Always use explicit, specific configurations in CI/CD pipelines to prevent ambiguity and conflicts. This includes:

1. Clear environment naming - Use specific environment names to avoid test execution conflicts between components. For example, prefer py3{8,9,10,11,12}-test-opentelemetry-proto-protobuf5 over more ambiguous patterns like py3{8,9,10,11,12}-test-opentelemetry-proto-{0,1}.

2. Full paths for output files - Always specify complete paths for output artifacts to ensure they’re generated in the expected location: ```

   Recommended

   pytest {toxinidir}/opentelemetry-sdk/benchmarks –benchmark-json={toxinidir}/opentelemetry-sdk/sdk-benchmark.json {posargs}

Avoid

pytest {toxinidir}/opentelemetry-sdk/benchmarks {posargs} –benchmark-json=sdk-benchmark.json

3. **Explicit dependency references** - When dependencies must be pinned to specific versions or commits, clearly document why with comments and references to pending PRs:

Original configuration (will be restored when PR #2687 is merged)

CONTRIB_REPO_SHA={env:CONTRIB_REPO_SHA:main}

CONTRIB_REPO_SHA=e36889568d1c57c5f6e1dfa65a73519a8eb6607d ```

These practices improve pipeline reliability, reduce debugging time, and make CI configurations more maintainable across the team.