diff --git a/chatmastermind/main.py b/chatmastermind/main.py
index b1db2d6..843885c 100755
--- a/chatmastermind/main.py
+++ b/chatmastermind/main.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import sys
 import argcomplete
 import argparse
 import pathlib
-from .utils import terminal_width, print_tag_args, print_chat_hist, display_source_code, print_tags_frequency
+from .utils import terminal_width, print_tag_args, print_chat_hist, display_source_code, print_tags_frequency, ConfigType
 from .storage import save_answers, create_chat_hist, get_tags, get_tags_unique, read_file, dump_data
 from .api_client import ai, openai_api_key, print_models
 from itertools import zip_longest
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def read_config(path: str):
 
 
 def create_question_with_hist(args: argparse.Namespace,
-                              config: dict,
+                              config: ConfigType,
                               ) -> tuple[list[dict[str, str]], str, list[str]]:
     """
     Creates the "SI request", including the question and chat history as determined
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def create_question_with_hist(args: argparse.Namespace,
     return chat, full_question, tags
 
 
-def tag_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: dict) -> None:
+def tag_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: ConfigType) -> None:
     """
     Handler for the 'tag' command.
     """
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ def tag_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: dict) -> None:
         print_tags_frequency(get_tags(config, None))
 
 
-def model_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: dict) -> None:
+def model_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: ConfigType) -> None:
     """
     Handler for the 'model' command.
     """
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ def model_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: dict) -> None:
         print_models()
 
 
-def ask_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: dict) -> None:
+def ask_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: ConfigType) -> None:
     """
     Handler for the 'ask' command.
     """
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def ask_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: dict) -> None:
     print(f"Usage: {usage}")
 
 
-def hist_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: dict) -> None:
+def hist_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: ConfigType) -> None:
     """
     Handler for the 'hist' command.
     """
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ def hist_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: dict) -> None:
     print_chat_hist(chat, args.dump, args.only_source_code)
 
 
-def print_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: dict) -> None:
+def print_cmd(args: argparse.Namespace, config: ConfigType) -> None:
     """
     Handler for the 'print' command.
     """
diff --git a/chatmastermind/storage.py b/chatmastermind/storage.py
index 4705893..afd1e8d 100644
--- a/chatmastermind/storage.py
+++ b/chatmastermind/storage.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import yaml
 import io
 import pathlib
-from .utils import terminal_width, append_message, message_to_chat
+from .utils import terminal_width, append_message, message_to_chat, ConfigType
 from typing import List, Dict, Any, Optional
 
 
@@ -41,11 +41,11 @@ def save_answers(question: str,
                  answers: list[str],
                  tags: list[str],
                  otags: Optional[list[str]],
-                 config: Dict[str, Any]
+                 config: ConfigType
                  ) -> None:
     wtags = otags or tags
     num, inum = 0, 0
-    next_fname = pathlib.Path(config['db']) / '.next'
+    next_fname = pathlib.Path(str(config['db'])) / '.next'
     try:
         with open(next_fname, 'r') as f:
             num = int(f.read())
@@ -66,14 +66,14 @@ def save_answers(question: str,
 def create_chat_hist(question: Optional[str],
                      tags: Optional[List[str]],
                      extags: Optional[List[str]],
-                     config: Dict[str, Any],
+                     config: ConfigType,
                      match_all_tags: bool = False,
                      with_tags: bool = False,
                      with_file: bool = False
                      ) -> List[Dict[str, str]]:
     chat: List[Dict[str, str]] = []
-    append_message(chat, 'system', config['system'].strip())
-    for file in sorted(pathlib.Path(config['db']).iterdir()):
+    append_message(chat, 'system', str(config['system']).strip())
+    for file in sorted(pathlib.Path(str(config['db'])).iterdir()):
         if file.suffix == '.yaml':
             with open(file, 'r') as f:
                 data = yaml.load(f, Loader=yaml.FullLoader)
@@ -97,9 +97,9 @@ def create_chat_hist(question: Optional[str],
     return chat
 
 
-def get_tags(config: Dict[str, Any], prefix: Optional[str]) -> List[str]:
+def get_tags(config: ConfigType, prefix: Optional[str]) -> List[str]:
     result = []
-    for file in sorted(pathlib.Path(config['db']).iterdir()):
+    for file in sorted(pathlib.Path(str(config['db'])).iterdir()):
         if file.suffix == '.yaml':
             with open(file, 'r') as f:
                 data = yaml.load(f, Loader=yaml.FullLoader)
@@ -116,5 +116,5 @@ def get_tags(config: Dict[str, Any], prefix: Optional[str]) -> List[str]:
     return result
 
 
-def get_tags_unique(config: Dict[str, Any], prefix: Optional[str]) -> List[str]:
+def get_tags_unique(config: ConfigType, prefix: Optional[str]) -> List[str]:
     return list(set(get_tags(config, prefix)))
diff --git a/chatmastermind/utils.py b/chatmastermind/utils.py
index 78440fa..2a58dae 100644
--- a/chatmastermind/utils.py
+++ b/chatmastermind/utils.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import shutil
 from pprint import PrettyPrinter
-from typing import List, Dict
+from typing import List, Dict, Union
+
+ConfigType = Dict[str, Union[str, Dict[str, Union[str, int]]]]
 
 
 def terminal_width() -> int: