diff --git a/src/llms/anthropic.ts b/src/llms/anthropic.ts
index 10f2b4ff..772d6b98 100644
--- a/src/llms/anthropic.ts
+++ b/src/llms/anthropic.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import * as anthropic from '@anthropic-ai/sdk'
 import { type SetOptional } from 'type-fest'
-import { ZodTypeAny, z } from 'zod'
 
 import * as types from '@/types'
 import { defaultAnthropicModel } from '@/constants'
@@ -10,8 +9,8 @@ import { BaseChatModel } from './llm'
 const defaultStopSequences = [anthropic.HUMAN_PROMPT]
 
 export class AnthropicChatModel<
-  TInput extends ZodTypeAny = ZodTypeAny,
-  TOutput extends ZodTypeAny = z.ZodType<string>
+  TInput = any,
+  TOutput = string
 > extends BaseChatModel<
   TInput,
   TOutput,
diff --git a/src/llms/llm.ts b/src/llms/llm.ts
index 6a5b3ea9..c014242d 100644
--- a/src/llms/llm.ts
+++ b/src/llms/llm.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { JSONRepairError, jsonrepair } from 'jsonrepair'
 import pMap from 'p-map'
 import { dedent } from 'ts-dedent'
 import { type SetRequired } from 'type-fest'
-import { ZodTypeAny, z } from 'zod'
+import { ZodType, z } from 'zod'
 import { printNode, zodToTs } from 'zod-to-ts'
 
 import * as errors from '@/errors'
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@ import {
 } from '@/utils'
 
 export abstract class BaseLLM<
-  TInput extends ZodTypeAny = z.ZodVoid,
-  TOutput extends ZodTypeAny = z.ZodType<string>,
+  TInput = void,
+  TOutput = string,
   TModelParams extends Record<string, any> = Record<string, any>
 > extends BaseTask<TInput, TOutput> {
-  protected _inputSchema: TInput | undefined
-  protected _outputSchema: TOutput | undefined
+  protected _inputSchema: ZodType<TInput> | undefined
+  protected _outputSchema: ZodType<TOutput> | undefined
 
   protected _provider: string
   protected _model: string
@@ -50,36 +50,33 @@ export abstract class BaseLLM<
     this._examples = options.examples
   }
 
-  input<U extends ZodTypeAny = TInput>(
-    inputSchema: U
-  ): BaseLLM<U, TOutput, TModelParams> {
-    ;(this as unknown as BaseLLM<U, TOutput, TModelParams>)._inputSchema =
-      inputSchema
-    return this as unknown as BaseLLM<U, TOutput, TModelParams>
+  input<U>(inputSchema: ZodType<U>): BaseLLM<U, TOutput, TModelParams> {
+    const refinedInstance = this as unknown as BaseLLM<U, TOutput, TModelParams>
+    refinedInstance._inputSchema = inputSchema
+    return refinedInstance
   }
 
-  output<U extends ZodTypeAny = TOutput>(
-    outputSchema: U
-  ): BaseLLM<TInput, U, TModelParams> {
-    ;(this as unknown as BaseLLM<TInput, U, TModelParams>)._outputSchema =
-      outputSchema
-    return this as unknown as BaseLLM<TInput, U, TModelParams>
+  output<U>(outputSchema: ZodType<U>): BaseLLM<TInput, U, TModelParams> {
+    const refinedInstance = this as unknown as BaseLLM<TInput, U, TModelParams>
+    refinedInstance._outputSchema = outputSchema
+    return refinedInstance
   }
 
-  public override get inputSchema(): TInput {
+  public override get inputSchema(): ZodType<TInput> {
     if (this._inputSchema) {
       return this._inputSchema
     } else {
-      return z.void() as TInput
+      // TODO: improve typing
+      return z.void() as unknown as ZodType<TInput>
     }
   }
 
-  public override get outputSchema(): TOutput {
+  public override get outputSchema(): ZodType<TOutput> {
     if (this._outputSchema) {
       return this._outputSchema
     } else {
       // TODO: improve typing
-      return z.string() as unknown as TOutput
+      return z.string() as unknown as ZodType<TOutput>
     }
   }
 
