diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index b799d0db..b548e8c9 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -857,6 +857,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
  "serde-with-expand-env",
  "serde_yaml 0.9.19",
+ "tokio",
  "tracing",
  "uuid",
  "which",
diff --git a/binaries/cli/src/build.rs b/binaries/cli/src/build.rs
index 4b308ba6..b235f3dd 100644
--- a/binaries/cli/src/build.rs
+++ b/binaries/cli/src/build.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
-use crate::graph;
-use dora_core::{config::OperatorId, descriptor::SINGLE_OPERATOR_DEFAULT_ID};
+use dora_core::{
+    config::OperatorId,
+    descriptor::{Descriptor, SINGLE_OPERATOR_DEFAULT_ID},
+};
 use eyre::{eyre, Context};
 use std::{path::Path, process::Command};
 
 pub fn build(dataflow: &Path) -> eyre::Result<()> {
-    let descriptor = graph::read_descriptor(dataflow)?;
+    let descriptor = Descriptor::blocking_read(dataflow)?;
     let dataflow_absolute = if dataflow.is_relative() {
         std::env::current_dir().unwrap().join(dataflow)
     } else {
diff --git a/binaries/cli/src/graph/mod.rs b/binaries/cli/src/graph/mod.rs
index 34ee73a3..c28f9eb4 100644
--- a/binaries/cli/src/graph/mod.rs
+++ b/binaries/cli/src/graph/mod.rs
@@ -1,8 +1,4 @@
-use std::{
-    fs::{self, File},
-    io::Write,
-    path::Path,
-};
+use std::{fs::File, io::Write, path::Path};
 
 use dora_core::descriptor::Descriptor;
 use eyre::Context;
@@ -61,7 +57,7 @@ pub fn visualize_as_html(dataflow: &Path) -> eyre::Result<String> {
 }
 
 pub fn visualize_as_mermaid(dataflow: &Path) -> eyre::Result<String> {
-    let descriptor = read_descriptor(dataflow)
+    let descriptor = Descriptor::blocking_read(dataflow)
         .with_context(|| format!("failed to read dataflow at `{}`", dataflow.display()))?;
     let visualized = descriptor
         .visualize_as_mermaid()
@@ -69,10 +65,3 @@ pub fn visualize_as_mermaid(dataflow: &Path) -> eyre::Result<String> {
 
     Ok(visualized)
 }
-
-pub fn read_descriptor(file: &Path) -> eyre::Result<Descriptor> {
-    let descriptor_file = fs::read(file).context("failed to open given file")?;
-    let descriptor: Descriptor =
-        serde_yaml::from_slice(&descriptor_file).context("failed to parse given descriptor")?;
-    Ok(descriptor)
-}
diff --git a/binaries/coordinator/src/run/mod.rs b/binaries/coordinator/src/run/mod.rs
index 4673fd0d..fde82a32 100644
--- a/binaries/coordinator/src/run/mod.rs
+++ b/binaries/coordinator/src/run/mod.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ pub async fn spawn_dataflow(
     dataflow_path: &Path,
     daemon_connections: &mut HashMap<String, TcpStream>,
 ) -> eyre::Result<SpawnedDataflow> {
-    let descriptor = read_descriptor(dataflow_path).await.wrap_err_with(|| {
+    let descriptor = Descriptor::read(dataflow_path).await.wrap_err_with(|| {
         format!(
             "failed to read dataflow descriptor at {}",
             dataflow_path.display()
@@ -83,12 +83,3 @@ pub struct SpawnedDataflow {
     pub communication_config: CommunicationConfig,
     pub machines: BTreeSet<String>,
 }
-
-async fn read_descriptor(file: &Path) -> Result<Descriptor, eyre::Error> {
-    let descriptor_file = tokio::fs::read(file)
-        .await
-        .context("failed to open given file")?;
-    let descriptor: Descriptor =
-        serde_yaml::from_slice(&descriptor_file).context("failed to parse given descriptor")?;
-    Ok(descriptor)
-}
diff --git a/binaries/daemon/src/lib.rs b/binaries/daemon/src/lib.rs
index 8a58427e..d3e09a02 100644
--- a/binaries/daemon/src/lib.rs
+++ b/binaries/daemon/src/lib.rs
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ impl Daemon {
             .ok_or_else(|| eyre::eyre!("canonicalized dataflow path has no parent"))?
             .to_owned();
 
-        let descriptor = read_descriptor(dataflow_path).await?;
+        let descriptor = Descriptor::read(dataflow_path).await?;
         let nodes = descriptor.resolve_aliases();
 
         let spawn_command = SpawnDataflowNodes {
@@ -1001,10 +1001,3 @@ enum RunStatus {
     Continue,
     Exit,
 }
-
-pub async fn read_descriptor(file: &Path) -> eyre::Result<Descriptor> {
-    let descriptor_file = fs::read(file).await.wrap_err("failed to open given file")?;
-    let descriptor: Descriptor =
-        serde_yaml::from_slice(&descriptor_file).context("failed to parse given descriptor")?;
-    Ok(descriptor)
-}
diff --git a/libraries/core/Cargo.toml b/libraries/core/Cargo.toml
index ddbdd04b..9567416f 100644
--- a/libraries/core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/libraries/core/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,3 +18,4 @@ uuid = { version = "1.2.1", features = ["serde"] }
 dora-message = { workspace = true }
 tracing = "0.1"
 serde-with-expand-env = "1.1.0"
+tokio = { version = "1.24.1", features = ["fs"] }
diff --git a/libraries/core/src/descriptor/mod.rs b/libraries/core/src/descriptor/mod.rs
index b41ac666..b0efa622 100644
--- a/libraries/core/src/descriptor/mod.rs
+++ b/libraries/core/src/descriptor/mod.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ use crate::{
     config::{CommunicationConfig, DataId, Input, InputMapping, NodeId, NodeRunConfig, OperatorId},
     daemon_messages::DaemonCommunicationConfig,
 };
-use eyre::{bail, Result};
+use eyre::{bail, Context, Result};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use serde_with_expand_env::with_expand_envs;
 use std::{
@@ -93,6 +93,22 @@ impl Descriptor {
 
         Ok(flowchart)
     }
+
+    pub async fn read(file: &Path) -> eyre::Result<Descriptor> {
+        let descriptor_file = tokio::fs::read(file)
+            .await
+            .context("failed to open given file")?;
+        let descriptor: Descriptor =
+            serde_yaml::from_slice(&descriptor_file).context("failed to parse given descriptor")?;
+        Ok(descriptor)
+    }
+
+    pub fn blocking_read(file: &Path) -> eyre::Result<Descriptor> {
+        let descriptor_file = std::fs::read(file).context("failed to open given file")?;
+        let descriptor: Descriptor =
+            serde_yaml::from_slice(&descriptor_file).context("failed to parse given descriptor")?;
+        Ok(descriptor)
+    }
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]