Custom Post Type uses Custom Tags in add_filter?

That particular bit of code actually appears to be incorrect, the format of the filter tag is slightly off.

But in general, some tags in WordPress are variable. Since WordPress gives you the ability to create your own post types and taxonomies, some filters and actions will contain a variable which refers to your custom type, so you can attach actions and filters that will only apply to those custom types.

As an example, refer to the codex page for manage edit-post type columns. The tag for this function is shown as:

manage_${post_type}_posts_columns

Where ${post_type} is the name of your custom type. If your post type is named feature, this filter’s tag will be:

manage_feature_posts_columns

If we look in WordPress source at the get_columns function in wp-admin/includes/class-wp-posts-list-table.php we can see where this filter is applied. First, the context of the function is determined:

$screen = get_current_screen();

if ( empty( $screen ) )
    $post_type="post";
else
    $post_type = $screen->post_type;

The $post_type variable is set to the type of post currently being edited. Then further down, the filter is applied, inserting this post type variable, allowing the user to add their own columns for their custom type to the edit screen:

$posts_columns = apply_filters( "manage_{$post_type}_posts_columns", $posts_columns );