diff --git a/backend/image_generation.py b/backend/image_generation.py
index b93792c..e3f609f 100644
--- a/backend/image_generation.py
+++ b/backend/image_generation.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from openai import AsyncOpenAI
 from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
 
 
-async def process_tasks(prompts: List[str], api_key: str, base_url: str):
+async def process_tasks(prompts: List[str], api_key: str, base_url: str | None):
     tasks = [generate_image(prompt, api_key, base_url) for prompt in prompts]
     results = await asyncio.gather(*tasks, return_exceptions=True)
 
@@ -15,22 +15,23 @@ async def process_tasks(prompts: List[str], api_key: str, base_url: str):
             print(f"An exception occurred: {result}")
             processed_results.append(None)
         else:
-            processed_results.append(result)  # type: ignore
+            processed_results.append(result)
 
     return processed_results
 
 
-async def generate_image(prompt: str, api_key: str, base_url: str):
+async def generate_image(
+    prompt: str, api_key: str, base_url: str | None
+) -> Union[str, None]:
     client = AsyncOpenAI(api_key=api_key, base_url=base_url)
-    image_params: Dict[str, Union[str, int]] = {
-        "model": "dall-e-3",
-        "quality": "standard",
-        "style": "natural",
-        "n": 1,
-        "size": "1024x1024",
-        "prompt": prompt,
-    }
-    res = await client.images.generate(**image_params)  # type: ignore
+    res = await client.images.generate(
+        model="dall-e-3",
+        quality="standard",
+        style="natural",
+        n=1,
+        size="1024x1024",
+        prompt=prompt,
+    )
     await client.close()
     return res.data[0].url
 
@@ -63,13 +64,13 @@ def create_alt_url_mapping(code: str) -> Dict[str, str]:
 
 async def generate_images(
     code: str, api_key: str, base_url: Union[str, None], image_cache: Dict[str, str]
-):
+) -> str:
     # Find all images
     soup = BeautifulSoup(code, "html.parser")
     images = soup.find_all("img")
 
     # Extract alt texts as image prompts
-    alts = []
+    alts: List[str | None] = []
     for img in images:
         # Only include URL if the image starts with https://placehold.co
         # and it's not already in the image_cache
@@ -77,26 +78,26 @@ async def generate_images(
             img["src"].startswith("https://placehold.co")
             and image_cache.get(img.get("alt")) is None
         ):
-            alts.append(img.get("alt", None))  # type: ignore
+            alts.append(img.get("alt", None))
 
     # Exclude images with no alt text
-    alts = [alt for alt in alts if alt is not None]  # type: ignore
+    filtered_alts: List[str] = [alt for alt in alts if alt is not None]
 
     # Remove duplicates
-    prompts = list(set(alts))  # type: ignore
+    prompts = list(set(filtered_alts))
 
     # Return early if there are no images to replace
-    if len(prompts) == 0:  # type: ignore
+    if len(prompts) == 0:
         return code
 
     # Generate images
-    results = await process_tasks(prompts, api_key, base_url)  # type: ignore
+    results = await process_tasks(prompts, api_key, base_url)
 
     # Create a dict mapping alt text to image URL
-    mapped_image_urls = dict(zip(prompts, results))  # type: ignore
+    mapped_image_urls = dict(zip(prompts, results))
 
     # Merge with image_cache
-    mapped_image_urls = {**mapped_image_urls, **image_cache}  # type: ignore
+    mapped_image_urls = {**mapped_image_urls, **image_cache}
 
     # Replace old image URLs with the generated URLs
     for img in images:
diff --git a/backend/routes/generate_code.py b/backend/routes/generate_code.py
index 3fb92f1..379042e 100644
--- a/backend/routes/generate_code.py
+++ b/backend/routes/generate_code.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from llm import (
 )
 from openai.types.chat import ChatCompletionMessageParam
 from mock_llm import mock_completion
-from typing import Dict, List, cast, get_args
+from typing import Dict, List, Union, cast, get_args
 from image_generation import create_alt_url_mapping, generate_images
 from prompts import assemble_imported_code_prompt, assemble_prompt
 from datetime import datetime
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ async def stream_code(websocket: WebSocket):
             print("Using Anthropic API key from environment variable")
 
     # Get the OpenAI Base URL from the request. Fall back to environment variable if not provided.
-    openai_base_url = None
+    openai_base_url: Union[str, None] = None
     # Disable user-specified OpenAI Base URL in prod
     if not os.environ.get("IS_PROD"):
         if "openAiBaseURL" in params and params["openAiBaseURL"]: