A secure and flexible pipeline management solution includes determining, based at least on an order in which files are received, a precedence for defining variables, and when a file has multiple definitions for a variable, the order of appearance of the definitions defines precedence. A configuration file is generated with controlling definitions, which are based on the precedences, and a continuous integration continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline is executed dependent upon the configuration file. Multiple inheritances and string interpolation are supported. An advantageous result is a significantly simplified CI/CD pipeline that is secure, flexible, and is agnostic to the target environment. Thus, adding a new environment may not require the conventional (burdensome) task of adding further logical dependencies into the pipeline itself. The disclosed solution thus enhances efficiency and reduces errors when maintaining code bases.