@@ -125,8 +122,8 @@ export abstract class BaseLLM<
 }
 
 export abstract class BaseChatModel<
-  TInput extends ZodTypeAny = ZodTypeAny,
-  TOutput extends ZodTypeAny = z.ZodType<string>,
+  TInput = void,
+  TOutput = string,
   TModelParams extends Record<string, any> = Record<string, any>,
   TChatCompletionResponse extends Record<string, any> = Record<string, any>
 > extends BaseLLM<TInput, TOutput, TModelParams> {
@@ -148,8 +145,8 @@ export abstract class BaseChatModel<
   ): Promise<types.BaseChatCompletionResponse<TChatCompletionResponse>>
 
   public async buildMessages(
-    input?: types.ParsedData<TInput>,
-    ctx?: types.TaskCallContext
+    input?: TInput,
+    ctx?: types.TaskCallContext<TInput>
   ) {
     if (this._inputSchema) {
       // TODO: handle errors gracefully
@@ -222,7 +219,7 @@ export abstract class BaseChatModel<
 
   protected override async _call(
     ctx: types.TaskCallContext<TInput, types.LLMTaskResponseMetadata>
-  ): Promise<types.ParsedData<TOutput>> {
+  ): Promise<TOutput> {
     const messages = await this.buildMessages(ctx.input, ctx)
 
     console.log('>>>')
diff --git a/src/llms/openai.ts b/src/llms/openai.ts
index 547a897c..84b45aae 100644
--- a/src/llms/openai.ts
+++ b/src/llms/openai.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { type SetOptional } from 'type-fest'
-import { ZodTypeAny, z } from 'zod'
 
 import * as types from '@/types'
 import { defaultOpenAIModel } from '@/constants'
@@ -7,8 +6,8 @@ import { defaultOpenAIModel } from '@/constants'
 import { BaseChatModel } from './llm'
 
 export class OpenAIChatModel<
-  TInput extends ZodTypeAny = ZodTypeAny,
-  TOutput extends ZodTypeAny = z.ZodType<string>
+  TInput = any,
+  TOutput = string
 > extends BaseChatModel<
   TInput,
   TOutput,
diff --git a/src/task.ts b/src/task.ts
index e00a99f6..8518fd84 100644
--- a/src/task.ts
+++ b/src/task.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import pRetry, { FailedAttemptError } from 'p-retry'
-import { ZodTypeAny } from 'zod'
+import { ZodType } from 'zod'
 
 import * as errors from '@/errors'
 import * as types from '@/types'
@@ -18,10 +18,7 @@ import { Agentic } from '@/agentic'
  *    - Native function calls
  *    - Invoking sub-agents
  */
-export abstract class BaseTask<
-  TInput extends ZodTypeAny = ZodTypeAny,
-  TOutput extends ZodTypeAny = ZodTypeAny
-> {
+export abstract class BaseTask<TInput = void, TOutput = string> {
   protected _agentic: Agentic
   protected _id: string
 
@@ -46,8 +43,8 @@ export abstract class BaseTask<
     return this._id
   }
 
-  public abstract get inputSchema(): TInput
-  public abstract get outputSchema(): TOutput
+  public abstract get inputSchema(): ZodType<TInput>
+  public abstract get outputSchema(): ZodType<TOutput>
 
   public abstract get name(): string
 
@@ -74,15 +71,13 @@ export abstract class BaseTask<
     return this
   }
 
-  public async call(
-    input?: types.ParsedData<TInput>
-  ): Promise<types.ParsedData<TOutput>> {
+  public async call(input?: TInput): Promise<TOutput> {
     const res = await this.callWithMetadata(input)
     return res.result
   }
 
   public async callWithMetadata(
-    input?: types.ParsedData<TInput>
+    input?: TInput
   ): Promise<types.TaskResponse<TOutput>> {
     if (this.inputSchema) {
       const safeInput = this.inputSchema.safeParse(input)
@@ -134,9 +129,7 @@ export abstract class BaseTask<
     }
   }
 
-  protected abstract _call(
-    ctx: types.TaskCallContext<TInput>
-  ): Promise<types.ParsedData<TOutput>>
+  protected abstract _call(ctx: types.TaskCallContext<TInput>): Promise<TOutput>
 
