diff --git a/.github/workflows/base.yml b/.github/workflows/base.yml
index cf5c1d45d..01b898310 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/base.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/base.yml
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ jobs:
             python_version: "3.11"
             pytorch: 2.6.0
             torch_cuda_arch_list: "7.0 7.5 8.0 8.6 8.7 8.9 9.0+PTX"
+          - cuda: "126"
+            cuda_version: 12.6.3
+            cudnn_version: ""
+            python_version: "3.11"
+            pytorch: 2.6.0
+            torch_cuda_arch_list: "7.0 7.5 8.0 8.6 8.7 8.9 9.0+PTX"
           - cuda: "128"
             cuda_version: 12.8.1
             cudnn_version: ""
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 4a7112041..350b04cca 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -25,12 +25,12 @@ jobs:
             python_version: "3.11"
             pytorch: 2.5.1
             axolotl_extras: vllm
-            is_latest: true
           - cuda: 124
             cuda_version: 12.4.1
             python_version: "3.11"
             pytorch: 2.6.0
             axolotl_extras:
+            is_latest: true
     runs-on: axolotl-gpu-runner
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -87,12 +87,12 @@ jobs:
             python_version: "3.11"
             pytorch: 2.5.1
             axolotl_extras:
-            is_latest: true
           - cuda: 124
             cuda_version: 12.4.1
             python_version: "3.11"
             pytorch: 2.6.0
             axolotl_extras:
+            is_latest: true
     runs-on: axolotl-gpu-runner
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests-nightly.yml b/.github/workflows/tests-nightly.yml
index 0b91d0c01..9d3b056e1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests-nightly.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests-nightly.yml
@@ -33,6 +33,15 @@ jobs:
       - name: Check out repository code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
+      - name: Restore HF cache
+        id: hf-cache-restore
+        uses: actions/cache/restore@v4
+        with:
+          path: |
+            /home/runner/.cache/huggingface/hub/datasets--*
+            /home/runner/.cache/huggingface/hub/models--*
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-hf-hub-cache-v2
+
       - name: Setup Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
@@ -46,7 +55,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install PyTorch
         run: |
-          pip3 install torch==${{ matrix.pytorch_version }} --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu
+          pip3 install torch==${{ matrix.pytorch_version }}
 
       - name: Update requirements.txt
         run: |
@@ -58,8 +67,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: |
-          pip3 install --upgrade pip
-          pip3 install --upgrade packaging==23.2
+          pip3 show torch
           pip3 install --no-build-isolation -U -e .
           python scripts/unsloth_install.py | sh
           python scripts/cutcrossentropy_install.py | sh
@@ -73,10 +81,15 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           axolotl --help
 
+      - name: Pre-Download dataset fixture
+        run: |
+          huggingface-cli download --repo-type=dataset axolotl-ai-internal/axolotl-oss-dataset-fixtures
+
       - name: Run tests
         run: |
-          pytest -n8 --dist loadfile --ignore=tests/e2e/ --ignore=tests/patched/ tests/
-          pytest tests/patched/
+          pytest -v -n8 --dist loadfile --ignore=tests/e2e/ --ignore=tests/patched/ --ignore=tests/cli/ tests/
+          pytest -v tests/patched/
+          pytest -v tests/cli/
 
       - name: cleanup pip cache
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index a1a7214ec..434803d2c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           axolotl --help
 
+      - name: Pre-Download dataset fixture
+        run: |
+          huggingface-cli download --repo-type=dataset axolotl-ai-internal/axolotl-oss-dataset-fixtures
+
       - name: Run tests
         run: |
           pytest -v -n8 --dist loadfile --ignore=tests/e2e/ --ignore=tests/patched/ --ignore=tests/cli/ tests/
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 9aff0ccfe..567b446dd 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ liger-kernel==0.5.5
 packaging==23.2
 
 peft==0.15.0
-transformers==4.50.0
+transformers==4.50.3
 tokenizers>=0.21.1
 accelerate==1.5.2
 datasets==3.5.0
diff --git a/src/axolotl/core/trainers/base.py b/src/axolotl/core/trainers/base.py
index f5679431a..436d3a073 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/core/trainers/base.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/core/trainers/base.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ from typing_extensions import override
 
 from axolotl.core.trainers.mixins import (
     OptimizerMixin,
+    RngLoaderMixin,
     SchedulerMixin,
     SequenceParallelMixin,
 )
@@ -40,7 +41,9 @@ from axolotl.utils.samplers import MultipackBatchSampler, get_dataset_lengths
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-class AxolotlTrainer(SchedulerMixin, OptimizerMixin, SequenceParallelMixin, Trainer):
+class AxolotlTrainer(
+    SchedulerMixin, OptimizerMixin, RngLoaderMixin, SequenceParallelMixin, Trainer
+):
     """Extend the base Trainer for axolotl helpers"""
 
     args = None  # type: "AxolotlTrainingArguments"  # type: ignore[name-defined]
diff --git a/src/axolotl/core/trainers/dpo/trainer.py b/src/axolotl/core/trainers/dpo/trainer.py
index 9eb870a3a..89c77dca4 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/core/trainers/dpo/trainer.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/core/trainers/dpo/trainer.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from transformers import Trainer
 from transformers.utils import is_sagemaker_mp_enabled
 from trl import DPOTrainer
 
-from axolotl.core.trainers.mixins import SchedulerMixin
+from axolotl.core.trainers.mixins import RngLoaderMixin, SchedulerMixin
 from axolotl.core.trainers.utils import (
     sanitize_kwargs_for_ds_tagging,
     sanitize_kwargs_for_tagging,
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ if is_sagemaker_mp_enabled():
     import smdistributed.modelparallel.torch as smp
 
 
-class AxolotlDPOTrainer(SchedulerMixin, DPOTrainer):
+class AxolotlDPOTrainer(RngLoaderMixin, SchedulerMixin, DPOTrainer):
     """
     Extend the base DPOTrainer for axolotl helpers
     """
diff --git a/src/axolotl/core/trainers/grpo/trainer.py b/src/axolotl/core/trainers/grpo/trainer.py
index e8a142945..25aafa6a7 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/core/trainers/grpo/trainer.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/core/trainers/grpo/trainer.py
@@ -8,13 +8,13 @@ from accelerate.utils import is_deepspeed_available, is_peft_model
 from trl import GRPOTrainer
 from trl.extras.profiling import profiling_decorator
 
-from axolotl.core.trainers.base import SchedulerMixin
+from axolotl.core.trainers.mixins import RngLoaderMixin, SchedulerMixin
 
 if is_deepspeed_available():
     import deepspeed
 
 
-class AxolotlGRPOTrainer(SchedulerMixin, GRPOTrainer):
+class AxolotlGRPOTrainer(RngLoaderMixin, SchedulerMixin, GRPOTrainer):
     """
     Extend the base GRPOTrainer for axolotl helpers
     """
diff --git a/src/axolotl/core/trainers/mixins/__init__.py b/src/axolotl/core/trainers/mixins/__init__.py
index 12c8277fc..44751b465 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/core/trainers/mixins/__init__.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/core/trainers/mixins/__init__.py
@@ -4,5 +4,6 @@
 # flake8: noqa
 
 from .optimizer import OptimizerMixin
+from .rng_state_loader import RngLoaderMixin
 from .scheduler import SchedulerMixin
 from .sequence_parallel import SequenceParallelMixin
diff --git a/src/axolotl/core/trainers/mixins/rng_state_loader.py b/src/axolotl/core/trainers/mixins/rng_state_loader.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0e101dabb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/axolotl/core/trainers/mixins/rng_state_loader.py
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+"""
+Temporary fix/override for bug in resume from checkpoint
+
+See https://github.com/huggingface/transformers/pull/37162
+
+TODO: Remove when upstream added PR to release
+"""
+
+import logging
+import os
+import random
+
+import numpy as np
+import torch
+from transformers import Trainer, is_torch_npu_available
+from transformers.trainer import safe_globals
+from transformers.trainer_pt_utils import set_rng_state_for_device
+from transformers.training_args import ParallelMode
+
+LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class RngLoaderMixin(Trainer):
+    """
+    mixin for method override to load RNG states from a checkpoint
+    """
+
+    def _load_rng_state(self, checkpoint):
+        # Load RNG states from `checkpoint`
+        if checkpoint is None:
+            return
+
+        if self.args.world_size > 1:
+            process_index = self.args.process_index
+            rng_file = os.path.join(checkpoint, f"rng_state_{process_index}.pth")
+            if not os.path.isfile(rng_file):
+                LOG.info(
+                    f"Didn't find an RNG file for process {process_index}, if you are resuming a training that "
+                    "wasn't launched in a distributed fashion, reproducibility is not guaranteed."
+                )
+                return
+        else:
+            rng_file = os.path.join(checkpoint, "rng_state.pth")
+            if not os.path.isfile(rng_file):
+                LOG.info(
+                    "Didn't find an RNG file, if you are resuming a training that was launched in a distributed "
+                    "fashion, reproducibility is not guaranteed."
+                )
+                return
+
+        # Use safe_globals to ensure numpy RNG states can be deserialized safely under PyTorch 2.6+,
+        # which requires allowlisted classes when loading with weights_only=True.
+        with safe_globals():
+            checkpoint_rng_state = torch.load(rng_file)  # nosec B614
+        random.setstate(checkpoint_rng_state["python"])
+        np.random.set_state(checkpoint_rng_state["numpy"])
+        torch.random.set_rng_state(checkpoint_rng_state["cpu"])
+
+        is_distributed = self.args.parallel_mode == ParallelMode.DISTRIBUTED
+        if torch.cuda.is_available():
+            set_rng_state_for_device(
+                "CUDA", torch.cuda, checkpoint_rng_state, is_distributed
+            )
+        if is_torch_npu_available():
+            set_rng_state_for_device(
+                "NPU", torch.npu, checkpoint_rng_state, is_distributed
+            )
diff --git a/src/axolotl/core/trainers/trl.py b/src/axolotl/core/trainers/trl.py
index ebe46f11d..b2c5c54ca 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/core/trainers/trl.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/core/trainers/trl.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ from trl import (
     RewardTrainer,
 )
 
