diff --git a/guardrails/cli/hub/template.py b/guardrails/cli/hub/template.py
index 39b7a57ec..c9785aae4 100644
--- a/guardrails/cli/hub/template.py
+++ b/guardrails/cli/hub/template.py
@@ -9,19 +9,21 @@ def get_template(template_name: str) -> tuple[dict, str]:
     if template_name.endswith(".json"):
         template_file_name = template_name
         try:
-            file_path = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), template_name)
-            with open(file_path, "r") as fin:
+            file_path = os.path.abspath(template_name)
+            with open(file_path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as fin:
                 return json.load(fin), template_file_name
         except FileNotFoundError:
             raise FileNotFoundError(f"Template file {template_name} not found.")
 
-    template_file_name = f"{template_name.split('/')[-1]}.json"
+    name_split = template_name.split("/")
+    template_file_base = name_split[-1]
+    template_file_name = f"{template_file_base}.json"
 
     template = get_guard_template(template_name)
 
     # write template to file
-    out_path = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), template_file_name)
-    with open(out_path, "wt") as file_out:
-        file_out.write(json.dumps(template, indent=4))
+    out_path = os.path.abspath(template_file_name)
+    with open(out_path, "w", encoding="utf-8") as file_out:
+        json.dump(template, file_out, indent=4)
 
     return template, template_file_name
diff --git a/guardrails/cli/server/hub_client.py b/guardrails/cli/server/hub_client.py
index 203deea61..afa9907a9 100644
--- a/guardrails/cli/server/hub_client.py
+++ b/guardrails/cli/server/hub_client.py
@@ -1,17 +1,16 @@
-import sys
 import os
+import sys
 from string import Template
 from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
 
+import jwt
 import requests
 from guardrails_hub_types import Manifest
-import jwt
-from jwt import ExpiredSignatureError, DecodeError
+from jwt import DecodeError, ExpiredSignatureError
 
-
-from guardrails.settings import settings
 from guardrails.classes.rc import RC
 from guardrails.cli.logger import logger
+from guardrails.settings import settings
 from guardrails.version import GUARDRAILS_VERSION
 
 FIND_NEW_TOKEN = "You can find a new token at https://hub.guardrailsai.com/keys"