Version pinning

The practice of specifying and holding a fixed, exact model build rather than a general model name, so that the version you tested is the version you run and a vendor update cannot change your system's behavior without your knowledge. Version pinning is a precondition for reproducibility and for defending an answer after the fact.

The practice of specifying an exact, immutable version identifier for a dependency or data artifact, rather than allowing a system to automatically resolve to "latest," which closes the window an attacker would otherwise have to insert a newer, malicious version under the same name.

The practice of recording the specific Git commit hash at which a demo video or published artifact was produced, and noting it in the README. Version pinning creates an audit trail that prevents confusion when the code evolves after the demo is recorded.

Locking an AI process to a specific vendor model version rather than "latest," so a vendor's update cannot silently change your process's behavior without your knowledge.

The negotiated right to remain on a named model version for a defined period rather than being force-migrated, buying time for re-evaluation and redeployment; vendors resist indefinite pinning because serving old versions has real costs.