diff --git a/api/data_pipeline.py b/api/data_pipeline.py
index 67b2dcbf..a6c859f7 100644
--- a/api/data_pipeline.py
+++ b/api/data_pipeline.py
@@ -102,17 +102,19 @@ def download_repo(repo_url: str, local_path: str, repo_type: str = None, access_
         clone_url = repo_url
         if access_token:
             parsed = urlparse(repo_url)
+            # URL-encode the token to handle special characters
+            encoded_token = quote(access_token, safe='')
             # Determine the repository type and format the URL accordingly
             if repo_type == "github":
                 # Format: https://{token}@{domain}/owner/repo.git
                 # Works for both github.com and enterprise GitHub domains
-                clone_url = urlunparse((parsed.scheme, f"{access_token}@{parsed.netloc}", parsed.path, '', '', ''))
+                clone_url = urlunparse((parsed.scheme, f"{encoded_token}@{parsed.netloc}", parsed.path, '', '', ''))
             elif repo_type == "gitlab":
                 # Format: https://oauth2:{token}@gitlab.com/owner/repo.git
-                clone_url = urlunparse((parsed.scheme, f"oauth2:{access_token}@{parsed.netloc}", parsed.path, '', '', ''))
+                clone_url = urlunparse((parsed.scheme, f"oauth2:{encoded_token}@{parsed.netloc}", parsed.path, '', '', ''))
             elif repo_type == "bitbucket":
                 # Format: https://x-token-auth:{token}@bitbucket.org/owner/repo.git
-                clone_url = urlunparse((parsed.scheme, f"x-token-auth:{access_token}@{parsed.netloc}", parsed.path, '', '', ''))
+                clone_url = urlunparse((parsed.scheme, f"x-token-auth:{encoded_token}@{parsed.netloc}", parsed.path, '', '', ''))
 
             logger.info("Using access token for authentication")
 
@@ -780,6 +782,9 @@ def _create_repo(self, repo_url_or_path: str, repo_type: str = None, access_toke
         logger.info(f"Preparing repo storage for {repo_url_or_path}...")
 
         try:
+            # Strip whitespace to handle URLs with leading/trailing spaces
+            repo_url_or_path = repo_url_or_path.strip()
+            
             root_path = get_adalflow_default_root_path()
 
             os.makedirs(root_path, exist_ok=True)