+from axolotl.core.trainers.mixins import RngLoaderMixin
 from axolotl.core.trainers.mixins.scheduler import SchedulerMixin
 
 
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ class TRLPPOTrainer(PPOTrainer):
             )
 
 
-class AxolotlORPOTrainer(SchedulerMixin, ORPOTrainer):
+class AxolotlORPOTrainer(RngLoaderMixin, SchedulerMixin, ORPOTrainer):
     """
     Extend the base ORPOTrainer for axolotl helpers
     """
@@ -154,7 +155,7 @@ class AxolotlORPOTrainer(SchedulerMixin, ORPOTrainer):
         return loss, metrics
 
 
-class AxolotlKTOTrainer(SchedulerMixin, KTOTrainer):
+class AxolotlKTOTrainer(RngLoaderMixin, SchedulerMixin, KTOTrainer):
     """
     Extend the base KTOTrainer for axolotl helpers
     """
@@ -162,7 +163,7 @@ class AxolotlKTOTrainer(SchedulerMixin, KTOTrainer):
     tag_names = ["axolotl", "kto"]
 
 
-class AxolotlCPOTrainer(SchedulerMixin, CPOTrainer):
+class AxolotlCPOTrainer(RngLoaderMixin, SchedulerMixin, CPOTrainer):
     """
     Extend the base CPOTrainer for axolotl helpers
     """
@@ -244,7 +245,7 @@ class AxolotlCPOTrainer(SchedulerMixin, CPOTrainer):
         return loss, metrics
 
 
-class AxolotlRewardTrainer(SchedulerMixin, RewardTrainer):
+class AxolotlRewardTrainer(RngLoaderMixin, SchedulerMixin, RewardTrainer):
     """
     Extend the base RewardTrainer for axolotl helpers
     """
@@ -252,7 +253,7 @@ class AxolotlRewardTrainer(SchedulerMixin, RewardTrainer):
     tag_names = ["axolotl", "reward"]
 
 
-class AxolotlPRMTrainer(SchedulerMixin, PRMTrainer):
+class AxolotlPRMTrainer(RngLoaderMixin, SchedulerMixin, PRMTrainer):
     """
     Extend the base trl.PRMTrainer for axolotl helpers
     """
diff --git a/src/axolotl/utils/schemas/config.py b/src/axolotl/utils/schemas/config.py
index 837d2ca69..3e072b6b4 100644
--- a/src/axolotl/utils/schemas/config.py
+++ b/src/axolotl/utils/schemas/config.py
@@ -1270,3 +1270,12 @@ class AxolotlConfigWCapabilities(AxolotlInputConfig):
             if data["beta"] != data["trl"]["beta"]:
                 raise ValueError("beta and trl.beta must match or one must be removed")
         return data
+
+    @model_validator(mode="after")
+    def check_min_torch_version(self):
+        if self.env_capabilities and self.env_capabilities.torch_version:
+            torch_version = self.env_capabilities.torch_version
+            if version.parse(torch_version) < version.parse("2.5.1"):
+                LOG.warning(
+                    f"torch=={torch_version} may not be supported in future versions. Please consider upgrading to torch>=2.5.1."
+                )
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index b86b714af..4d05d3a26 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -8,11 +8,13 @@ import shutil
 import sys
 import tempfile
 import time
+from pathlib import Path
 
