the same reference already exists in the campaign. InvalidDependency means a related resource is missing or not accessible.

2. What works:
When the AB Tasty Variation API errors: InvalidPayload means re-check required fields in your request body. ParentNotFound means the campaign ID is wrong or the campaign was deleted. PermissionDenied is an access problem, not a data problem, check the user's campaign permissions. DuplicateRef means you already created that variation reference, fetch it instead of recreating. InvalidDependency means create or fix the parent resource first.

## When to use

You are seeing this: What the docs say: Official docs (AB Tasty, Variation API error codes): the real error codes when managing variations through the API. Use this skill when you run into "AB Tasty Variation API errors: what InvalidPayload, DuplicateRef, and the rest mean".

## When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

## Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

## Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.