diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 1b274c4..f1930c8 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 variables:
   DOCKER_TARGET_IMAGE: registry.ddbuild.io/ci/datadog-lambda-rb
   DOCKER_TARGET_VERSION: latest
+  GIT_REF:
+    description: branch/ref of dd-trace-rb to build the layer from. leave empty to use the latest release
+    value: ""
+  UPDATE_SNAPSHOTS:
+    description: whether or not to create new snapshots
+    value: ""
 
 stages:
   - pre
@@ -45,6 +51,9 @@ generator:
 build:
   stage: build
   trigger:
+    forward:
+      pipeline_variables: true
+      yaml_variables: true
     include:
       - artifact: .gitlab/build-pipeline.yaml
         job: generator
diff --git a/.gitlab/scripts/build_layer.sh b/.gitlab/scripts/build_layer.sh
index 5b09b9d..c8505a9 100755
--- a/.gitlab/scripts/build_layer.sh
+++ b/.gitlab/scripts/build_layer.sh
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ function docker_build_zip {
 
     destination=$(make_path_absolute $2)
     arch=$3
+    ref=$4
 
     # Install datadog ruby in a docker container to avoid the mess from switching
     # between different ruby runtimes.
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ function docker_build_zip {
     docker buildx build -t datadog-lambda-ruby-${arch}:$1 . --no-cache \
         --build-arg "image=ruby:${1}" \
         --build-arg "runtime=${1}.0" \
+        --build-arg "git_ref=${ref}" \
         --platform linux/${arch} \
         --progress=plain \
         -o $temp_dir
@@ -59,7 +61,7 @@ rm -rf $LAYER_DIR
 mkdir $LAYER_DIR
 
 echo "Building layer for Ruby $RUBY_VERSION with architecture $ARCH"
-docker_build_zip $RUBY_VERSION $LAYER_DIR/${LAYER_FILES_PREFIX}-${ARCH}-${RUBY_VERSION}.zip $ARCH
+docker_build_zip $RUBY_VERSION $LAYER_DIR/${LAYER_FILES_PREFIX}-${ARCH}-${RUBY_VERSION}.zip $ARCH $GIT_REF
 
 echo "Done creating layers:"
 ls $LAYER_DIR | xargs -I _ echo "$LAYER_DIR/_"
diff --git a/.gitlab/template.yaml.tpl b/.gitlab/template.yaml.tpl
index 1c91ae5..2074a0e 100644
--- a/.gitlab/template.yaml.tpl
+++ b/.gitlab/template.yaml.tpl
@@ -63,11 +63,17 @@ integration test ({{ $runtime.ruby_version }}, {{ $runtime.arch }}):
   stage: test
   tags: ["arch:amd64"]
   image: ${CI_DOCKER_TARGET_IMAGE}:${CI_DOCKER_TARGET_VERSION}
-  needs: 
+  needs:
     - build layer ({{ $runtime.ruby_version }}, {{ $runtime.arch }})
   dependencies:
     - build layer ({{ $runtime.ruby_version }}, {{ $runtime.arch }})
   cache: &{{ $runtime.name }}-{{ $runtime.arch }}-cache
+  artifacts:
+    when: always
+    expire_in: 1 week
+    name: snapshots-{{ $runtime.ruby_version }}-{{ $runtime.arch }}-${CI_JOB_ID}
+    paths:
+      - integration_tests/snapshots/
   before_script:
     - EXTERNAL_ID_NAME=integration-test-externalid ROLE_TO_ASSUME=sandbox-integration-test-deployer AWS_ACCOUNT=425362996713 source .gitlab/scripts/get_secrets.sh
     - cd integration_tests && yarn install && cd ..
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index d03eec0..432cc5e 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 ARG image
 FROM $image AS builder
+ARG git_ref
 ARG runtime
+RUN echo "git_ref: $git_ref"
 # Install dev dependencies
 COPY . /var/task/datadog-lambda-rb
 WORKDIR /var/task/datadog-lambda-rb
@@ -12,8 +14,17 @@ RUN gem build datadog-lambda
 
 # Install ddtrace gem
 RUN gem install datadog-lambda --install-dir "/opt/ruby/gems/$runtime"
-# NOTE: datadog gem must be >= 2.24 to install on Ruby 4.0.x.
-RUN gem install datadog -v 2.30 --install-dir "/opt/ruby/gems/$runtime"
+RUN set -eux; \
+    if [ -z "${git_ref:-}" ]; then \
+        # NOTE: datadog gem must be >= 2.24 to install on Ruby 4.0.x.
+        gem install datadog -v 2.30 --install-dir "/opt/ruby/gems/$runtime"; \
+    else \
+        echo "building tracer from ref: $git_ref\n"; \
+        git clone https://github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-rb.git --depth 1 --single-branch -b $git_ref /tmp/dd-trace-rb; \
+        cd /tmp/dd-trace-rb; \
+        gem build datadog.gemspec; \
+        gem install ./datadog-*.gem --install-dir "/opt/ruby/gems/$runtime"; \
+    fi
 
 WORKDIR /opt
 # Remove native extension debase-ruby_core_source (25MB) runtimes below Ruby 2.6
diff --git a/scripts/build_layers.sh b/scripts/build_layers.sh
index a8c0f3d..c0d005c 100755
--- a/scripts/build_layers.sh
+++ b/scripts/build_layers.sh
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ function docker_build_zip {
 
     destination=$(make_path_absolute $2)
     arch=$3
+    ref=$4
 
     # Install datadog ruby in a docker container to avoid the mess from switching
     # between different ruby runtimes.
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ function docker_build_zip {
     docker buildx build -t datadog-lambda-ruby-${arch}:$1 . --no-cache \
         --build-arg "image=ruby:${1}" \
         --build-arg "runtime=${1}.0" \
+        --build-arg "git_ref=${ref}" \
         --platform linux/${arch} \
         --progress=plain \
         -o $temp_dir
@@ -57,10 +59,10 @@ mkdir $LAYER_DIR
 for ruby_version in "${RUBY_VERSIONS[@]}"
 do
     echo "Building layer for Ruby ${ruby_version} arch=arm64"
-    docker_build_zip ${ruby_version} $LAYER_DIR/${LAYER_FILES_PREFIX}-arm64-${ruby_version}.zip arm64
+    docker_build_zip ${ruby_version} $LAYER_DIR/${LAYER_FILES_PREFIX}-arm64-${ruby_version}.zip arm64 $GIT_REF
 
     echo "Building layer for Ruby ${ruby_version} arch=amd64"
-    docker_build_zip ${ruby_version} $LAYER_DIR/${LAYER_FILES_PREFIX}-amd64-${ruby_version}.zip amd64
+    docker_build_zip ${ruby_version} $LAYER_DIR/${LAYER_FILES_PREFIX}-amd64-${ruby_version}.zip amd64 $GIT_REF
 done