Trying to treat CICD as a function interface, that is calling other jobs with inputs that return outputs, is so sketchy to me. I've been tasked with unraveling

Trying to treat CICD as a function interface, that is calling other jobs with inputs that return outputs, is so sketchy to me. I've been tasked with unraveling these types of constructions before and after that experience, I'd personally prefer anything of the sort be deprecated entirely unless it's given dramatically better dev tooling. At that point you're probably not creating builds, you're creating apps, and you should just use an actual programming language that supports tests and debugging, and pull that into your pipelines as a proper tool with proper controls and its own build.