diff --git a/dist_run.py b/dist_run.py
index 2b4ab67cb..d1da19558 100644
--- a/dist_run.py
+++ b/dist_run.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import torch
 import torch.distributed as dist
 from torch.distributed.pipelining import PipelineStage, ScheduleGPipe
+from tokenizer.tokenizer_type import TokenizerType
 from torchchat.cli.builder import _initialize_tokenizer, TokenizerArgs
 
 # TODO - these are not distributed specific, consider moving to new package
@@ -64,11 +65,6 @@
 }
 
 
-class TokenizerType(Enum):
-    Tiktoken = auto()
-    SentencePiece = auto()
-
-
 def _init_distributed():
     dist.init_process_group("nccl")
     rank = dist.get_rank()
@@ -122,9 +118,9 @@ def _build_chat_tokenizer(
     )
     # set global variable _tokenizer_type
     if isinstance(tokenizer, TiktokenTokenizer):
-        _tokenizer_type = TokenizerType.Tiktoken
+        _tokenizer_type = TokenizerType.TIKTOKEN
     elif isinstance(tokenizer, SentencePieceProcessor):
-        _tokenizer_type = TokenizerType.SentencePiece
+        _tokenizer_type = TokenizerType.SENTENCEPIECE
     else:
         raise ValueError(f"Unknown tokenizer type: {tokenizer.__class__}")
 
@@ -575,11 +571,11 @@ def get_example_ins_outs(seqlen: int) -> Tuple[torch.Tensor, torch.Tensor]:
         # token ids. Thus cat'ing along dim 1.
         res = torch.cat(res, dim=1)
         res_list = res.tolist()
-        if _tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.Tiktoken:
+        if _tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.TIKTOKEN:
             # For TiktokenTokenizer, we need to decode prompt by prompt.
             # TODO: is there a better way to do this?
             responses = [tokenizer.decode(sequence) for sequence in res_list]
-        elif _tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.SentencePiece:  # SentencePieceProcessor
+        elif _tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.SENTENCEPIECE:  # SentencePieceProcessor
             # For SentencePieceProcessor, we can decode the entire 2D list at once.
             responses = tokenizer.decode(res_list)
         else:
diff --git a/tokenizer/tokenizer_type.py b/tokenizer/tokenizer_type.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0cdbf5e5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tokenizer/tokenizer_type.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+from enum import Enum
+
+class TokenizerType(Enum):
+    NONE = 0
+    TIKTOKEN = 1
+    SENTENCEPIECE = 2
+    HF_TOKENIZER = 3
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/torchchat/cli/builder.py b/torchchat/cli/builder.py
index 001ece603..1d9df9d1a 100644
--- a/torchchat/cli/builder.py
+++ b/torchchat/cli/builder.py
@@ -234,13 +234,7 @@ def from_speculative_args(cls, args: argparse.Namespace) -> "BuilderArgs":
         speculative_builder_args.pte_path = None
         return speculative_builder_args
 
-
-class TokenizerType(Enum):
-    NONE = 0
-    TIKTOKEN = 1
-    SENTENCEPIECE = 2
-    HF_TOKENIZER = 3
-
+from tokenizer.tokenizer_type import TokenizerType
 
 @dataclass
 class TokenizerArgs:
@@ -276,15 +270,6 @@ def __post_init__(self):
         except:
             pass
 
-    def is_tiktoken(self) -> bool:
-        return self.tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.TIKTOKEN
-
-    def is_sentencepiece(self) -> bool:
-        return self.tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.SENTENCEPIECE
-
-    def is_hf_tokenizer(self) -> bool:
-        return self.tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.HF_TOKENIZER
-
     def validate_model(
         self,
         model: Optional[Model],
@@ -296,9 +281,9 @@ def validate_model(
         if self.tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.NONE:
             raise RuntimeError(f"no tokenizer was found at {self.tokenizer_path}")
 
-        is_tiktoken = self.is_tiktoken()
-        is_sentencepiece = self.is_sentencepiece()
-        is_hf_tokenizer = self.is_hf_tokenizer()
+        is_tiktoken = self.tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.TIKTOKEN
+        is_sentencepiece = self.tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.SENTENCEPIECE
+        is_hf_tokenizer = self.tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.HF_TOKENIZER
 
         use_tiktoken = model.config.use_tiktoken
         use_hf_tokenizer = model.config.use_hf_tokenizer
diff --git a/torchchat/export.py b/torchchat/export.py
index 28c9bdfec..5ac840401 100644
--- a/torchchat/export.py
+++ b/torchchat/export.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import os
 from typing import Dict, Optional
 
+from tokenizer.tokenizer_type import TokenizerType
 import torch
 import torch._inductor
 import torch.nn as nn
@@ -482,7 +483,7 @@ def main(args):
 
     if tokenizer_args is None:
         tokenizer_type = "0"
-    elif tokenizer_args.is_sentencepiece():
+    elif tokenizer_args == TokenizerType.SENTENCEPIECE:
         tokenizer_type = "2"  # Corresponding to llama2
     else:
         tokenizer_type = "3"  # Corresponding to llama3
diff --git a/torchchat/generate.py b/torchchat/generate.py
index 5ae7ecfad..c18c6f466 100644
--- a/torchchat/generate.py
+++ b/torchchat/generate.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import torch.multiprocessing as mp
 
 from PIL import Image
+from tokenizer.tokenizer_type import TokenizerType
 from torch._C import _SDPBackend as SDPBackend
 from torch.distributed.pipelining import PipelineStage, ScheduleGPipe
 
@@ -361,14 +362,14 @@ def __init__(
         # must use tiktokenizer.
         # Piggy backing off of this flag then for now to identify llama3
         # without prompting user.
-        self.is_llama3_model = self.tokenizer_args.is_tiktoken()
+        self.is_llama3_model = self.tokenizer_args.tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.TIKTOKEN
         if self.is_llama3_model:
             self.chat_formatter = Llama3ChatFormatter(self.tokenizer)
             if generator_args.chat_mode:
                 logger.debug(
                     "Llama3 model detected in chat mode. Using updated sentence schemas"
                 )
-        elif self.tokenizer_args.is_hf_tokenizer():
+        elif self.tokenizer_args.tokenizer_type == TokenizerType.HF_TOKENIZER:
             if not self.tokenizer.has_chat_template():
                 raise ValueError("Tokenizer must have a chat template")
             self.chat_formatter = HFTokenizerChatFormatter(self.tokenizer)