During February 2026, Tom Kaplan focused on improving reliability in the bazelbuild/bazel repository by addressing a bug in lockfile validation. He refined the backend logic so that when using --lockfile_mode=error, only the user-visible workspace lockfile is validated, which prevents false-positive rollback errors and streamlines dependency management. Tom implemented this fix using Java and Python, ensuring robust test coverage to guard against regressions. He also documented the change in the release notes, clearly communicating the update to users. This targeted work enhanced the reliability of Bazel’s rollback workflows and reduced unnecessary CI noise, demonstrating careful attention to backend stability.