diff --git a/memgpt/models/chat_completion_request.py b/memgpt/models/chat_completion_request.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7adbd1ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/memgpt/models/chat_completion_request.py
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+from typing import List, Union, Optional, Dict, Literal, Any
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, Json
+
+
+class SystemMessage(BaseModel):
+    content: str
+    role: str = "system"
+    name: Optional[str] = None
+
+
+class UserMessage(BaseModel):
+    content: Union[str, List[str]]
+    role: str = "user"
+    name: Optional[str] = None
+
+
+class AssistantMessage(BaseModel):
+    content: Optional[str] = None
+    role: str = "assistant"
+    name: Optional[str] = None
+    tool_calls: Optional[List] = None
+
+
+ChatMessage = Union[SystemMessage, UserMessage, AssistantMessage]
+
+
+class ResponseFormat(BaseModel):
+    type: str = Field(default="text", pattern="^(text|json_object)$")
+
+
+## tool_choice ##
+class FunctionCall(BaseModel):
+    name: str
+
+
+class ToolFunctionChoice(BaseModel):
+    # The type of the tool. Currently, only function is supported
+    type: Literal["function"] = "function"
+    # type: str = Field(default="function", const=True)
+    function: FunctionCall
+
+
+ToolChoice = Union[Literal["none", "auto"], ToolFunctionChoice]
+
+
+## tools ##
+class FunctionSchema(BaseModel):
+    name: str
+    description: Optional[str] = None
+    parameters: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None  # JSON Schema for the parameters
+
+
+class Tool(BaseModel):
+    # The type of the tool. Currently, only function is supported
+    type: Literal["function"] = "function"
+    # type: str = Field(default="function", const=True)
+    function: FunctionSchema
+
+
+## function_call ##
+FunctionCallChoice = Union[Literal["none", "auto"], FunctionCall]
+
+
+class ChatCompletionRequest(BaseModel):
+    """https://platform.openai.com/docs/api-reference/chat/create"""
+
+    model: str
+    messages: List[ChatMessage]
+    frequency_penalty: Optional[float] = 0
+    logit_bias: Optional[Dict[str, int]] = None
+    logprobs: Optional[bool] = False
+    top_logprobs: Optional[int] = None
+    max_tokens: Optional[int] = None
+    n: Optional[int] = 1
+    presence_penalty: Optional[float] = 0
+    response_format: Optional[ResponseFormat] = None
+    seed: Optional[int] = None
+    stop: Optional[Union[str, List[str]]] = None
+    stream: Optional[bool] = False
+    temperature: Optional[float] = 1
+    top_p: Optional[float] = 1
+    user: Optional[str] = None  # unique ID of the end-user (for monitoring)
+
+    # function-calling related
+    tools: Optional[List[Tool]] = None
+    tool_choice: Optional[ToolChoice] = "none"
+    # deprecated scheme
+    functions: Optional[List[FunctionSchema]] = None
+    function_call: Optional[FunctionCallChoice] = None
diff --git a/memgpt/utils.py b/memgpt/utils.py
index 78dd7f91..05e79526 100644
--- a/memgpt/utils.py
+++ b/memgpt/utils.py
@@ -668,14 +668,14 @@ def verify_first_message_correctness(
     response_message = response.choices[0].message
 
     # First message should be a call to send_message with a non-empty content
-    if ("function_call" in response_message and response_message.function_call is not None) and (
-        "tool_calls" in response_message and response_message.tool_calls is not None
+    if (hasattr(response_message, "function_call") and response_message.function_call is not None) and (
+        hasattr(response_message, "tool_calls") and response_message.tool_calls is not None
     ):
         printd(f"First message includes both function call AND tool call: {response_message}")
         return False
-    elif "function_call" in response_message and response_message.function_call is not None:
+    elif hasattr(response_message, "function_call") and response_message.function_call is not None:
         function_call = response_message.function_call
-    elif "tool_calls" in response_message and response_message.tool_calls is not None:
+    elif hasattr(response_message, "tool_calls") and response_message.tool_calls is not None:
         function_call = response_message.tool_calls[0].function
     else:
         printd(f"First message didn't include function call: {response_message}")