diff --git a/cmd/joj3/conf/conf.go b/cmd/joj3/conf/conf.go
index 72fb036..403aa6c 100644
--- a/cmd/joj3/conf/conf.go
+++ b/cmd/joj3/conf/conf.go
@@ -160,22 +160,24 @@ func parseConfFile(path string) (conf Conf, err error) {
 		return
 	}
 	// TODO: remove the following backward compatibility codes
-	conf.Stage.SandboxExecServer = conf.SandboxExecServer
-	conf.Stage.SandboxToken = conf.SandboxToken
-	conf.Stage.OutputPath = conf.OutputPath
-	conf.Stage.Stages = make([]ConfStage, len(conf.Stages))
-	for i, stage := range conf.Stages {
-		conf.Stage.Stages[i].Name = stage.Name
-		conf.Stage.Stages[i].Group = stage.Group
-		conf.Stage.Stages[i].Executor = stage.Executor
-		conf.Stage.Stages[i].Parsers = []struct {
-			Name string
-			With interface{}
-		}{
-			{
-				Name: stage.Parser.Name,
-				With: stage.Parser.With,
-			},
+	if len(conf.Stage.Stages) == 0 {
+		conf.Stage.SandboxExecServer = conf.SandboxExecServer
+		conf.Stage.SandboxToken = conf.SandboxToken
+		conf.Stage.OutputPath = conf.OutputPath
+		conf.Stage.Stages = make([]ConfStage, len(conf.Stages))
+		for i, stage := range conf.Stages {
+			conf.Stage.Stages[i].Name = stage.Name
+			conf.Stage.Stages[i].Group = stage.Group
+			conf.Stage.Stages[i].Executor = stage.Executor
+			conf.Stage.Stages[i].Parsers = []struct {
+				Name string
+				With interface{}
+			}{
+				{
+					Name: stage.Parser.Name,
+					With: stage.Parser.With,
+				},
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	return