diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 2b5ccaf..a3f5353 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ build-backend = "poetry.masonry.api"
 
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "together"
-version = "1.5.8"
+version = "1.5.9"
 authors = ["Together AI <support@together.ai>"]
 description = "Python client for Together's Cloud Platform!"
 readme = "README.md"
diff --git a/src/together/resources/finetune.py b/src/together/resources/finetune.py
index 8d0bf97..1f494fc 100644
--- a/src/together/resources/finetune.py
+++ b/src/together/resources/finetune.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 import re
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Dict, List, Literal
+from typing import List, Dict, Literal
 
 from rich import print as rprint
 
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ def download(
         *,
         output: Path | str | None = None,
         checkpoint_step: int | None = None,
-        checkpoint_type: DownloadCheckpointType = DownloadCheckpointType.DEFAULT,
+        checkpoint_type: DownloadCheckpointType | str = DownloadCheckpointType.DEFAULT,
     ) -> FinetuneDownloadResult:
         """
         Downloads compressed fine-tuned model or checkpoint to local disk.
@@ -558,7 +558,7 @@ def download(
                 Defaults to None.
             checkpoint_step (int, optional): Specifies step number for checkpoint to download.
                 Defaults to -1 (download the final model)
-            checkpoint_type (CheckpointType, optional): Specifies which checkpoint to download.
+            checkpoint_type (CheckpointType | str, optional): Specifies which checkpoint to download.
                 Defaults to CheckpointType.DEFAULT.
 
         Returns:
@@ -582,6 +582,16 @@ def download(
 
         ft_job = self.retrieve(id)
 
+        # convert str to DownloadCheckpointType
+        if isinstance(checkpoint_type, str):
+            try:
+                checkpoint_type = DownloadCheckpointType(checkpoint_type.lower())
+            except ValueError:
+                enum_strs = ", ".join(e.value for e in DownloadCheckpointType)
+                raise ValueError(
+                    f"Invalid checkpoint type: {checkpoint_type}. Choose one of {{{enum_strs}}}."
+                )
+
         if isinstance(ft_job.training_type, FullTrainingType):
             if checkpoint_type != DownloadCheckpointType.DEFAULT:
                 raise ValueError(
@@ -592,10 +602,11 @@ def download(
             if checkpoint_type == DownloadCheckpointType.DEFAULT:
                 checkpoint_type = DownloadCheckpointType.MERGED
 
-            if checkpoint_type == DownloadCheckpointType.MERGED:
-                url += f"&checkpoint={DownloadCheckpointType.MERGED.value}"
-            elif checkpoint_type == DownloadCheckpointType.ADAPTER:
-                url += f"&checkpoint={DownloadCheckpointType.ADAPTER.value}"
+            if checkpoint_type in {
+                DownloadCheckpointType.MERGED,
+                DownloadCheckpointType.ADAPTER,
+            }:
+                url += f"&checkpoint={checkpoint_type.value}"
             else:
                 raise ValueError(
                     f"Invalid checkpoint type for LoRATrainingType: {checkpoint_type}"