+import datasets
 import pytest
 import requests
-from datasets import load_dataset
 from huggingface_hub import snapshot_download
+from tokenizers import AddedToken
 from transformers import AutoTokenizer
 
 from tests.hf_offline_utils import disable_hf_offline, enable_hf_offline
@@ -48,6 +50,14 @@ def snapshot_download_w_retry(*args, **kwargs):
     return snapshot_download(*args, **kwargs)
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
+def download_ds_fixture_bundle():
+    ds_dir = snapshot_download_w_retry(
+        "axolotl-ai-internal/axolotl-oss-dataset-fixtures", repo_type="dataset"
+    )
+    return Path(ds_dir)
+
+
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
 def download_smollm2_135m_model():
     # download the model
@@ -108,43 +118,43 @@ def download_argilla_distilabel_intel_orca_dpo_dataset():
     )
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
-def download_argilla_ultrafeedback_binarized_preferences_cleaned_dataset():
-    # download the dataset
-    snapshot_download_w_retry(
-        "argilla/ultrafeedback-binarized-preferences-cleaned", repo_type="dataset"
-    )
+# @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
+# def download_argilla_ultrafeedback_binarized_preferences_cleaned_dataset():
+#     # download the dataset
+#     snapshot_download_w_retry(
+#         "argilla/ultrafeedback-binarized-preferences-cleaned", repo_type="dataset"
+#     )
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
-def download_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset():
-    # download the dataset
-    snapshot_download_w_retry(
-        "fozziethebeat/alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test", repo_type="dataset"
-    )
-    snapshot_download_w_retry(
-        "fozziethebeat/alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test",
-        repo_type="dataset",
-        revision="ea82cff",
-    )
+# @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
+# def download_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset():
+#     # download the dataset
+#     snapshot_download_w_retry(
+#         "fozziethebeat/alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test", repo_type="dataset"
+#     )
+#     snapshot_download_w_retry(
+#         "fozziethebeat/alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test",
+#         repo_type="dataset",
+#         revision="ea82cff",
+#     )
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
-@disable_hf_offline
-def dataset_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset(
-    download_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset,
-):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument,redefined-outer-name
-    return load_dataset("fozziethebeat/alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test", split="train")
-
-
-@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
-@disable_hf_offline
-def dataset_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset_rev_ea82cff(
-    download_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset,
-):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument,redefined-outer-name
-    return load_dataset(
-        "fozziethebeat/alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test", split="train", revision="ea82cff"
-    )
+# @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+# @disable_hf_offline
+# def dataset_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset(
+#     download_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset,
+# ):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument,redefined-outer-name
+#     return load_dataset("fozziethebeat/alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test", split="train")
+#
+#
+# @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+# @disable_hf_offline
+# def dataset_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset_rev_ea82cff(
+#     download_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset,
+# ):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument,redefined-outer-name
+#     return load_dataset(
+#         "fozziethebeat/alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test", split="train", revision="ea82cff"
+#     )
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
@@ -271,7 +281,7 @@ def download_mlx_mistral_7b_model_fixture():
     )
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
+@pytest.fixture
 def download_llama2_model_fixture():
     # download the tokenizer only
     snapshot_download_w_retry(
@@ -281,7 +291,7 @@ def download_llama2_model_fixture():
     )
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
+@pytest.fixture
 @enable_hf_offline
 def tokenizer_huggyllama(
     download_huggyllama_model_fixture,
@@ -292,6 +302,57 @@ def tokenizer_huggyllama(
     return tokenizer
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+@enable_hf_offline
+def tokenizer_huggyllama_w_special_tokens(
+    tokenizer_huggyllama,
+):  # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
+    tokenizer_huggyllama.add_special_tokens(
+        {
+            "bos_token": "<s>",
+            "eos_token": "</s>",
+            "unk_token": "<unk>",
+        }
+    )
+
+    return tokenizer_huggyllama
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+@enable_hf_offline
+def tokenizer_llama2_7b(
+    download_llama2_model_fixture,
+):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument,redefined-outer-name
+    tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("NousResearch/Llama-2-7b-hf")
+
+    return tokenizer
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+@enable_hf_offline
+def tokenizer_mistral_7b_instruct(
+    download_mlx_mistral_7b_model_fixture,
+):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument,redefined-outer-name
+    return AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("casperhansen/mistral-7b-instruct-v0.1-awq")
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def tokenizer_mistral_7b_instruct_chatml(tokenizer_mistral_7b_instruct):
+    tokenizer_mistral_7b_instruct.add_special_tokens(
+        {
+            "eos_token": AddedToken(
+                "<|im_end|>", rstrip=False, lstrip=False, normalized=False
+            )
+        }
+    )
+    tokenizer_mistral_7b_instruct.add_tokens(
+        [
+            AddedToken("<|im_start|>", rstrip=False, lstrip=False, normalized=False),
+        ]
+    )
+    return tokenizer_mistral_7b_instruct
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
 def temp_dir():
     # Create a temporary directory
@@ -357,6 +418,60 @@ def cleanup_monkeypatches():
                 globals().pop(module_global, None)
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def dataset_winglian_tiny_shakespeare(
+    download_ds_fixture_bundle: Path,
+):  # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
+    ds_path = download_ds_fixture_bundle / "winglian__tiny-shakespeare"
+    return datasets.load_from_disk(ds_path)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def dataset_tatsu_lab_alpaca(
+    download_ds_fixture_bundle: Path,
+):  # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
+    ds_path = download_ds_fixture_bundle / "tatsu-lab__alpaca"
+    return datasets.load_from_disk(ds_path)["train"]
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def dataset_mhenrichsen_alpaca_2k_test(
+    download_ds_fixture_bundle: Path,
+):  # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
+    ds_path = download_ds_fixture_bundle / "mhenrichsen__alpaca_2k_test"
+    return datasets.load_from_disk(ds_path)["train"]
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def dataset_argilla_ultrafeedback_binarized_preferences_cleaned(
+    download_ds_fixture_bundle: Path,
+):  # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
+    ds_path = (
+        download_ds_fixture_bundle
+        / "argilla__ultrafeedback-binarized-preferences-cleaned"
+    )
+    return datasets.load_from_disk(ds_path)["train"]
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def dataset_fozziethebeat_alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test(
+    download_ds_fixture_bundle: Path,
+):  # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
+    ds_path = download_ds_fixture_bundle / "fozziethebeat__alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test"
+    return datasets.load_from_disk(ds_path)["train"]
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def dataset_fozziethebeat_alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test_rev_ea82cff(
+    download_ds_fixture_bundle: Path,
+):  # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name
+    ds_path = (
+        download_ds_fixture_bundle
+        / "fozziethebeat__alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test__rev_ea82cff"
+    )
+    return datasets.load_from_disk(ds_path)["train"]
+
+
 # # pylint: disable=redefined-outer-name,unused-argument
 # def test_load_fixtures(
 #     download_smollm2_135m_model,
diff --git a/tests/test_datasets.py b/tests/test_datasets.py
index a82f2f381..ded82869f 100644
--- a/tests/test_datasets.py
+++ b/tests/test_datasets.py
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ class TestDatasetPreparation:
 
