diff --git a/src/commands/clusters/create.ts b/src/commands/clusters/create.ts
index 3a47e791f..03d5c7ff6 100644
--- a/src/commands/clusters/create.ts
+++ b/src/commands/clusters/create.ts
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ export default class ClusterCreate extends BaseCommand {
     const cluster_names = new Set(clusters.map(cluster => cluster.name.toLowerCase()));
 
     if (args.cluster && cluster_names.has(args.cluster)) {
-      console.log(chalk.red('A cluster already exists with the desired name please enter a new one.'));
+      console.log(chalk.red('A cluster already exists with the desired name. Please enter a new one.'));
       args.cluster = '';
     }
 
diff --git a/src/commands/register.ts b/src/commands/register.ts
index 73d6fb89d..17cfc9c44 100644
--- a/src/commands/register.ts
+++ b/src/commands/register.ts
@@ -278,6 +278,7 @@ export default class ComponentRegister extends BaseCommand {
         continue;
       }
       delete service.debug; // we don't need to compare the debug block for remotely-deployed components
+      delete service.build; // build block data isn't relevant to remotely-deployed components
       if (service instanceof ServiceSpec && service.enabled !== undefined && !service.enabled) {
         continue;
       }
diff --git a/src/dependency-manager/spec/resource-spec.ts b/src/dependency-manager/spec/resource-spec.ts
index 1af8a1744..67c2244ad 100644
--- a/src/dependency-manager/spec/resource-spec.ts
+++ b/src/dependency-manager/spec/resource-spec.ts
@@ -2,14 +2,11 @@ import { IsOptional, ValidateNested } from 'class-validator';
 import { JSONSchema } from 'class-validator-jsonschema';
 import { Dictionary } from '../utils/dictionary';
 import { SecretSpecValue } from './secret-spec';
-import { AnyOf, ArrayOf, ExclusiveOrNeither, ExpressionOr, ExpressionOrString, OneOf, StringOrStringArray } from './utils/json-schema-annotations';
+import { AnyOf, ArrayOf, ExclusiveOrNeither, ExpressionOr, ExpressionOrString, StringOrStringArray } from './utils/json-schema-annotations';
 import { ResourceType, Slugs } from './utils/slugs';
 
 @JSONSchema({
   description: 'An object containing the details necessary for Architect to build the service via Docker. Whenever a service that specifies a build field is registered with Architect, the CLI will trigger a docker build and replace the build field with a resolvable image.',
-  errorMessage: {
-    not: 'Buildpack and Dockerfile cannot be used at the same time',
-  },
   ...ExclusiveOrNeither('buildpack', 'dockerfile'),
 })
 export class BuildSpec {
@@ -56,9 +53,6 @@ export class BuildSpec {
   target?: string;
 }
 
-@JSONSchema({
-  ...OneOf('build', 'image'),
-})
 export abstract class ResourceSpec {
   abstract get resource_type(): ResourceType;
 
diff --git a/src/dependency-manager/spec/service-spec.ts b/src/dependency-manager/spec/service-spec.ts
index 33d028342..bd4431d02 100644
--- a/src/dependency-manager/spec/service-spec.ts
+++ b/src/dependency-manager/spec/service-spec.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { Dictionary } from '../utils/dictionary';
 import { LivenessProbeSpec, VolumeSpec } from './common-spec';
 import { ResourceSpec } from './resource-spec';
 import { transformObject } from './transform/common-transform';
-import { AnyOf, ExclusiveOr, ExpressionOr, ExpressionOrString, RequiredOr } from './utils/json-schema-annotations';
+import { AnyOf, ExclusiveOr, ExclusiveOrNeither, ExpressionOr, ExpressionOrString, RequiredOr } from './utils/json-schema-annotations';
 import { ResourceType, Slugs } from './utils/slugs';
 
 @JSONSchema({
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ export class ServiceInterfaceSpec {
 
 @JSONSchema({
   description: 'A runtimes (e.g. daemons, servers, etc.). Each service is independently deployable and scalable. Services are 1:1 with a docker image.',
+  ...ExclusiveOrNeither('build', 'image'),
 })
 export class ServiceSpec extends ResourceSpec {
   get resource_type(): ResourceType {
diff --git a/src/dependency-manager/spec/task-spec.ts b/src/dependency-manager/spec/task-spec.ts
index 81f069938..d54c9a585 100644
--- a/src/dependency-manager/spec/task-spec.ts
+++ b/src/dependency-manager/spec/task-spec.ts
@@ -2,11 +2,12 @@ import { IsOptional, ValidateNested } from 'class-validator';
 import { JSONSchema } from 'class-validator-jsonschema';
 import { WithRequired } from '../../common/utils/types';
 import { ResourceSpec } from './resource-spec';
-import { ExpressionOrString } from './utils/json-schema-annotations';
+import { ExclusiveOrNeither, ExpressionOrString } from './utils/json-schema-annotations';
 import { ResourceType } from './utils/slugs';
 
