For the apiserver operator to figure out the payload type and set the import mode defaults, the CVO needs to expose that value through the status field. This information is available today in the conditions list, but it's not pretty to extract it and infer the payload type as it is contained in the message string. The way to do it today is shown here. It would be better for CVO to expose it as a separate field which can be easily consumed by any controller and also be used for telemetry in the future.