diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e81eba1..c2ba8c8 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ robotvibecoder = "robotvibecoder.main:main"
 [tool.hatch.version]
 source = "versioningit"
 
+[tool.hatch.metadata]
+allow-direct-references = true
+
 [tool.hatch.envs.types]
 extra-dependencies = ["mypy>=1.0.0"]
 [tool.hatch.envs.types.scripts]
diff --git a/src/robotvibecoder/config.py b/src/robotvibecoder/config.py
index 13e1f06..61bf555 100644
--- a/src/robotvibecoder/config.py
+++ b/src/robotvibecoder/config.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 from enum import Enum
 import json
 import sys
+from typing import Union
 
 from robotvibecoder.cli import print_err
 
@@ -24,6 +25,22 @@ class MechanismKind(str, Enum):
     ELEVATOR = "Elevator"
     FLYWHEEL = "Flywheel"
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def try_into(value: str) -> Union["MechanismKind", None]:
+        """Try to parse a string into a MechanismKind.
+        Returns none if the string isn't a valid MechanismKind.
+
+        :param value: The string to convert
+        :type value: str
+        :return: A MechanismKind if value is a valid Mechanism Kind, otherwise none
+        :rtype: MechanismKind | None
+        """
+        for kind in MechanismKind:
+            if value == kind:
+                return kind
+
+        return None
+
 
 @dataclass
 class MechanismConfig:
diff --git a/src/robotvibecoder/subcommands/new.py b/src/robotvibecoder/subcommands/new.py
index d233482..f3b25d5 100644
--- a/src/robotvibecoder/subcommands/new.py
+++ b/src/robotvibecoder/subcommands/new.py
@@ -29,11 +29,14 @@ def new_config_interactive() -> MechanismConfig:
 
     print("Kind: Should be either 'Elevator', 'Arm', or 'Flywheel'")
     kind: str = ""
-    while kind not in MechanismKind:
+    while MechanismKind.try_into(kind) is None:
         kind = input("> ")
-        if kind not in MechanismKind:
+        if MechanismKind.try_into(kind) is None:
             print("Please input either Elevator, Arm, or Flywheel.")
-    kind_enum: MechanismKind = MechanismKind[kind]
+    kind_try = MechanismKind.try_into(kind)
+    kind_enum: MechanismKind = (
+        kind_try if kind_try is not None else MechanismKind.ELEVATOR
+    )
 
     print("CAN Bus: whatever the name of the mechanism's bus is (e.g. `canivore`)")
     canbus: str = input("> ")