     @enable_hf_offline
     def test_load_hub_with_revision_with_dpo(
-        self, dataset_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset_rev_ea82cff
+        self, dataset_fozziethebeat_alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test_rev_ea82cff
     ):
         """Verify that processing dpo data from the hub works with a specific revision"""
 
@@ -339,12 +339,10 @@ class TestDatasetPreparation:
         )
 
         # pylint: disable=duplicate-code
-        with patch(
-            "axolotl.utils.data.shared.load_dataset_w_config"
-        ) as mock_load_dataset:
+        with patch("axolotl.utils.data.rl.load_dataset_w_config") as mock_load_dataset:
             # Set up the mock to return different values on successive calls
             mock_load_dataset.return_value = (
-                dataset_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset_rev_ea82cff
+                dataset_fozziethebeat_alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test_rev_ea82cff
             )
 
             train_dataset, _ = load_prepare_preference_datasets(cfg)
@@ -354,7 +352,9 @@ class TestDatasetPreparation:
 
     @enable_hf_offline
     @pytest.mark.skip("datasets bug with local datasets when offline")
-    def test_load_local_hub_with_revision(self, tokenizer):
+    def test_load_local_hub_with_revision(
+        self, dataset_fozziethebeat_alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test_rev_ea82cff, tokenizer
+    ):
         """Verify that a local copy of a hub dataset can be loaded with a specific revision"""
         with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_dir:
             tmp_ds_path = Path(tmp_dir) / "mhenrichsen/alpaca_2k_test"
@@ -386,13 +386,23 @@ class TestDatasetPreparation:
                 }
             )
 
-            dataset, _ = load_tokenized_prepared_datasets(tokenizer, cfg, prepared_path)
+            with patch(
+                "axolotl.utils.data.shared.load_dataset_w_config"
+            ) as mock_load_dataset:
+                # Set up the mock to return different values on successive calls
+                mock_load_dataset.return_value = (
+                    dataset_fozziethebeat_alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test_rev_ea82cff
+                )
 