   // TODO
   // abstract stream({
diff --git a/src/tools/metaphor.ts b/src/tools/metaphor.ts
index 06c2cf9e..6422c895 100644
--- a/src/tools/metaphor.ts
+++ b/src/tools/metaphor.ts
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ export type MetaphorSearchToolOutput = z.infer<
 >
 
 export class MetaphorSearchTool extends BaseTask<
-  typeof MetaphorSearchToolInputSchema,
-  typeof MetaphorSearchToolOutputSchema
+  MetaphorSearchToolInput,
+  MetaphorSearchToolOutput
 > {
   _metaphorClient: MetaphorClient
 
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export class MetaphorSearchTool extends BaseTask<
   }
 
   protected override async _call(
-    ctx: types.TaskCallContext<typeof MetaphorSearchToolInputSchema>
+    ctx: types.TaskCallContext<MetaphorSearchToolInput>
   ): Promise<MetaphorSearchToolOutput> {
     // TODO: test required inputs
     return this._metaphorClient.search({
diff --git a/src/tools/novu.ts b/src/tools/novu.ts
index 40f639a0..cd7aae5e 100644
--- a/src/tools/novu.ts
+++ b/src/tools/novu.ts
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ export type NovuNotificationToolOutput = z.infer<
 >
 
 export class NovuNotificationTool extends BaseTask<
-  typeof NovuNotificationToolInputSchema,
-  typeof NovuNotificationToolOutputSchema
+  NovuNotificationToolInput,
+  NovuNotificationToolOutput
 > {
   _novuClient: NovuClient
 
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ export class NovuNotificationTool extends BaseTask<
   }
 
   protected override async _call(
-    ctx: types.TaskCallContext<typeof NovuNotificationToolInputSchema>
+    ctx: types.TaskCallContext<NovuNotificationToolInput>
   ): Promise<NovuNotificationToolOutput> {
     return this._novuClient.triggerEvent(ctx.input!)
   }
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index a95f1336..57c51bc5 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import * as anthropic from '@anthropic-ai/sdk'
 import * as openai from 'openai-fetch'
 import type { Options as RetryOptions } from 'p-retry'
 import type { JsonObject } from 'type-fest'
-import { SafeParseReturnType, ZodTypeAny, output, z } from 'zod'
+import { SafeParseReturnType, ZodType, ZodTypeAny, output, z } from 'zod'
 
 import type { Agentic } from './agentic'
 
@@ -31,12 +31,12 @@ export interface BaseTaskOptions {
 }
 
 export interface BaseLLMOptions<
-  TInput extends ZodTypeAny = ZodTypeAny,
-  TOutput extends ZodTypeAny = z.ZodType<string>,
+  TInput = void,
+  TOutput = string,
   TModelParams extends Record<string, any> = Record<string, any>
 > extends BaseTaskOptions {
-  inputSchema?: TInput
-  outputSchema?: TOutput
+  inputSchema?: ZodType<TInput>
+  outputSchema?: ZodType<TOutput>
 
   provider?: string
   model?: string
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ export interface BaseLLMOptions<
 }
 
 export interface LLMOptions<
-  TInput extends ZodTypeAny = ZodTypeAny,
-  TOutput extends ZodTypeAny = z.ZodType<string>,
+  TInput = void,
+  TOutput = string,
   TModelParams extends Record<string, any> = Record<string, any>
 > extends BaseLLMOptions<TInput, TOutput, TModelParams> {
   promptTemplate?: string
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ export interface ChatMessage {
 }
 
 export interface ChatModelOptions<
-  TInput extends ZodTypeAny = ZodTypeAny,
-  TOutput extends ZodTypeAny = z.ZodType<string>,
+  TInput = void,
+  TOutput = string,
   TModelParams extends Record<string, any> = Record<string, any>
 > extends BaseLLMOptions<TInput, TOutput, TModelParams> {
   messages: ChatMessage[]
@@ -120,18 +120,18 @@ export interface LLMTaskResponseMetadata<
 }
 
 export interface TaskResponse<
-  TOutput extends ZodTypeAny = z.ZodType<string>,
+  TOutput = string,
   TMetadata extends TaskResponseMetadata = TaskResponseMetadata
 > {
-  result: ParsedData<TOutput>
+  result: TOutput
   metadata: TMetadata
 }
 
 export interface TaskCallContext<
-  TInput extends ZodTypeAny = ZodTypeAny,
+  TInput = void,
   TMetadata extends TaskResponseMetadata = TaskResponseMetadata
 > {
-  input?: ParsedData<TInput>
+  input?: TInput
   retryMessage?: string
 
   attemptNumber: number