diff --git a/agent/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/agent/executors/runner/JobDependencies.java b/agent/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/agent/executors/runner/JobDependencies.java
index a2e0f47364..1dc5e5ebdf 100644
--- a/agent/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/agent/executors/runner/JobDependencies.java
+++ b/agent/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/agent/executors/runner/JobDependencies.java
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ private static Map<String, String> getDependencyVersionsFromFile(RunnerJob job)
     }
 
     private static boolean isLatestVersion(String v) {
-        return v.equalsIgnoreCase("latest");
+        return "latest".equalsIgnoreCase(v);
     }
 
     private static String assertVersion(String dep, Map<String, String> versions) {
diff --git a/plugins/tasks/lock/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/plugins/lock/LockTaskCommon.java b/plugins/tasks/lock/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/plugins/lock/LockTaskCommon.java
index 408905eb9e..795386ee00 100644
--- a/plugins/tasks/lock/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/plugins/lock/LockTaskCommon.java
+++ b/plugins/tasks/lock/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/plugins/lock/LockTaskCommon.java
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ private String checkScope(String scope) {
             return null;
         }
 
-        if (!scope.equalsIgnoreCase("ORG")
-                && !scope.equalsIgnoreCase("PROJECT")) {
+        if (!"ORG".equalsIgnoreCase(scope)
+                && !"PROJECT".equalsIgnoreCase(scope)) {
 
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown scope '" + scope + "', expected: org or project");
         }
diff --git a/runtime/v1/impl/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/runner/ConcordSecurityManager.java b/runtime/v1/impl/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/runner/ConcordSecurityManager.java
index bbc013c54c..43b196ffa0 100644
--- a/runtime/v1/impl/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/runner/ConcordSecurityManager.java
+++ b/runtime/v1/impl/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/runner/ConcordSecurityManager.java
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ public void checkPermission(Permission perm) {
             String path = perm.getName();
 
             // allow all local paths
-            if (!path.startsWith("/") && !path.equals(ALL_FILES_TOKEN)) {
+            if (!path.startsWith("/") && !ALL_FILES_TOKEN.equals(path)) {
                 return;
             }
 
diff --git a/runtime/v1/project-model/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/project/yaml/converter/StepConverter.java b/runtime/v1/project-model/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/project/yaml/converter/StepConverter.java
index e95258a534..f98fbf53b6 100644
--- a/runtime/v1/project-model/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/project/yaml/converter/StepConverter.java
+++ b/runtime/v1/project-model/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/project/yaml/converter/StepConverter.java
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ default Set<VariableMapping> getVarMap(Map<String, Object> options, String key)
             result.add(new VariableMapping(null, sourceExpr, sourceValue, target, true));
         }
 
-        if (key.equals("in") && getWithItems(options) != null) {
+        if ("in".equals(key) && getWithItems(options) != null) {
             result = appendWithItemsVar(result);
         }
         return result;
diff --git a/server/impl/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/org/project/ProjectValidator.java b/server/impl/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/org/project/ProjectValidator.java
index 346362def5..bbf7d5a067 100644
--- a/server/impl/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/org/project/ProjectValidator.java
+++ b/server/impl/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/org/project/ProjectValidator.java
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ private static String getEntryPoint(Trigger t) {
 
     private static void validateSpec(Trigger t, List<String> errors) {
         String triggerName = t.name();
-        if (!triggerName.equals("cron")) {
+        if (!"cron".equals(triggerName)) {
             return;
         }
 
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ private static void validateSpec(Trigger t, List<String> errors) {
 
     private static void validateTimezone(Trigger t, List<String> errors) {
         String triggerName = t.name();
-        if (!triggerName.equals("cron")) {
+        if (!"cron".equals(triggerName)) {
             return;
         }
 
diff --git a/server/impl/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/user/UserManager.java b/server/impl/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/user/UserManager.java
index a618a31d3d..85c29fb7fa 100644
--- a/server/impl/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/user/UserManager.java
+++ b/server/impl/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/user/UserManager.java
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ private UserType assertUserType(String username, String domain, UserType type) {
     }
 
     private UserType assertSsoUserType(UserPrincipal u, UserType type) {
-        if (u.getRealm().equals(SSO_REALM_NAME)) {
+        if (SSO_REALM_NAME.equals(u.getRealm())) {
             if (userInfoProviders.get(UserType.SSO) != null) {
                 return UserType.SSO;
             }
diff --git a/server/liquibase-ext/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/liquibase/ext/ApiTokenCreator.java b/server/liquibase-ext/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/liquibase/ext/ApiTokenCreator.java
index 4f7d9d477a..cb55a547bb 100644
--- a/server/liquibase-ext/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/liquibase/ext/ApiTokenCreator.java
+++ b/server/liquibase-ext/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/liquibase/ext/ApiTokenCreator.java
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ public String getConfirmationMessage() {
 
     @Override
     public void setUp() {
-        if (this.skip.equals("true")) {
+        if ("true".equals(this.skip)) {
             this.token = null;
             return;
         }
diff --git a/server/plugins/oidc/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/plugins/oidc/OidcAuthenticationHandler.java b/server/plugins/oidc/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/plugins/oidc/OidcAuthenticationHandler.java
index 5a6bb7479d..00d42a4da0 100644
--- a/server/plugins/oidc/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/plugins/oidc/OidcAuthenticationHandler.java
+++ b/server/plugins/oidc/src/main/java/com/walmartlabs/concord/server/plugins/oidc/OidcAuthenticationHandler.java
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ public AuthenticationToken createToken(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse r
         String header = req.getHeader(AUTHORIZATION_HEADER);
         if (header != null) {
             String[] as = header.split(" ");
-            if (as.length != 2 || !as[0].equals(HEADER_PREFIX)) {
+            if (as.length != 2 || !HEADER_PREFIX.equals(as[0])) {
                 return null;
             }