-            assert len(dataset) == 2000
-            assert "input_ids" in dataset.features
-            assert "attention_mask" in dataset.features
-            assert "labels" in dataset.features
-            shutil.rmtree(tmp_ds_path)
+                dataset, _ = load_tokenized_prepared_datasets(
+                    tokenizer, cfg, prepared_path
+                )
+
+                assert len(dataset) == 2000
+                assert "input_ids" in dataset.features
+                assert "attention_mask" in dataset.features
+                assert "labels" in dataset.features
+                shutil.rmtree(tmp_ds_path)
 
     @enable_hf_offline
     def test_loading_local_dataset_folder(self, tokenizer):
diff --git a/tests/test_exact_deduplication.py b/tests/test_exact_deduplication.py
index 7430352a4..a75f97f78 100644
--- a/tests/test_exact_deduplication.py
+++ b/tests/test_exact_deduplication.py
@@ -238,21 +238,22 @@ class TestDeduplicateRLDataset:
 
     @enable_hf_offline
     def test_load_with_deduplication(
-        self, cfg, dataset_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset_rev_ea82cff, tokenizer_huggyllama
+        self,
+        cfg,
+        dataset_fozziethebeat_alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test_rev_ea82cff,
+        tokenizer_huggyllama,
     ):
         """Verify that loading with deduplication removes duplicates."""
 
         # pylint: disable=duplicate-code
         with (
-            patch(
-                "axolotl.utils.data.shared.load_dataset_w_config"
-            ) as mock_load_dataset,
+            patch("axolotl.utils.data.rl.load_dataset_w_config") as mock_load_dataset,
             patch("axolotl.utils.models.load_tokenizer") as mock_load_tokenizer,
         ):
             # Set up the mock to return different values on successive calls
             mock_load_dataset.side_effect = [
-                dataset_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset_rev_ea82cff,
-                dataset_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset_rev_ea82cff,
+                dataset_fozziethebeat_alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test_rev_ea82cff,
+                dataset_fozziethebeat_alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test_rev_ea82cff,
             ]
             mock_load_tokenizer.return_value = tokenizer_huggyllama
 
@@ -263,19 +264,20 @@ class TestDeduplicateRLDataset:
 
     @enable_hf_offline
     def test_load_without_deduplication(
-        self, cfg, dataset_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset_rev_ea82cff, tokenizer_huggyllama
+        self,
+        cfg,
+        dataset_fozziethebeat_alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test_rev_ea82cff,
+        tokenizer_huggyllama,
     ):
         # pylint: disable=duplicate-code
         with (
-            patch(
-                "axolotl.utils.data.shared.load_dataset_w_config"
-            ) as mock_load_dataset,
+            patch("axolotl.utils.data.rl.load_dataset_w_config") as mock_load_dataset,
             patch("axolotl.utils.models.load_tokenizer") as mock_load_tokenizer,
         ):
             # Set up the mock to return different values on successive calls
             mock_load_dataset.side_effect = [
-                dataset_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset_rev_ea82cff,
-                dataset_fozzie_alpaca_dpo_dataset_rev_ea82cff,
+                dataset_fozziethebeat_alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test_rev_ea82cff,
+                dataset_fozziethebeat_alpaca_messages_2k_dpo_test_rev_ea82cff,
             ]
             mock_load_tokenizer.return_value = tokenizer_huggyllama
 
diff --git a/tests/test_packed_batch_sampler.py b/tests/test_packed_batch_sampler.py
index faba86931..dd0386e58 100644
--- a/tests/test_packed_batch_sampler.py
+++ b/tests/test_packed_batch_sampler.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 """Module for testing streaming dataset sequence packing"""
 
 import pytest
-from datasets import concatenate_datasets, load_dataset
+from datasets import concatenate_datasets
 from torch.utils.data import DataLoader, RandomSampler
 from transformers import AutoTokenizer
 
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ class TestBatchedSamplerPacking:
     Test class for packing streaming dataset sequences
     """
 
-    @pytest.mark.skip(reason="TODO: fix hf offline mode for CI rate limits")
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         "batch_size, num_workers",
         [
@@ -41,14 +40,17 @@ class TestBatchedSamplerPacking:
     @pytest.mark.parametrize("sequential", [True, False])
     @enable_hf_offline
     def test_packing(
-        self, batch_size, num_workers, tokenizer, max_seq_length, sequential
+        self,
+        dataset_winglian_tiny_shakespeare,
+        batch_size,
+        num_workers,
+        tokenizer,
+        max_seq_length,
+        sequential,
     ):
         import axolotl.monkeypatch.data.batch_dataset_fetcher  # pylint: disable=unused-import  # noqa: F401
 
