diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 42c10153..a123475e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ mypy = "^1.2.0"
 pylint = "^2.0.0"
 ruff = "^0.4.4"
 toml-sort = "^0.23.0"
+types-PyYAML = "^6.0.0"
 types-requests = "^2.28.11.17"
 
 [tool.poetry.group.sphinx-deps.dependencies]
diff --git a/src/groundlight/edge/config.py b/src/groundlight/edge/config.py
index bf6339ac..3d476bb1 100644
--- a/src/groundlight/edge/config.py
+++ b/src/groundlight/edge/config.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 from typing_extensions import Self
 
 
-class GlobalConfig(BaseModel):
+class GlobalConfig(BaseModel):  # pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods
     """Global runtime settings for edge-endpoint behavior."""
 
     model_config = ConfigDict(extra="forbid")
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ class GlobalConfig(BaseModel):
     )
 
 
-class InferenceConfig(BaseModel):
+class InferenceConfig(BaseModel):  # pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods
     """
     Configuration for edge inference on a specific detector.
     """
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ def validate_configuration(self) -> Self:
         return self
 
 
-class DetectorConfig(BaseModel):
+class DetectorConfig(BaseModel):  # pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods
     """
     Configuration for a specific detector.
     """
@@ -93,15 +93,15 @@ class ConfigBase(BaseModel):
     @field_validator("edge_inference_configs", mode="before")
     @classmethod
     def hydrate_inference_config_names(
-        cls, value: dict[str, InferenceConfig | dict[str, Any]] | None
-    ) -> dict[str, InferenceConfig | dict[str, Any]]:
+        cls, value: Optional[dict[str, Union[InferenceConfig, dict[str, Any]]]]
+    ) -> dict[str, Union[InferenceConfig, dict[str, Any]]]:
         """Hydrate InferenceConfig.name from payload mapping keys."""
         if value is None:
             return {}
         if not isinstance(value, dict):
             return value
 
-        hydrated_configs: dict[str, InferenceConfig | dict[str, Any]] = {}
+        hydrated_configs: dict[str, Union[InferenceConfig, dict[str, Any]]] = {}
         for name, config in value.items():
             if isinstance(config, InferenceConfig):
                 hydrated_configs[name] = config
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ def from_yaml(
         if filename is not None:
             if not filename.strip():
                 raise ValueError("filename must be a non-empty path when provided.")
-            with open(filename, "r") as f:
+            with open(filename, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
                 yaml_str = f.read()
 
         yaml_text = yaml_str or ""