 @JSONSchema({
   description: 'A Task represents a recurring and/or exiting runtime (e.g. crons, schedulers, triggered jobs). Each task will run on its specified schedule and/or be triggerable via the Architect CLI. Tasks are 1:1 with a docker image.',
+  ...ExclusiveOrNeither('build', 'image'),
 })
 export class TaskSpec extends ResourceSpec {
   get resource_type(): ResourceType {
diff --git a/src/dependency-manager/spec/utils/json-schema-annotations.ts b/src/dependency-manager/spec/utils/json-schema-annotations.ts
index 952c6c0a6..384326ca2 100644
--- a/src/dependency-manager/spec/utils/json-schema-annotations.ts
+++ b/src/dependency-manager/spec/utils/json-schema-annotations.ts
@@ -124,6 +124,9 @@ export const ExclusiveOrNeither = (...properties: string[]): DecoratorSchema =>
       type: 'object',
       required: [...properties],
     },
+    errorMessage: {
+      not: `Only one of ${properties.join(', ')} is allowed, or none should exist`,
+    },
   } as DecoratorSchema;
 };
 
diff --git a/test/dependency-manager/spec/component-spec.unit.test.ts b/test/dependency-manager/spec/component-spec.unit.test.ts
index 9649dfcf6..2cbe32f3c 100644
--- a/test/dependency-manager/spec/component-spec.unit.test.ts
+++ b/test/dependency-manager/spec/component-spec.unit.test.ts
@@ -6,9 +6,8 @@ import { overrideSpec } from '../../../src/dependency-manager/spec/utils/spec-me
 import { loadAllTestSpecCombinations } from './partials/spec-test-harness';
 
 describe('component spec unit test', () => {
-  const all_spec_combinations = loadAllTestSpecCombinations();
-
   it(`recursively test partial architect components`, () => {
+    const all_spec_combinations = loadAllTestSpecCombinations();
     console.debug(`recursively testing ${all_spec_combinations.length} combined components...`);
     for (const component of all_spec_combinations) {
       const source_yml = dumpToYml(component);
diff --git a/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/_image/image.yml b/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/_image/image.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4f780b682
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/_image/image.yml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+heroku/nodejs-hello-world
diff --git a/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/basic-service.yml b/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/basic-service.yml
index 3aa91b1bf..6f380a7a5 100644
--- a/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/basic-service.yml
+++ b/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/basic-service.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
 hello:
-  image: heroku/nodejs-hello-world
   description: Hello world test service
   language: javascript
diff --git a/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/service-with-command-array.yml b/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/service-with-command-array.yml
index b57c1f977..0e737a6bf 100644
--- a/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/service-with-command-array.yml
+++ b/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/service-with-command-array.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 hello:
-  image: heroku/nodejs-hello-world
   command:
     - echo "starting up..."
     - bin/web
diff --git a/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/service-with-command.yml b/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/service-with-command.yml
index 6543ca15a..3d33f402f 100644
--- a/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/service-with-command.yml
+++ b/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/service-with-command.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,2 @@
 hello:
-  image: heroku/nodejs-hello-world
   command: bin/web
diff --git a/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/service-with-entrypoint.yml b/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/service-with-entrypoint.yml
index 517ee0a93..a7c9b3c0a 100644
--- a/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/service-with-entrypoint.yml
+++ b/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/root/services/service-with-entrypoint.yml
@@ -1,3 +1,2 @@
 hello:
-  image: heroku/nodejs-hello-world
   entrypoint: bin/web
diff --git a/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/spec-test-harness.ts b/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/spec-test-harness.ts
index 7f7fb5670..8f729f2e8 100644
--- a/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/spec-test-harness.ts
+++ b/test/dependency-manager/spec/partials/spec-test-harness.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import path from 'path';
 import { parseSourceYml } from '../../../../src';
 
+const xor_spec_properties: string[][] = [ // can't let conflicting properties be joined in one spec
+  ['build', 'image'],
+];
+
 const lsDirectories = (dir: string) => {
   return fs.readdirSync(path.resolve(dir), { withFileTypes: true })
     .filter(dirent => dirent.isDirectory())
@@ -38,17 +42,44 @@ const recursiveMergeTree = (tree: RecursivePartialsTree): object[] => {
       const child_partials = recursiveMergeTree(child_tree);
 
