diff --git a/src/genesys/data.py b/src/genesys/data.py
index f398fb8..c7244db 100644
--- a/src/genesys/data.py
+++ b/src/genesys/data.py
@@ -102,16 +102,25 @@ def _prepare_batch(self, batch: dict, dataset: str) -> tuple:
             batch_messages = [
                 [
                     {"role": "user", "content": b["prompt"]},
-                    {"role": "assistant", "content": "<think>/n" + b["llm_response"]},
+                    {"role": "assistant", "content": "<think>\n" + b["llm_response_first_time"]},
+                    {"role": "assistant", "content": ""}, # this message needs to be here so hf templating works, we're stripping it out again below
                 ]
                 for b in batch
             ]
+            batch_inputs = self.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(
+                batch_messages, 
+                tokenize=False, 
+                continue_final_message=True
+            )
+            unwanted_suffix = "<｜end▁of▁sentence｜><｜Assistant｜><｜end▁of▁sentence｜>"  # strip out last message
+            for i, inp in enumerate(batch_inputs):
+                if inp.endswith(unwanted_suffix):
+                    batch_inputs[i] = inp[: -len(unwanted_suffix)]
         else:
             batch_messages = [
                 [{"role": "user", "content": b["prompt"]}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "<think>/n"}] for b in batch
             ]
-
-        batch_inputs = self.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(batch_messages, tokenize=False, continue_final_message=True)
+            batch_inputs = self.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(batch_messages, tokenize=False, continue_final_message=True)
 
         return batch_inputs, batch
 
diff --git a/src/genesys/generate.py b/src/genesys/generate.py
index 732e0cb..164e777 100644
--- a/src/genesys/generate.py
+++ b/src/genesys/generate.py
@@ -51,10 +51,13 @@ def main(config: GenerateConfig):
 
     # Initialize components
     log("[cyan] Configuring output path and gcp bucket...[/]")
+    if config.gcp_bucket is not None:
+        gcp_credentials = os.environ.get("GCP_CREDENTIALS_BASE64")
+        assert gcp_credentials is not None, "the GCP_CREDENTIALS_BASE64 environment variable is not set"
     if not os.path.exists(config.path_output):
         os.makedirs(config.path_output)
     gcp_bucket = (
-        GcpBucket(config.gcp_bucket, os.environ.get("GCP_CREDENTIALS_BASE64"))
+        GcpBucket(config.gcp_bucket, gcp_credentials)
         if config.gcp_bucket is not None
         else None
     )