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Version pinning

By Updated

Fixing, in the registry entry, the exact versions of the model, prompts, retrieval corpus and guardrails a deployed system uses, so what ran is known and any unpinned change, including a vendor's model update, is detected and treated as a release.

Developed in
ch. 15, Progressive delivery as a control
ch. 05, Pattern: Staged Rollout with Rollback Criteria
Chapters
ch. 05, Patterns · ch. 15, Deployment
Source
Defined by this Body of Knowledge: the section it is developed in is the source

Where it is used

2 chapters of the Body of Knowledge use the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

Version pinning: mentions per chapter3 mentions of the term across 2 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapterCross-referenced, not named05 Patterns011 AI Defined: 1 mention11 AI Defined115 Deployment: 2 mentions15 Deployment2No mentions in the other 20 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Version pinning: mentions per chapter3 mentions of the term across 2 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapterCross-referenced, not named0001020304050607081011 AI Defined: 1 mention11112131415 Deployment: 2 mentions2151617181920212223Source: the Body of Knowledge v0.5.0
Mentions per chapter How often each chapter names the term, with the chapters the glossary cross-references drawn solid. The longest bar is where to read the term in use; bars spread across many chapters mark a term that runs through the discipline.
Mentions as a table
Mentions of Version pinning per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition0No
02 Why Now0No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack0No
05 Patterns0Yes
06 The Role0No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map0No
10 Reading List0No
11 AI Defined1No
12 Governance Program0No
13 Risk Management0No
14 Development0No
15 Deployment2Yes
16 Fairness & XAI0No
17 Incidents0No
18 EU AI Act0No
19 Privacy & AI0No
20 Existing Law0No
21 AI Laws Worldwide0No
22 Principles & Standards0No
23 AI Agents0No
Version pinning: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedVersion pinningRelated terms (6)Blue-green deployment · RelatedBlue-green deploymentCanary release · RelatedCanary releaseGuardrail · RelatedGuardrailProgressive delivery · RelatedProgressive deliveryRollback criteria · RelatedRollback criteriaShadow deployment · RelatedShadow deployment
Version pinning: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedRelated terms (6)Blue-green deployment · RelatedBlue-green deploymentCanary release · RelatedCanary releaseGuardrail · RelatedGuardrailProgressive delivery · RelatedProgressive deliveryRollback criteria · RelatedRollback criteriaShadow deployment · RelatedShadow deploymentVersion pinning
The term's neighbourhood Terms related to this one on solid edges, terms it is often confused with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer. Follow a dashed edge to check the distinction before you use either term.
Neighbourhood as a table
Neighbourhood of Version pinning
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsBlue-green deploymentRelated
Related termsCanary releaseRelated
Related termsGuardrailRelated
Related termsProgressive deliveryRelated
Related termsRollback criteriaRelated
Related termsShadow deploymentRelated
  • Blue-green deployment

    Two identical production environments with traffic switched between them, so a release can be rolled back by switching back.

  • Canary release

    A partial, time-limited deployment of a change to a small share of production traffic, evaluated against a control group before the rollout continues.

  • Progressive delivery

    Releasing a change to a small, growing share of real traffic in stages (shadow, pilot, canary, general availability), each with rollback criteria registered…

  • Rollback criteria

    The conditions, written into the rollout plan before a release stage starts, under which the pipeline returns to the previous version automatically: a floor…

  • Shadow deployment

    A release stage in which a new model or system receives live inputs but its outputs are not used, so its behaviour on real traffic can be compared with the…

  • Guardrail

    A runtime control that inspects or mediates a model's or agent's inputs, outputs or tool calls and blocks, rewrites or escalates what breaks a policy, logging…

Sources

No external source: the term is coined or used in a specific sense by this Body of Knowledge, and the section linked under "Developed in" is its source.

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Version pinning. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/version-pinning. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026versionpinning,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Version pinning}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/version-pinning}
}