Always standardize configuration values to ensure consistency, reproducibility, and maintainability: 1. **Pin specific versions** instead of using floating tags for dependencies to ensure consistent behavior across environments. ```diff - image: redis:6.0 + image: redis:6.0.20 ``` 2. **Centralize repeated values** as environment variables or constants to avoid duplication and simplify updates. ```diff - curl -L https://github.com/golang-migrate/migrate/releases/download/v4.18.3/migrate.linux-amd64.tar.gz | tar xvz + MIGRATE_VERSION="v4.18.3" + curl -L https://github.com/golang-migrate/migrate/releases/download/$MIGRATE_VERSION/migrate.linux-amd64.tar.gz | tar xvz ``` 3. **Use official defaults** when configuring services, then provide clear documentation for any custom values and ensure they can be overridden when needed. ```yaml # Use environment variables with descriptive comments CLICKHOUSE_MAX_MEMORY_USAGE: "${CLICKHOUSE_MEM:-800000000}" # Default ~800MB, override with CLICKHOUSE_MEM ``` This approach reduces maintenance burden, makes configuration changes safer and more deliberate, and provides better visibility into how systems are configured.