-        dataset = load_dataset(
-            "winglian/tiny-shakespeare",
-            split="train",
-        )
+        dataset = dataset_winglian_tiny_shakespeare["train"]
 
         cfg = DictDefault(
             {
@@ -58,7 +60,7 @@ class TestBatchedSamplerPacking:
         )
         ds_cfg = DictDefault(
             {
-                "field": "Text",
+                "field": "text",
             }
         )
         completion_strategy = load(tokenizer, cfg, ds_cfg)
diff --git a/tests/test_prompt_tokenizers.py b/tests/test_prompt_tokenizers.py
index 65eee7ddb..3f16bc917 100644
--- a/tests/test_prompt_tokenizers.py
+++ b/tests/test_prompt_tokenizers.py
@@ -2,13 +2,8 @@
 
 import json
 import logging
-import unittest
 from pathlib import Path
 
-import pytest
-from datasets import load_dataset
-from transformers import AddedToken, AutoTokenizer, LlamaTokenizer
-
 from axolotl.prompt_strategies.alpaca_chat import NoSystemPrompter
 from axolotl.prompt_strategies.alpaca_w_system import (
     InstructionWSystemPromptTokenizingStrategy,
@@ -61,24 +56,13 @@ test_data = {
 }
 
 
-class TestPromptTokenizationStrategies(unittest.TestCase):
+class TestPromptTokenizationStrategies:
     """
     Test class for prompt tokenization strategies.
     """
 
     @enable_hf_offline
-    def setUp(self) -> None:
-        # pylint: disable=duplicate-code
-        self.tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("huggyllama/llama-7b")
-        self.tokenizer.add_special_tokens(
-            {
-                "bos_token": "<s>",
-                "eos_token": "</s>",
-                "unk_token": "<unk>",
-            }
-        )
-
-    def test_no_sys_prompt(self):
+    def test_no_sys_prompt(self, tokenizer_huggyllama_w_special_tokens):
         """
         tests the interface between the user and assistant parts
         """
@@ -86,7 +70,7 @@ class TestPromptTokenizationStrategies(unittest.TestCase):
         # pylint: disable=duplicate-code
         strat = AlpacaPromptTokenizingStrategy(
             prompter,
-            self.tokenizer,
+            tokenizer_huggyllama_w_special_tokens,
             False,
             2048,
         )
@@ -99,7 +83,8 @@ class TestPromptTokenizationStrategies(unittest.TestCase):
         assert example["labels"][world_idx] == 3186
         assert example["labels"][world_idx - 1] == -100
 
-    def test_alpaca(self):
+    @enable_hf_offline
+    def test_alpaca(self, tokenizer_huggyllama_w_special_tokens):
         """
         tests the interface between the user and assistant parts
         """
@@ -107,7 +92,7 @@ class TestPromptTokenizationStrategies(unittest.TestCase):
         prompter = AlpacaPrompter()
         strat = AlpacaPromptTokenizingStrategy(
             prompter,
-            self.tokenizer,
+            tokenizer_huggyllama_w_special_tokens,
             False,
             2048,
         )
@@ -118,28 +103,17 @@ class TestPromptTokenizationStrategies(unittest.TestCase):
         assert example["labels"][world_idx - 1] == -100
 
 
-class InstructionWSystemPromptTokenizingStrategyTest(unittest.TestCase):
+class TestInstructionWSystemPromptTokenizingStrategy:
     """
     Test class for prompt tokenization strategies with sys prompt from the dataset
     """
 
     @enable_hf_offline
-    def setUp(self) -> None:
-        # pylint: disable=duplicate-code
-        self.tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("huggyllama/llama-7b")
-        self.tokenizer.add_special_tokens(
-            {
-                "bos_token": "<s>",
-                "eos_token": "</s>",
-                "unk_token": "<unk>",
-            }
-        )
-
-    def test_system_alpaca(self):
+    def test_system_alpaca(self, tokenizer_huggyllama_w_special_tokens):
         prompter = SystemDataPrompter(PromptStyle.CHAT.value)
         strat = InstructionWSystemPromptTokenizingStrategy(
             prompter,
-            self.tokenizer,
+            tokenizer_huggyllama_w_special_tokens,
             False,
             2048,
         )
@@ -160,18 +134,13 @@ class InstructionWSystemPromptTokenizingStrategyTest(unittest.TestCase):
         assert example["input_ids"][8] == 11889  # USER
 
