diff --git a/create_config.py b/create_config.py
index 3973aa5..698050a 100644
--- a/create_config.py
+++ b/create_config.py
@@ -2,16 +2,17 @@
 """
 python create_config.py --out_dir tmp --exp_name test_2_node --tp 2 --cp 2 --pp 2 --dp 2 --model_name HuggingFaceTB/SmolLM-360M-Instruct --num_attention_heads 16 --num_key_value_heads 4 --grad_acc_steps 1 --mbs 32 --seq_len 4096 --use_wandb
 """
+# Need to set this environment from the very beginning, otherwise it won't work
+import os; os.environ["HF_HUB_ENABLE_HF_TRANSFER"] = "1"
 from copy import deepcopy
 from transformers import AutoConfig
-import os
 import shutil
 import argparse
 import json
 from typing import Optional
-import subprocess
 import requests
 from safetensors import safe_open
+from huggingface_hub import HfApi
 
 def check_hf_model_files_existences(model_name, hf_token):
     files_to_check = [
@@ -45,47 +46,64 @@ def check_hf_model_files_existences(model_name, hf_token):
     
     return found_files
 
-def download_hf_model_files(files_to_download, model_name, hf_token, save_dir):        
+def download_hf_model_files(files_to_download, model_name, hf_token, save_dir):    
     downloaded_files = []
-
     save_dir_path = f"{save_dir}/{model_name}"
+    os.makedirs(save_dir_path, exist_ok=True)
 
+    print("Checking HF_HUB_ENABLE_HF_TRANSFER environment variable...")
+    print(f"Value: {os.environ.get('HF_HUB_ENABLE_HF_TRANSFER')}")
+    if os.environ.get("HF_HUB_ENABLE_HF_TRANSFER") != "1":
+        print("⚠️  Warning: HF_HUB_ENABLE_HF_TRANSFER is not set.")
+        print("For faster downloads, run the script with:")
+        print("HF_HUB_ENABLE_HF_TRANSFER=1 python your_script.py")
+    
+    hf = HfApi()
+    
     for file in files_to_download:
-        if os.path.exists(os.path.join(save_dir_path, file)):
+        file_path = os.path.join(save_dir_path, file)
+        
+        if os.path.exists(file_path):
             print(f"✅ {file} already exists")
             downloaded_files.append(file)
             
             # If it's index.json, read it to get shards
             if file.endswith('.json'):
-                with open(os.path.join(save_dir_path, file), 'r') as f:
+                with open(file_path, 'r') as f:
                     index_data = json.load(f)
                     shards = set(index_data['weight_map'].values())
                     print(f"Found {len(shards)} shards in index")
                     files_to_download.extend(shards)
             continue
 
-        model_cmd = f"huggingface-cli download {model_name} {file} --local-dir {save_dir_path} --token {hf_token}"
-        print(f"Downloading {file}...")
-        result = subprocess.run(model_cmd, shell=True, check=False)            
-        
-        if result.returncode == 0:
+        try:
+            # Download file using hf_transfer
+            print(f"Downloading {file}...")
+            downloaded_path = hf.hf_hub_download(
+                model_name, 
+                filename=file, 
+                revision="main", 
+                cache_dir=save_dir_path, 
+                token=hf_token
+            )
+            
             print(f"✅ {file} downloaded successfully")
             downloaded_files.append(file)
             
             # Verify files based on their type
-            file_path = os.path.join(save_dir_path, file)
             if file.endswith('.safetensors'):
                 try:
-                    with safe_open(file_path, framework="pytorch", device="cpu") as f:
+                    with safe_open(downloaded_path, framework="pytorch", device="cpu") as f:
                         keys = list(f.keys())
                         print(f"✅ Safetensors file is valid")
                         print(f"- Number of tensors: {len(keys)}")
                 except Exception as e:
                     print(f"❌ Error validating safetensors file: {str(e)}")
                     continue
+                    
             elif file.endswith('.json'):
                 try:
-                    with open(file_path, 'r') as f:
+                    with open(downloaded_path, 'r') as f:
                         index_data = json.load(f)
                         shards = set(index_data['weight_map'].values())
                         print(f"✅ Index JSON file is valid")
@@ -95,12 +113,13 @@ def download_hf_model_files(files_to_download, model_name, hf_token, save_dir):
                 except Exception as e:
                     print(f"❌ Error validating index JSON file: {str(e)}")
                     continue
-        else:
-            error_message = result.stderr.decode('utf-8', errors='replace')
-            if "404 Client Error" in error_message or "Entry Not Found" in error_message:
+                    
+        except Exception as e:
+            if "404" in str(e):
                 print(f"❌ File {file} not found in repository")
             else:
-                print(f"❌ Download failed: {error_message.strip()}")
+                print(f"❌ Download failed: {str(e)}")
+            continue
 
     print(f"\nSuccessfully downloaded files: {', '.join(downloaded_files)}")
     return True
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index e39e3bc..7451d70 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@ numpy==1.26.4
 datasets==2.19.1
 transformers==4.47.0
 flash-attn==2.5.0
-wandb
\ No newline at end of file
+wandb
+huggingface_hub[hf_transfer]
\ No newline at end of file