       const merged_partials = tree.partials.map(current_partial => {
-        return child_partials.map(child_partial => {
+        let accums: object[] = [];
+        for (const child_partial of child_partials) {
           if (child_key.startsWith('_')) {
             let accum = current_partial;
-            for (const current_key of Object.keys(accum)) {
-              accum[current_key] = deepmerge(accum[current_key], { [child_key.replace('_', '')]: child_partial });
+            const resource_name = Object.keys(accum)[0];
+
+            const spec_child_key = child_key.replace('_', '');
+            let xor_mapping_values;
+            for (const xor_array of xor_spec_properties) {
+              if (xor_array.includes(spec_child_key)) {
+                xor_mapping_values = xor_array.filter(v => v !== spec_child_key);
+                break;
+              }
+            }
+            let alt_accums: object[] = [];
+            for (const xor_mapping_value of (xor_mapping_values || [])) {
+              if (Object.keys(accum[resource_name]).includes(xor_mapping_value)) {
+                const alt_accum = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(accum)); // deep copy
+                delete alt_accum[resource_name][xor_mapping_value];
+                for (const current_key of Object.keys(alt_accum)) {
+                  alt_accum[current_key] = deepmerge(alt_accum[current_key], { [spec_child_key]: child_partial });
+                }
+                alt_accums.push(alt_accum);
+              }
             }
-            return accum;
+
+            if (!alt_accums.length) { // if not alternative, current partial should be added to the spec
+              for (const current_key of Object.keys(accum)) {
+                accum[current_key] = deepmerge(accum[current_key], { [spec_child_key]: child_partial });
+              }
+            }
+
+            accums = accums.concat([accum, ...alt_accums]);
           } else {
-            return deepmerge(current_partial, { [child_key]: child_partial }) as object
+            accums.push(deepmerge(current_partial, { [child_key]: child_partial }) as object);
           }
-        });
+        }
+        return accums;
       }).reduce((accumulator, value) => accumulator.concat(value), []);
 
       return merged_partials;
diff --git a/test/dependency-manager/validation.test.ts b/test/dependency-manager/validation.test.ts
index 0fb826e57..5f241193d 100644
--- a/test/dependency-manager/validation.test.ts
+++ b/test/dependency-manager/validation.test.ts
@@ -401,6 +401,119 @@ services:
     });
   });
 
+  describe('service config validation', () => {
+    it(`build and image can't be specified together`, async () => {
+      const component_config = `
+      name: test-component
+      services:
+        app:
+          interfaces:
+            main: 8080
+          build:
+            context: .
+          image: postgres:15
+      `;
+      mock_fs({
+        '/component.yml': component_config,
+      });
+      const manager = new LocalDependencyManager(axios.create(), 'architect', {
+        'test-component': '/component.yml',
+      });
+      let err;
+      try {
+        await manager.getGraph([
+          await manager.loadComponentSpec('test-component'),
+        ]);
+      } catch (e: any) {
+        err = e;
+      }
+
+      expect(err).instanceOf(ValidationErrors);
+      const errors = JSON.parse(err.message) as ValidationError[];
+      expect(errors).lengthOf(1);
+      expect(errors[0].message).includes('Only one of build, image is allowed, or none should exist');
+      expect(errors[0].component).eq('test-component');
+      expect(errors[0].path).eq('services.app');
+      expect(Object.keys(errors[0].value)).to.include('image');
+      expect(Object.keys(errors[0].value)).to.include('build');
+      expect(process.exitCode).eq(1);
+    });
+
+    it(`buildpack and dockerfile can't be specified together`, async () => {
+      const component_config = `
+      name: test-component
+      services:
+        app:
+          interfaces:
+            main: 8080
+          build:
+            buildpack: true
+            dockerfile: Dockerfile
+      `;
+      mock_fs({
+        '/component.yml': component_config,
+      });
+      const manager = new LocalDependencyManager(axios.create(), 'architect', {
+        'test-component': '/component.yml',
+      });
+      let err;
+      try {
+        await manager.getGraph([
+          await manager.loadComponentSpec('test-component'),
+        ]);
+      } catch (e: any) {
+        err = e;
+      }
+
+      expect(err).instanceOf(ValidationErrors);
+      const errors = JSON.parse(err.message) as ValidationError[];
+      expect(errors).lengthOf(1);
+      expect(errors[0].message).includes('Only one of buildpack, dockerfile is allowed, or none should exist');
+      expect(errors[0].component).eq('test-component');
+      expect(errors[0].path).eq('services.app.build');
+      expect(Object.keys(errors[0].value)).to.include('buildpack');
+      expect(Object.keys(errors[0].value)).to.include('dockerfile');
+      expect(process.exitCode).eq(1);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('task config validation', () => {
+    it(`buildpack and dockerfile can't be specified together`, async () => {
+      const component_config = `
+      name: test-component
+      tasks:
+        task:
+          build:
+            buildpack: true
+            dockerfile: Dockerfile
+      `;
+      mock_fs({
+        '/component.yml': component_config,
+      });
+      const manager = new LocalDependencyManager(axios.create(), 'architect', {
+        'test-component': '/component.yml',
+      });
+      let err;
+      try {
+        await manager.getGraph([
+          await manager.loadComponentSpec('test-component'),
+        ]);
+      } catch (e: any) {
+        err = e;
+      }
+
+      expect(err).instanceOf(ValidationErrors);
+      const errors = JSON.parse(err.message) as ValidationError[];
+      expect(errors).lengthOf(1);
+      expect(errors[0].message).includes('Only one of buildpack, dockerfile is allowed, or none should exist');
+      expect(errors[0].component).eq('test-component');
+      expect(errors[0].path).eq('tasks.task.build');
+      expect(Object.keys(errors[0].value)).to.include('dockerfile');
+      expect(Object.keys(errors[0].value)).to.include('buildpack');
+      expect(process.exitCode).eq(1);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('component validation', () => {
     it('invalid component name', async () => {
       const component_config = `