diff --git a/litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py b/litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py
index f8cb9e96e..43e9bc002 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/proxy_server.py
@@ -113,6 +113,46 @@ app.add_middleware(
     allow_headers=["*"],
 )
 
+
+from typing import Dict
+from pydantic import BaseModel, Extra         
+######### Request Class Definition ######
+class ChatCompletionRequest(BaseModel):
+    model: str
+    messages: List[Dict[str, str]]
+    temperature: Optional[float] = None
+    top_p: Optional[float] = None
+    n: Optional[int] = None
+    stream: Optional[bool] = None
+    stop: Optional[List[str]] = None
+    max_tokens: Optional[float] = None
+    presence_penalty: Optional[float] = None
+    frequency_penalty: Optional[float] = None
+    logit_bias: Optional[Dict[str, float]] = None
+    user: Optional[str] = None
+    response_format: Optional[Dict[str, str]] = None
+    seed: Optional[int] = None
+    tools: Optional[List[str]] = None
+    tool_choice: Optional[str] = None
+    functions: List[str] = None  # soon to be deprecated
+    function_call: Optional[str] = None # soon to be deprecated
+
+    # Optional LiteLLM params
+    caching: Optional[bool] = None
+    api_base: Optional[str] = None
+    api_version: Optional[str] = None
+    api_key: Optional[str] = None
+    num_retries: Optional[int] = None
+    context_window_fallback_dict: Optional[Dict[str, str]] = None
+    fallbacks: Optional[List[str]] = None
+    metadata: Optional[Dict[str, str]] = {}
+    deployment_id: Optional[str] = None
+    request_timeout: Optional[int] = None
+
+    class Config:
+        extra='allow' # allow params not defined here, these fall in litellm.completion(**kwargs)
+        
+
 user_api_base = None
 user_model = None
 user_debug = False
@@ -707,21 +747,18 @@ async def completion(request: Request, model: Optional[str] = None, user_api_key
             status_code=status,
             detail=error_msg
         )
-                              
+
 
 @router.post("/v1/chat/completions", dependencies=[Depends(user_api_key_auth)], tags=["chat/completions"])
 @router.post("/chat/completions", dependencies=[Depends(user_api_key_auth)], tags=["chat/completions"])
 @router.post("/openai/deployments/{model:path}/chat/completions", dependencies=[Depends(user_api_key_auth)], tags=["chat/completions"]) # azure compatible endpoint
-async def chat_completion(request: Request, model: Optional[str] = None, user_api_key_dict: dict = Depends(user_api_key_auth)) -> litellm.ModelResponse:
+async def chat_completion(request: ChatCompletionRequest, model: Optional[str] = None, user_api_key_dict: dict = Depends(user_api_key_auth)) -> litellm.ModelResponse:
     global general_settings, user_debug
     try: 
         data = {}
-        body = await request.body()
-        body_str = body.decode()
-        try:
-            data = ast.literal_eval(body_str)
-        except: 
-            data = json.loads(body_str)
+        request_items = request.model_dump()
+        data = {key: value for key, value in request_items.items() if value is not None} # pydantic sets all values to None, filter out None values here
+        
         print_verbose(f"receiving data: {data}")
         data["model"] = (
             general_settings.get("completion_model", None) # server default