 
-class Llama2ChatTokenizationTest(unittest.TestCase):
+class Llama2ChatTokenizationTest:
     """
     Test class for prompt tokenization strategies with sys prompt from the dataset
     """
 
     @enable_hf_offline
-    def setUp(self) -> None:
-        # pylint: disable=duplicate-code
-        self.tokenizer = LlamaTokenizer.from_pretrained("NousResearch/Llama-2-7b-hf")
-        # woraround because official Meta repos are not open
-
-    def test_llama2_chat_integration(self):
+    def test_llama2_chat_integration(self, tokenizer_llama2_7b):
         with open(
             Path(__file__).parent / "fixtures/conversation.json", encoding="utf-8"
         ) as fin:
@@ -186,16 +155,18 @@ class Llama2ChatTokenizationTest(unittest.TestCase):
         prompter = Llama2ChatPrompter()
         strat = LLama2ChatTokenizingStrategy(
             prompter,
-            self.tokenizer,
+            tokenizer_llama2_7b,
             False,
             4096,
         )
         example = strat.tokenize_prompt(conversation)
         for fields in ["input_ids", "attention_mask", "labels"]:
-            self.assertEqual(len(example[fields]), len(tokenized_conversation[fields]))
-            self.assertEqual(example[fields], tokenized_conversation[fields])
+            # pytest assert equals
 
-    def compare_with_transformers_integration(self):
+            assert len(example[fields]) == len(tokenized_conversation[fields])
+            assert example[fields] == tokenized_conversation[fields]
+
+    def compare_with_transformers_integration(self, tokenizer_llama2_7b):
         # this needs transformers >= v4.31.0
         from transformers.models.llama.tokenization_llama import B_SYS, E_SYS
         from transformers.pipelines.conversational import Conversation
@@ -234,49 +205,27 @@ If a question does not make any sense, or is not factually coherent, explain why
             generated_responses=answers,
         )
         # pylint: disable=W0212
-        hf_tokens = self.tokenizer._build_conversation_input_ids(hf_conf)
+        hf_tokens = tokenizer_llama2_7b._build_conversation_input_ids(hf_conf)
 
-        self.assertEqual(
-            hf_tokens, tokenized_conversation["input_ids"][: len(hf_tokens)]
-        )
+        assert hf_tokens == tokenized_conversation["input_ids"][: len(hf_tokens)]
 
 
-class OrpoTokenizationTest(unittest.TestCase):
+class OrpoTokenizationTest:
     """test case for the ORPO tokenization"""
 
     @enable_hf_offline
-    def setUp(self) -> None:
-        # pylint: disable=duplicate-code
-        tokenizer = LlamaTokenizer.from_pretrained(
-            "casperhansen/mistral-7b-instruct-v0.1-awq"
-        )
-        tokenizer.add_special_tokens(
-            {
-                "eos_token": AddedToken(
-                    "<|im_end|>", rstrip=False, lstrip=False, normalized=False
-                )
-            }
-        )
-        tokenizer.add_tokens(
-            [
-                AddedToken(
-                    "<|im_start|>", rstrip=False, lstrip=False, normalized=False
-                ),
-            ]
-        )
-        self.tokenizer = tokenizer
-        self.dataset = load_dataset(
-            "argilla/ultrafeedback-binarized-preferences-cleaned", split="train"
-        ).select([0])
-
-    @pytest.mark.skip(reason="TODO: fix hf hub offline to work with HF rate limits")
-    def test_orpo_integration(self):
+    def test_orpo_integration(
+        self,
+        tokenizer_mistral_7b_instruct_chatml,
+        dataset_argilla_ultrafeedback_binarized_preferences_cleaned,
+    ):
+        ds = dataset_argilla_ultrafeedback_binarized_preferences_cleaned.select([0])
         strat = load(
-            self.tokenizer,
+            tokenizer_mistral_7b_instruct_chatml,
             DictDefault({"train_on_inputs": False}),
             DictDefault({"chat_template": "chatml"}),
         )
-        res = strat.tokenize_prompt(self.dataset[0])
+        res = strat.tokenize_prompt(ds[0])
         assert "rejected_input_ids" in res
         assert "rejected_labels" in res
         assert "input_ids" in res
@@ -295,7 +244,3 @@ class OrpoTokenizationTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
         assert res["prompt_attention_mask"][0] == 1
         assert res["prompt_attention_mask"][-1] == 0
-
-
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    unittest.main()